The first part of the article deals with basic methodological and hermeneutical problems of a "Theology of the Old Testament". With regard to historical-critical doubts about the "truth" of salvific events it pleads for a "Hermeneutics of Testimony" (Paul Ric?ur) which interprets the Biblical texts as confessions of faith. The centre of Old Testament Theology should be identified with YHWH himself, a god, whose long-time reliability and overall benevolence were part of a growing monotheistic concept of God, shaped in the different literary traditions of the Old Testament. The second part of the article presents the threefold structure of the author's scheduled "Theology", which follows the different speeds of historical events: The slow and firm characteristics of YHWH (space and time, king-metaphor, holiness, and proper name), and the dynamics of theological development in reaction to historical catastrophes (the saving, demanding, punishing and benevolent creator god). Finally, three unsolved problems of monotheistic creation theology stress YHWH as remaining simultaneously accessible and elusive (Israel and the nations, theodicy, incomprehensibility of God's persona).

Enthalten in:
Theologische Literaturzeitung; 2012/1 Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (2012)

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Serie / Reihe: Theologische Literaturzeitung

Personen: Hartenstein, Friedhelm

Schlagwörter: Referat Altes Testament-Theologie Gottesname