Customer Reviews

From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch

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Alexander brings a usable piece of scholarship to the world of academia with this book. It is a step above entry level texts on the Pentateuch, and is a good read. This book will help you figure out the themes in the beginning of the Old Testament, and point you in the direction of deeper sources for themes that you want to dig deeper into. I view this book as fairly progressive, not overly conservative and certainly not liberal scholarship. So, depending on what school of thought you are from, this book falls somewhere in the middle, which I appreciate.

Joseph Dworak

Truly this volume is one of the great contributions to the theology of the Pentateuch. Alexander tediously attacks the crumbling foundations of the Documentary Hypothesis and old school liberalism. He shows the weakness of their arguments and posits that we take the Pentateuch at face value and attempt to look at it as a cohesive whole with a story to tell and underlying messages for the reader.

It is this story and the messages of the Pentateuch that Alexander then displays for his readers. Moving through the Pentateuch both historically and topically, the writer deals masterfully with the genealogies, the blessing and cursing in Eden, the nature and import of the Abrahamic Covenant, the significance of the Passover, the impact of the Covenant of Sinai both for Israel and for believers today, the implications of the tabernacle, the command to be holy, the significance and symbolism of the sacrificial system and dietary laws, the gift of the Promised Land, the reason why the murmuring of the people was so important to God, the Semitic view of the topics of love and loyalty as treated in the Pentateuch, and the question of the election of Israel. In all of these areas, Alexander carefully lays out the theology of the Pentateuch and then follows this up with a connection to the New Testament. It is in these New Testament connections, Alexander shows his true prowess as a biblical scholar.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this work for the student of the Pentateuch who is struggling to find the purpose and application of this most difficult, yet seminal, section of Scripture to his or her life in the 21st century.

Very well written & scholarly approach to the Pentateuch (Torah). We are using this book as a study guide at an adult Bible study class in our Presbyterian Church. The first portion is a very detailed explanation (using a lot of Hebrew & Greek words - which I have been studying on the side) of how the Torah was written & put together by the original authors. It describes the methods of criticism used. The rest of the book is a history of Genesis thru Kings, since there is a "carryover" from Deuteronomy thru Kings.

This is well worth the time & effort to really study, since the end of each chapter gives a N.T. connection with the Apostles & points on to Jesus the Christ.

Alexander has done a great job with this book. Like most intros to the Pentateuch/ OT he discusses source-critical issues, but unlike most other such intros he does not dogmatically accept. Instead he critiques them and allows the reader to decide for themselves. The language is fluid and his arguments well-reasoned and easy to follow, and the text is not cluttered by too many footnotes. Highly recommended.

This book is divided into 2 sections. The first section deals with the criticisms on the authorship and source of the Pentateuch. The second section deals with the themes of the Pentateuch such as the blessings of the nation, faith, Passover, who is the LORD, Covenant, Tabernacle etc. It is easy to read with a great link section to the New Testament which makes it relevant for the 21st century readers.

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Overall I would say this book is well written and well organized. However, we used this book as a text in one of my college courses and several of the "higher ups" including my professor were able to point out several fallacies. It seemed that he stuck with structure so much that he stretched the text at times. Good informational book, but read with your Scriptural eyes open.