Preaching the Old Testament

In this third
and concluding volume
of their lectionary commentary
collection ("Preaching the Gospels
without Blaming the Jews" and
"Preaching the Letters without
Dismissing the Law"), Ronald Allen
and Clark Williamson encourage the
church and its preachers to rediscover
the Old Testament as a vibrant
wellspring of Christian faith and life.
Preachers often neglect the Old
Testament, misrepresent it, or regard
its theological content as superseded
by
Jesus and the New Testament, Allen
and
Williamson claim. The authors help
preachers avoid these traps by
explaining how a text was understood
before the Common Era without any
reference to Jesus or Christian
doctrine, mentioning representative
New
Testament passages or themes that
are
informed by the older material, and
commenting briefly on the relationship
between the lections in those cases
when
readings from the Old Testament are
paired with readings from the New
Testament.