002. How to Read the Old Testament (and Still Have Faith) ft. Tremper Longman

What do we do with a God who commands violence, permits slavery, and seems to change his mind? Tremper Longman III — one of the most prolific and trusted Old Testament scholars of his generation — joins John for a conversation about the parts of Scripture that trouble us most, and why sitting with that trouble might be more formative than explaining it away. This is a conversation about how we read, what we're afraid to find, and what it means to let an ancient text that wasn't written to us still form us.

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About Tremper Longman III:

Tremper Longman III is Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, and one of the most widely read Old Testament scholars in the evangelical world. He holds a PhD from Yale University and has written or edited more than 35 books — on Genesis, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, and the theology of God as warrior, among much else. He has served as a consultant on major Bible translation projects and scholarly initiatives including BioLogos, which explores the relationship between science and faith. For decades, John has turned to Tremper as a first resource when the Old Testament gets hard. This conversation is a chance to hear why.

What this conversation explores:

• Why the New Testament is nearly incomprehensible without the Old, and what we lose by skipping the first two-thirds of the story
• How genre shapes the way we read Genesis: what it means that it is history, and what it doesn't mean, and why Augustine and Origen were already asking these questions long before Darwin
• The five phases of God as divine warrior from the conquest narratives through the cross to the final judgment, and why that arc matters for how we hold the violence in Joshua
• What honest scholarship looks like when the text still troubles you: Tremper names what he cannot yet resolve about the commanded destruction of women and children, without flinching and without fixing it
• How the Psalms of lament (and Psalm 77 in particular)  gave Tremper language for his own seasons of grief, confusion, and anger toward God
• What the Old Testament actually says about Israel, chosenness, and the current conflict in the Middle East and why "Israel right or wrong" is a hermeneutical error

Resources Mentioned:

• Confronting Old Testament Controversies — Tremper Longman III
• Breaking the Idols of Your Heart — Dan Allender & Tremper Longman III
• Bold Love — Dan Allender & Tremper Longman III
• Cry of the Soul — Dan Allender & Tremper Longman III
• Is God a Moral Monster? — Paul Copan
• Jacob I Loved — Joel Kaminsky
• The Late Great Planet Earth — Hal Lindsey
• The Story of God Bible Commentary Series — Tremper Longman III & Scot McKnight
• Texts in Context: The Old Testament (forthcoming) — Tremper Longman III
• The Book of Job

About Formation:

Formation is a podcast that explores the science and soul of spiritual formation.  John Ortberg sits down with some of the most rigorous and honest thinkers working at the intersection of faith and human flourishing for extended, unhurried conversations about how we are being shaped. New episodes every other week, wherever you listen to podcasts.

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