The Old Testament: Deciphering the common heritage of mankind

Deciphering the Common Heritage of Mankind

by Miltiadis Konstantinou

How far can a Jewish book have anything to do with us? How do we explain the violence that fills the pages of the Old Testament? And in the final analysis, how much of it is history and how much is symbolism? Speaking to a contemporary understanding, Miltiadis Konstantinou throws light on a whole series of confusions, gaps in knowledge and misreadings by which believers and unbelievers alike are in fact burdened. We need to give practical emphasis to the importance of biblical research in general. Scripture has often been understood moralistically, in an unhistorical way and without reference to the fact of\nthe Church. And there has been a theological tendency in the Orthodox world to undervalue Scripture, almost bypassing it in our rush of enthusiasm for other texts of church literature (patristic, ascetic, liturgical). Such forms of tunnel vision can be problemmatic, but one thing is demanded of us: to be ready and\nwilling to think and re-think, so that our words truly serve the hope that is entrusted to us (1 Pet 3:15). Miltiadis Konstantinou is the distinguished professor of Old Testament in the School of Theology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki.

Cover type: Soft
54 pages
Edition #1 published in 2010 by Alexander Press.
ISBN: 1-896800-37-8