As a response to the challenge of finding a center or unifying framework towards understanding the Old Testament, Dr. Walter Kaiser proposes the concept of “Promise” in his book Toward an Old Testament Theology. Kaiser develops this center inductively by examining the various forms, explicit and implied, of the Promise concept, in both the Old and New Testaments. He then frames key Old Testament passages within his Promise concept and creates a resulting outline fitting most of Israel’s history into his Promise Framework. Understandably, Kaiser understands much of the Old Testament as history, as the Promise unfolds within the revelation of redemptive history.

Kaiser’s command of the Old Testament, on both a textual and canonical level, helps advance his thesis considerably. There is merit in his hypothesis, particularly within the Pentateuch, Historical Books, and Prophets. However, most of the writings are generally excluded from his analysis, noticeably the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and others, although Kaiser does make brief mention of the wisdom literature with a “Sapiential Era” he identifies. Unfortunately, like many previous attempts towards building a unified biblical theology of the Old Testament, the Writings present a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Although his thesis does integrate with New Testament Promise narratives, it doesn’t seem to explain all the Old Testament data.

Overall, the book is well written and presents a simple concept towards understanding a considerable amount of Old Testament data, so there is value in Kaiser’s proposal for those interested in both the method and result of Old Testament Theology.