A Theology of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is a favorite part of the Bible for the African Christian. The culture of the Old Testament is similar to the traditional African culture. The Old Testament also has a large number of stories which appeal to the African. But a problem with the Old Testament is that it is old. The Old Testament is in a sense pre-Christian even though it proclaims Jesus Christ. In addition, the Old Testament is large and complex. This Old Testament theology attempts to identify some main themes in the Old Testament. Of course this is not easy since there is such diversity in this part of Scripture. Yet we believe that there is an essential harmony in Scripture that allows us to trace some of these main themes. This is partly true because of the divine inspiration of all of Scripture. This book has evangelical presuppositions. We believe that all of Scripture is God-breathed and authoritative for life and doctrine (2 Tim 3:16). We believe that there is both a human and divine author of all of Scripture. This book was developed as a result of my teaching at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria in Bukuru. I wish to express my gratitude especially to the students of TCNN who have always been lively participants in the exercise of Old Testament theology. I also express my gratitude to the proprietors of TCNN who have given me the privilege of teaching in this fine institution for more than 25 years. I want to thank those who have taken time to read this manuscript and have given useful input into this book. Na gode! Thank you!