The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?
Beale, G. K. The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts: Essays in the Use of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids Michigan: BakerBooks,1994.
This is a collection of 22 essays on the NT use of the OT. The authors have different perspectives on whether or not the NT writers respected the context of the OT passages they used. I especially liked the essays of Paul’s use of Exodus 34 in 2 Corinthians 3 because you could clearly see how the way one views this issue will change the interpretation of certain texts. I thought Morna D. Hooker’s essay was much better. I wish there were more essays of this type showing how authors with different perspective approach the same passage.
This collection is unbalanced as G. K. Beale felt that the position that sees the NT writers honoring the OT context has been outnumbered and this is a way to attempt to even the playing field. But I also think that the collection is unbalanced by the choice of essays of the opposition. The writing style of some of the writers will be off-putting to some people. For example, Morna D. Hooker, when referring to Paul’s use of Exodus 34, says that “there are blatant contradictions and non sequiturs in Paul’s argument” (290). Of course, this is qualified later as the point is to show that, according to Paul’s method of exegesis, these apparent contradictions are “due to the peculiarities of the text” (290) and not Paul’s inability as an interpreter. I think that another book like this should be edited which contained papers by writers like Peter Enns who will be a much better representative.
Of course, the essay that most people will probably read will be G. K. Beale’s who strategically titled his essay “Positive Answer to the Question Did Jesus and His Followers Preach the Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?” He answers it positively because be believes that the NT writers had the context of the OT passages in mind in the way they used them. It is actually a very good essay and I will try to interact with it some time in the future. At the end, it was clear to me that there will probably never be agreement on this topic and that there is still a lot of work to be done.
