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Christ in All the Scriptures? The Challenge of Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture


 The issue of responsible Christian reading of Israel's Scriptures as the OT is posed in relation to the characteristic modern historical-critical erosion of traditional Christian approaches informed by Luke 24:25–27. It is argued that many of the insights of modern historical criticism are sound and should be retained, despite widespread resistance or ignorance. Two case studies in support of this are (1) an examination of renewed attempts to understand Gen 3:15 as a protevangelium and (2) Michael Drosnin's Bible Code. However, an appreciation of the possibilities afforded by our contemporary "postmodern" situation enables us to see that historical criticism may sometimes need to take a more modest role in biblical interpretation; recognition of the many recontextualizations of the biblical text and the varying contexts, purposes, and perspectives of interpreters should change the shape of the interpretive debate. In this light, it is suggested that classic premodern Christian interpretation of the OT, as expounded by Henri de Lubac, can again become a real resource for understanding. Finally, a brief study of Isa 2 illustrates how a renewed approach to the OT in the light of Christ might look in practice.