God the Creator ? The Old Testament and the World God Is Making

Christians today are focused on two important creation topics: how the world came to be and how we should care for it. A highly respected Old Testament theologian recommends that before discussing these questions, we focus on God the Creator and God's ongoing work in creation. We should explore what the Bible tells us and let the text set the agenda for our reflections.

Combining his storytelling gift with rigorous biblical exegesis and deep reflection, Ben Ollenburger describes the action of God the Creator as presented throughout the Old Testament. He shows how creation is about more than origins. It is about God acting against the hostile forces of chaos that can be historical, political, and military. About how God created a well-ordered world, and how human transgression ruptures God's relationship with humans and threatens creation. About how God responds as Creator to those threats by disturbing and reordering the disorder, bringing about what God intended--a world ordered in the social, political, and natural realms that is characterized by the justice, righteousness, and peace required for human flourishing.

Ben C. Ollenburger (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is professor emeritus of biblical theology at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, where he has taught since 1987. Prior to AMBS, he taught for seven years at Princeton Theological Seminary. Ollenburger has written or edited numerous books, including Old Testament Theology: Flowering and Future and the New Interpreter's Bible commentary on Zechariah.