Customer Reviews

God's Design

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Dr. Elmer A. Martens' book is my first choice when students wish to understand the messages of the Hebrew Scriptures. Martens writes from a positive, constructive viewpoint. The Old Testament will become "new" for you as you read and contemplate the message of this splendid book.

Anyone interested in OT theology should start here. As a beginner-level book it should give seminary students and laypeople no problems while it is still academic enough for the scholar as reference. Martens uses Exodous 5:22-6:8 as the center of OT theology (or "God's design" in redemptive history). He argues that the OT and the story of Israel are to show God as the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind and creation. He uses four themes to argue his thesis: deliverance, community, knowledge of God, and land. Martens shows that God's design goes through the three major periods of OT history (the Pre-Monarchy era, the Monarchy era, and the Post-Monarchy era) and up to the New Testament period (God's design being fulfilled in Christ for Jews and Gentiles). The structure of the book is well organized and each theme is discussed in each period of Biblical history. With so many OT theology books written by liberal/criticalist/modernist scholars it is very refreshing to see an OT theology book written from an evangelical and conservative viewpoint. This book is a must read and will give peace of mind to many who are looking for an OT theology book that sees the Bible as God's divinely inspired Word.

Recommended reading on the Old Testament sacrificial system. I stumbled across this in a syllabus and decided to read the footnotes at the library---once I started reading, it was tough to put down. In a concise (though sometimes rather too concise) manner, he addresses a number of difficult-to-abstract topics and digs out helpful observations from the OT text. I liked it enough that I decided to get my own copy.

Great basic OT book which looks at themes, such as land, covenant, prophet, etc.

I especially like his treatment of Yahweh as warrior, which is often so misunderstood due to translation of "sabaoth" as "hosts."

Excellent sections on deliverance, salvation, promise, etc. Serious students and seminarians will profit from reading this as well as keeping it in their libraries where they will turn and find valuable inputs for their ministries.

A great find for studying the Old Testament. The explanation of the name of Yahweh was worth the purchase price in and of itself.

I was first introduced to this book in a graduate seminar in Old Testament Theology where it got panned by a fellow student. I said to myself, "It can't be that bad," and read it myself. Not only is the book not "that bad," but quite good. It takes what is definitely a key text, Exodus 5:22-6:6 (I believe), and uses that as an organizing principle for the rest of the Old Testament, as it encapsulates God's Design for Israel. In many cases the book works, and even in the sections where it really doesn't, such when discussing quite a bit of the Wisdom Literature, it still has good insight. It is from an evangelical perspective, which I appreciate.

This books exhibits a clear style, a streamlined presentation, acute observations, and a solid grasp of the overarching movements and themes of the entire Old Testament. Its general perspective is that humanity had community, knowledge of God, and blessing before the fall. After the fall, humanity needs a fourth characteristic to get back to the ideal, so to speak: deliverance/salvation. This motif--deliverance, community, knowledge of God, and blessing/land--recurs throughout Israel's history and is the essence of Marten's OT theology. He describes God, then, not with traditional categories like omnipotence or omniscience, but rather with categories based on what God does. So, God is a warrior, a deliverer, etc.

Excellent, excellent little theology that most people don't know about. If OT theology is an interest for you, get it (make sure to get the 3rd ed.).