Reconstructing Old Testament Theology: After the Collapse of History (Overtures to Biblical Theology)

In this informative and keen look at contemporary trends in Old Testament theology, Perdue builds on his earlier volume The Collapse of History (1994). He investigates how a variety of perspectives and methodologies have impacted how the Old Testament is read in the twenty-first century including: literary criticism; rhetorical criticism, feminist, womanist, and mujerista theologies, liberation theology; Jewish theology; postmodernism; and postcolonialism.

Perdue provides a sensitive reading of the aims of these approaches as well as providing critique and setting them in their various cultural contexts. In his conclusion, the author provides a look at the future and how these various voices and approaches will continue to impact how we carry out Old Testament theology.

Walter Brueggemann was William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary until his death in 2025. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he is still regarded as the premier Old Testament interpreter and biblical theologian. Among his many publications are Prophetic Imagination and Old Testament Theology

Leo G. Perdue is Dean and Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth. He is the author of several monographs and commentaries on the Old Testament.