Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate, by Gerhard Hasel, does a good job reviewing the progressive challenges towards developing an Old Testament Theology. Hasel reviews and critiques the various methods used in Old Testament research, illuminating the contributions of numerous scholars, who have attempted to distill the OT down to its basic meaning. As part of the discussion, he confronts the questions of history and tradition, seeking to understand the guiding principles towards how one should approach the OT in the first place. Next, he reviews the various literary “centers” (mitte) suggested to unify the OT around a single unifying theme or idea. Finally, Hasel introduces the “problem” of the NT; how does relate to the OT, if it does at all?

From outlining these methods and their various strengths and weaknesses, its clear that no single theme, concept, method, approach, or idea is able to consolidate and unify the entire corpus of Old Testament data into reasonably simplified explanation. Although various proposals have merits, such as “promise-fulfillment” or “descriptive methodology,” a solution has not yet appeared. Consequently, Hasel offers a suggestion: “the Old Testament is Theocentric, much like the New Testament is Christocentric.” As a result, instead of attempting to fit the Hebrew canon into a singular idea, a Muliplex approach is warranted. Researchers should no longer look for a single theme or center, which for example, von Rad and other distinguished authors have argued as non-existent, but rather, attempt to look at the numerous themes, threads, motifs, and typologies throughout the Old and New Testaments. Not only will this Multiplex approach help provide continuity between the many different narratives, books, and authors of the Hebrew Bible, but also the Greek New Testament as well.