Confronting Old Testament Controversies

The Old Testament is rife with controversial passages and events that raise questions about its continued significance for today. Often our solutions have tended toward the extremes--ignore problem passages and pretend they don't matter or obsess over them and treat them as though they are the only thing that matters. Now Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman confronts pressing questions of concern to modern audiences, particularly young people in the church:

· the creation/evolution debate
· human sexuality
· the historicity of people, places, and events
· God-ordained violence

Pastors, leaders in the church, and thoughtful and troubled Christians in the pews will find here a well-reasoned and faithful approach to dealing with the Old Testament passages so many find challenging or disconcerting.

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Before coming to Westmont, he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for eighteen years. He has authored or coauthored more than thirty books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament, How to Read Proverbs, The Lost World of the Flood, and commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and Daniel.