Encountering the God of Love: Portraits from the Old Testament

by Brad E. Kelle, Stephanie S Matthews (Editor)

Christians have a long history of believing that the God of the Old Testament is a different, less loving God than the God of the New Testament. Old Testament professors and scholars have come together to paint a different portrait of our changeless Creator―one that shows God’s immutable nature of love and compassion demonstrated in every major section of the Old Testament scriptures. From the Pentateuch to the Prophets, Encountering the God of Love offers new perspectives on old scriptures to prove that God was, is, and will always be a God of love. Each contributor brings a unique perspective and personal style to their exegetical methods, making it easy to read this book cover to cover or skip around nonsequentially to study your favorite passages. Use this book in classrooms or small groups to get the most out of the discussion questions provided at the end of every chapter. The authors have also included end-of-chapter bibliographies for readers who wish to explore these passages and the Old Testament God of love even more thoroughly. Contributors for this book   Brad E. Kelle, Stephanie Smith Matthews, Timothy M. Green, Mitchel Modine, Marty Michelson, Jennifer M. Matheny, Kevin Mellish, Jim Edlin, Stephen Riley, Michael G. VanZant, and Thomas J. King.

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2021

About the author

Professor of Old Testament and
Director of the M.A. in Religion Program at Point
Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of various writers from a Nazarene background. The concept for the book was a great idea. Christians need to see how God's love is evident within the Old Testament. However, a few of the authors they chose to write for the book were outright incorrect in their theological assertions. Just an example, the author of the chapter on the book of Numbers outright discredits parts of Scripture that do not fit his worldview. On page 63, he essentially states that the "narrator" was wrong by asserting that Moses spoke the Word of the LORD concerning some inheritance issues in Numbers 36. If you are a Bible believing Christian, you can see the issue in flat out saying a part of Scripture is incorrect.

The only reason this book does not have one star from me is that the chapter on the Psalms by Michael VanZant is incredible. He does a perfect job describing God's tender loving mercy and his desire to bring all of us to Him. Other than that, I would not recommend this book.