Hermann Spieckermann, «God's Steadfast Love Towards a New Conception of Old Testament Theology», Vol. 81 (2000) 305-327
This article argues in favour of a conception of Old Testament theology that is aware of the different hermeneutical presuppositions due to the different canonical shapes of the Jewish and the Christian Bible, respectively. An Old Testament Theology based on the canon of the Christian Bible has to do equal justice to the Hebrew and to the Greek version of the Old Testament, acknowledging that the Greek version, the Septuagint, is a dominant factor for the emergence of Christian faith. Perceiving the Old Testament from a Christian point of view sheds new light on a central theological issue thus far underestimated in scholarly research: God's steadfast love. The contribution tries to show how this characteristic insight into God's true being is reflected and interpreted in the different parts of the Old Testament.
his relationship with Israel momentarily, but fundamentally. He does so not before he has had any experience with Israel, but right at the climax of the crisis occuring during his love-story with Israel, namely having adultery in view. At this point, Gods love takes the shape of faithfulness and mercy that is willing to forgive not only once, but once and over again. All this is expressed by the word dsx in Exod 34,6-7 and the enlarged formula of grace, accordingly. We will now scrutinize some important references to Gods self-determination towards love that shed light on the further development of this central notion in the Old Testament.
II. Living in Gods Saving Presence: the Psalter
That God has determined himself towards love in the primeval situation at Mt. Sinai has influenced Israels living in the presence of God. The people as a whole and also every individual Israelite always considered themselves as being dependent on the saving God. The Psalter offers abundant evidence for this. The cultic-spiritual sphere of the Psalter created its own way of theological thinking and speaking. For centuries it kept its distance from the Pentateuchal theology focussing on salvation-history and legislation. Within a history of Israels religion I would show Israels special commitment to the cult and prayers of the Ancient Near East and the multiple processes of adaption. Within an Old Testament theology, however, I am concerned with the question what theological powers reconciled the various theological conceptions and what held them together thereafter.