A Survey and Analysis of Contemporary Evangelical Hermeneutical Approaches to Understanding Messiah in the Old Testament

Abstract

A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL

HERMENEUTICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING

MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Jason Alan Motte, Ph.D.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015

Chair: Dr. T. J. Betts

There is great diversity among evangelicals about how to understand messiah in the Old Testament. Many of the differences are largely related to hermeneutical choices. This study examines evangelical hermeneutical approaches to this issue from the time of Sigmund Mowinckel (1956) to the present. It identifies various positions represented by evangelicals, and lists major, relative works within each category. Then it analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Based on such analysis, in the final chapter, a brief hermeneutical model for understanding messiah in the Old Testament is presented. This study concludes that the best hermeneutical model for understanding messiah in the Old Testament is one that is grounded in historical grammatical exegesis of Old Testament passages, and that allows for the inspired, progressive development of the concept of messiah from the Old Testament to its ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament.