It
is not difficult to figure out what Phil Sumpter is up to. The hope which
animates his reflections is summed up in a choice Brevard Childs quote he reproduces:
Church history bears
eloquent testimony to a few glorious periods when suddenly unexpected interest
in the Bible exploded within the life of the church, and biblical scholars and
theologians found themselves engaged in a common enterprise.
Phil
lives in Germany while working on a Ph.D. Germany continues to be an excellent place to engage
in the common enterprise of which Childs speaks. The number of German OT scholars
who are producing high-quality theological exegesis of the Hebrew Bible remains
high. The following names come to mind: Erich Zenger, Jurgen Ebach, Bernd
Janowski, and Frank Crüsemann, besides names better-known this side of the
pond, like Norbert Lohfink and Rolf Rendtorff.
Phil is currently reflecting on the work of Brevard Childs, Christopher Seitz, and Richard B. Hays, all giants in the field. Anyone interested in theologically competent exegesis of the Old Testament will want to check out Narrative and Ontology.
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