Daniel Kirk, author of Unlocking Romans, shared a few thoughts on his blog about J. Richard Middleton’s book The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1.
You can read his thoughts in Image as Function in Gen 1, Liberating Image: Imago Dei in ANE Context, and Liberating Image: Some concluding remarks. Although I have not read the book yet, it looks like the type of book I would enjoy reading.

Here is what Peter Enns has to say about it:

“The Liberating Image is a balanced yet challenging articulation of the Imago Dei in Genesis, its ancient Near Eastern context, and its present-day theological implications. By locating himself in his postmodern context, Middleton brings a refreshing hermeneutical self-consciousness to the scholarly task, which is aimed at providing a substantive and compelling argument without posing as the last word. His analysis of Imago Dei in Genesis in the context of ancient Near Eastern religions leads Middleton to the conclusion that the Israelite theological traditions of Genesis 1-11 are recontextualized in conscious opposition to ideological categories of Mesopotamia. That Israel’s story promotes the dignity of all humans, not just of the royal or priestly classes, should have vital ethical implications for today.”

I accidentally ran across a few lectures by Dr. Middleton, and, although at first I had not recognized his name, I immediately recognized the title of his book. There is one lecture entitled In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth: Responsible Interpretation of Genesis 1 in Ancient and Contemporary Contexts where Dr. Middleton talks about how one goes about interpreting Genesis 1 responsibly (i. e. you should read it “literally,” but you have to listen to the lecture to find out what he means by “literal”). Those familiar with John Walton and G. K. Beale’s works will find some similarities in his approach in terms of Genesis’ function and temple imagery. The Q and A was interesting with some provocative answers. There are also two Chapel talks at Greenville College that are somewhat short but well worth listening. In the first he talks about creation and in the second about redemption. The second lecture pretty much covers the content of his essay A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Case for a Holistic Reading of the Biblical Story of Redemption (Journal for Christian Theological Research 11 [2006] 73-97). This lecture and essay will resonate with those who liked N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope. I really enjoyed reading the essay and it is a great way for those who have not read Wright’s book to become familiar with the premise that what the bible envisages for the eschaton is not heaven as the final destination but new heavens and a new earth (i. e. new creation).
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I am slowly working my way through John Goldingay’s Old Testament Theology: Israel’s Gospel. He is a very thought-provoking writer, and I look forward to reading all three volumes. Incidentally, I am still reading Bruce Waltke’s OT Theology, but, for some reason, it has not resonated with me as I thought it would (although I have benefited from Waltke’s insights).

Anyway, Goldingay used an analogy of God as a lion to reflect on the nature of theology (and more specifically Old Testament Theology), and I would like to quote it here. I specially liked this analogy because it also says something about testimony and preaching in a way I had not thought of before.

Let us imagine that God is like a lion, as the Old Testament says (e.g.. Lam 3:10; Hos 5:14; Amos 3:8). Testimony is then like telling people you have met a lion. Preaching is like inviting people to come to meet a lion. Theology is like reflecting on your meeting with a lion. It will involve some distancing, though during the process of reflection the lion may suddenly pop its head round the door. This reflection will be open to conversation with scientists who have read books about lions and people who have watched nature programs on television, whether or not they have met a lion or are sure they exist. Indeed, there are many scientific ways to seek to understand a lion, and many angles from which to do so: there are the angles and the categories of the zoologist, the geographer and the economist. In a parallel way, there are many angles from which to seek to understand the metaphysical lion. There are the angles of the systematic theologian and the philosophical theologian, the New Testament scholar—and the Old Testament scholar. The nature of the beast is such that no one angle and no one set of categories will reveal everything. The conviction of this theologian is that there is insight to be gained by looking at the metaphysical lion from the angle of the Old Testament and focusing resolutely on that. Whether this is so must emerge a posteriori. (2003, p. 20, emphasis mine)

Wright, N. T. Paul: In Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.

A few years ago, a friend of mine recommended a book by N. T. Wright called “The Climax of the Covenant.” The author was unknown to me and the book’s title wasn’t particularly appealing. But because of some of the discussions we were having, he said that this book would help me see where he was coming from. I read the book and was captivated by it. I have to say that quite a bit of the book was way over my head and a lot just seemed like too much information for me to be able to process at the time. But I was able to get the gist of the issues involved and the solutions that Wright was attempting to put forth. This is one of the reasons why I need to read the Climax again because, since then, I have become more familiar with the issues and little more in tune with the process of exegesis. This is why I first started to read N. T. Wright. He was the author who really got me interested in N. T. exegesis and Paul in particular.

After many lectures, articles and books, I finally came around to reading “Paul.” I had read “What Saint Paul Really Said” before and I was glad to know that Wright had written a book that seemed to go beyond it and would become a sort of thumbnail sketch of what is to become his fourth volume in “Christian Origins and the Question of God.” Read more »

I have been working through Bruce Waltke’s Old Testament Theology. I have been an admirer of Dr. Waltke since I read his book An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax with M. O’Connor. I just finished Part One which covers the basis, task and method of biblical theology. Chapter 6, the last chapter in this section, talks about the center of the bible giving us an overview of Old Testament theology.

I have enjoyed the book so far. Although Dr. Waltke is a conservative scholar, he is very unpredictable and it is a mistake to presuppose where he will stand on a given issue. One thing is quite clear though, he takes the bible seriously and wants his readers to know God personally. I will not be reviewing this book since Art Boulet has been doing a great job reviewing each chapter of the book in his “Wednesdays with Waltke” (Dr. Waltke himself is interacting with his reviews). But I will probably be sharing some thoughts on aspects of the book that I find particularly helpful. Right now I am curious to see how Dr. Waltke will develop his idea of the center of the Old Testament which he says is the message “that Israel’s sublime God, whose attributes hold in tension his holiness and mercy, glorifies himself by establishing his universal rule over his volitional creatures on earth through Jesus Christ and his covenant people” (144).