Cameron Howard, associate professor of Old Testament, is author of “The Old Testament for a Complex World: How the Bible’s Dynamic Testimony Points to New Life for the Church,” which was published by Baker Academic in June. The book challenges the notion that the Old Testament is irrelevant today, arguing instead that it is well-suited to provide hope for the future.
The book focuses on three creative approaches that biblical writers took as they engaged the crises of their times with the faithfulness of God: adapting popular culture, rethinking theological assumptions, and developing a new genre. Howard does not put these examples forward as a roadmap for church leaders to use in approaching innovation in the church today but rather to spark creativity. For instance, has worship on Zoom during the pandemic showed us a new way of being together?
Brent Strawn, professor of Old Testament and professor of law at Duke Divinity School, writes, “This illuminating and beautifully written book shows us how the ‘iconically old’ Old Testament from bygone ‘Bible times’ nevertheless reflects a truly dynamic ethos. In three helpful case studies, we are shown how Scripture captures and canonizes ‘required innovation.’ The result of this book? Provocations of possibility and hope for the church—and a world—that finds itself in difficult days. Here is a volume that can change and help the church, those who belong to it, and those who serve it.”