Customer Reviews

A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most Old Testament survey books quickly get bogged down in details about dating, theories of composition, and the like. As such, the end up being pretty useless to the person who simply wants to better understand what is actually *in* the Old Testament.

Thankfully, Leithart avoids this. There is not a word about composition or dating of the documents themselves. Instead, he focuses on the themes of the Old Testament, beginning in Genesis, and shows how these themes are reiterated throughout the Old Testament in preparation for the work of Christ and revelation of the New Testament.

The book is intended to be used for family devotions or study classes. To facilitate this each chapter is divided into a few (generally 3-5) sections with associated scripture readings, review questions, and questions intended to stimulate further thought. There are 8 chapters in all, focusing primarily on the narrative portions of the Old Testament. The prophets are discussed where appropriate, but primarily in relation to the coincident narrative sections.

My only complaint is that the psalms and wisdom literature are mostly omitted. This is understandable given that Leithart's focus is the Old Testament as a single story of redemptive history. Perhaps someday Dr. Leithart will be persuaded to produce a companion volume.

If you have difficult understanding how all those stories (and even those pesky genealogies) that you vaguely remember from Sunday School fit together into a coherent whole, this book is a must read.

Leithart has a Cambridge Ph.D., is a Presbyterian pastor (PCA), and about the smartest guy on earth.

Wonderful book, but its mislabeled as an OT Intro. Its more an OT history. There is very little on the wisdom literature in there. It is a briilliant redemptive-historical tour. The typology gets kind of heavy and at times forced. But brilliantly draws parallels between various OT stories and convincingly illustrates how the original reader would have made the same connections.

This should not be your OT Intro textbook (use R.K. Harrison or Longman/Dillard for that). But really fun and compelling stuff.

The binding by Canon Press softcover is attractive enough, but not very durable (glued but not sewn). I own 3 or 4 copies, and I have had pages fall out after just one use.

This book will challenge your typical "Sunday-school-like" interpretation of the Old Testament. Far more than just a series of somewhat applicable moral lessons, Leithart shows the stories of the Old Testament have been placed by God to tell a much larger story. This book is a must read for students. It should also be read by all Sunday School teachers and Christian school teachers. The information and insights located in the footnotes should not be overlooked.

This book has some really good insight on the imagery of the Old Testament -- "shadows" of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. I found some of his parallels to be a little stretched, but his summaries of the stories are excellent and many of his illustrations are helpful.

From the back cover: "The best stories subtly weave themes and characters and symbols into a stunning final tapestry." Dr. Leithart discusses the major themes, symbols, and structures of the Old Testament (and also mentions some of the other more minor themes). What I love about this book is the new insights it gave me on how all the stories in the Bible connect, things I would never have thought to look for before, and now I will. These are insights not taught in typical adult Sunday school classes.

As an example, he says that many people are killed and murdered in the Bible, sometimes with very little detail and sometimes with great detail. So if the writer goes into details about how someone was killed, then there is probably a reason for us to know that, and the reason is to connect the event to some other event, either in the past or the future. So when we read that someone was killed by a head wound, and especially if that head wound came from a woman and his skull is caved in, then it's pointing us back to Genesis chapter 3 when God tells Satan that the seed from a woman will crush his head, and it's pointing us ahead to the Messiah, the ultimate in head-crushing. OK, I'm paraphrasing, but hopefully, you get the idea.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in great literature because the Bible is great literature, whether or not you believe it's the "Word of God." If you do believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then this book will be a great blessing to you.

Very good, perfect for use with a Bible Class. The author picks out threads which run through the OT showing how(apparently)random and trivial details all fit together to tie key passages together and bring out the full underlying meaning. Only one thing wrong with the book, it should be longer and pick out even more such threads!

For many modern, evangelical Christians, the Old Testament can at best be a series of interesting moral stories, outdated laws, soaring poetry, or dense prophecy; with no particular rhyme or reason to its placement. Leithart aims the reader towards a unified view of the Bible, that is that there is one story told from Genesis to Revelation, that progressively expands through covenant action. In doing so, he not only calls the reader to pay attention to the interpretation of the text on a word by word level, but by paying attention to just how sections of the Bible are ordered, as would be important for a text written in the ancient near eastern context.

