Walter C. Kaiser Jr. > Quotes

“It was ever and always the plain offer of God to all the peoples of the earth through his elected servants of the promise-plan.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations

“Torah is not merely a collection of prohibitions, rigid strictures and boring observances. Rather, it is a narrative of the blessings and promises of God initially offered to one person and family, but through which the whole world will ultimately be blessed.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

“Up until the 1950s the subject of the missionary movement was referred to as "missions" in the plural form. In fact, the term "missions" was first used in its current context by the Jesuits in the sixteenth century. But the International Missionary Council discussions in the 1950s on the missio- Dei convinced most that the mission of the Triune God was prior to any of the number of missions by Christians during the two millennia of church history. Consequently, since there was only one mission, the plural form has dropped out of familir usage and the singular form, "mission," has replaced it for the most part. Nevertheless, most churches and lay-persons hang on the plural missions. For that reason, and to make our point clear here, we will refer to it in this work from time to time while alerting believers to the coming change.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations

“Let us teach the whole counsel of God with a joy and passion that comes from above. And may times of refreshing and revival break out all over the land once again to the glory of God.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“Let it be affirmed right away that the central theme of both the Old and New Testaments is Christ.[2]”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“Nowhere in the New Testament can one find evidence advocating that the writers went outside the boundaries of the Old Testament text to gain their view of the Messiah, or that they just rejected outright what these texts taught about the coming one. The “story” the early church told was the story of the promise-plan of God and the line of the “seed” that would end in David’s final son, Jesus. This was the gospel they proclaimed.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“The cure for many of the ills afflicting the church and the seminaries of the day is to be found in the faithful exposition of the Word of God. Faithfulness in this area is the primary prerequisite for alleviating the deepest concerns currently held by the church and society.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“the Pentateuch really intended to teach faith and belief in God and his promise. Obedience to the law, then, was the natural evidence that one had really trusted the Lord and believed his promise.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“In the past, this approach has been known as the grammatical-historical interpretation of the text. The term “grammatical-historical interpretation” was used originally by Karl A. G. Keil.[7] The term “grammatical,” however, is somewhat misleading in our ears today, for normally we mean the arrangement of words and the construction of sentences. But Keil did not have this meaning in mind when he used the term. Instead, he had in mind the Greek word gramma, which approximates what we would mean by the term “literal” (to use a synonym derived from Latin). Keil’s grammatical sense was what we would call the simple, direct, plain, ordinary, natural, or literal sense of the phrases, clauses, and sentences.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“A formal theology of sacrifice, or its origins, are nowhere presented in Israel's history or documents. But there were three basic purposes in the sacrifices: (1) to offer a gift to Yahweh; (2) to enjoy communion and fellowship with Yahweh; and (3) to atone for sin.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., History of Israel: From the Bronze Age Through The Jewish Wars

“Finally, it was “to anoint the most holy [One or place].” Since this expression is never used of a person, it probably is not a reference to the Messiah or even to his church.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church

“Promise did not oppose God’s law, for both promise and law came from the same covenant-making God. Neither did law provide a separate means, not even a hypothetical means, for obtaining salvation. Instead, the law provided a means for maintaining fellowship with God.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church