Leithart's hope is that the reader comes to a conclusion that the Bible says the same thing, repeatedly, that of creation and re-creation; because only then can the reader of the Bible see the connection between Adam and Solomon, or between Joseph and Daniel.

The great value of Leithart's 250 page plus work is enabling the reader to understand the literary underpinnings of the history of Hebrew people and why that promotes the overarching theology of the message. This book is valuable for teenage students and above of the Old Testament, especially those who have imbibed the idea that the Christian faith is primarily one of the inner life, and not particularly connected to history or to the larger community, nor to the responsibilities that are required of the people of God. In fact, perhaps the greatest use of this book would come from applying it in group studies or in family studies, especially with children capable of understanding larger stories and a basic depth of human relations, with how they relate to their God.

The study of the Old Testament is something most Christians struggle to grasp the relevance of the Old Testament and, all to often, fail to see the gospel kingdom themes present there that point to the salvation and new creation brought by Christ in the New Testament. Into the midst of the confusion has stepped Peter Leithart and his book A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament. With great sensitivity to the text and a wonderful and accessible command of the English language, Leithart present us with a text that draws us into the Old Testament by way of, among other things, a use of typology and analogy he sees as present in the text linking it to the New Creation/salvation work God is doing throughout the Scripture, that which ultimately is consummated in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ

Peter Leithart has created a magnificent work here. His detailed analysis of the entire Old Testament story sheds light on many aspects that the average reader might miss. His particular analysis of types uses over and over in the characters and language of the Old Testament is refreshing and brings a New Testament relevance to the Old that the average Christian reader is prone to not see. Furthermore, Leithart's strong command of the English language (it is not at all surprising that he teaches literature at New Saint Andrews College) means that the work is not only highly valuable as a study tool, but it a comprehensible and, indeed, even highly enjoyable book to read.

The primary hesitation one might have with the actual content of this volume is that Leithart could be accused of making too much of his use of scriptural analogies. It runs the risk of interpretive maximalism, or finding things in the text (via the oft-used allusions, allegories, typology, foreshadowing, etc.) that are not there. The general methodology, popularized by theologian James Jordan, tends to expose content in the text that others typically miss. This is a necessary helpful corrective to the extreme grammatical-historical readings, however it also runs the risk of being extreme to the opposite end and creating elements that God and the human authors of Scripture never intended to be read into the text. All this is to say one may not agree with all of Leithart's pictures in the text, but may still appreciate his approach as a whole. For example, the idea of certain figures being types of others may seem a bit stretched at times to fit into the mold of another character's traits for the sake of analogy.

Peter Leithart has truly created a much-needed volume in the area of Old Testament studies. For the scholar, pastor, and armchair theologian alike, he has introduced thoughts on the Old Testament that will be thought provoking and encouraging, whether one agrees with all of his end interpretations are not. Therefore, while not a work in such a mode of survey as one could safely agree with everything, it is a work deep enough to provoke though and even disagreement at times. In his expert analysis of the text, Peter Leithart introduces the reader to the pure relevance of the Old Testament for New Testament readers. For some, because of this work, they will find their connection to well over half the Bible's text for the first time.

This book is one of my favorite books on the Bible. This is Peter Leithart's overview of the Old Testament. In it he illustrates many of the major themes that flow throughout the OT, teaches you what many of the major reoccurring symbols are (which livens up even the most seemingly trivial parts of the biblical narrative), and prepares you to have at least somewhat of a Hebrew background when approaching the New Testament. This book has had a huge impact on the way I think.

Also, the style is very accessible and there are questions at the end of each chapter...ideal for group study or teaching a class.

There are many keen insights in this wonderfully conceived book. If one is not ready to be challenged and read attentively, then Leithart's book may prove to be a frustrating read. It was actually a reread after my initial read ten years ago which proved fruitful.