This book suggests a fresh hearing of the Gospel in the traditions of the Old Testament. Israel's affirmation of faith is many-sided. One of the dimensions which has been largely neglected in our use of Scripture are those traditions which affirm the world, celebrate culture, and affirm human responsibility and capability. Such affirmations from the Bible sound strange to our ears, but they are no less scriptural and no less Gospel. This stress and the literature which express it are, of course, not all of Scripture but they are an important element. I have argued here that for our moment in cultural history, these elements in Scripture provide our best opportunity to make contact between biblical faith and the culture in which we do our 'faithing.' To that end I have tried to penetrate the teaching and intention of the wisdom traditions, especially as they are embodied in the book of Proverbs. The study of the wisdom traditions of the Old Testament is only beginning and there are many unresolved questions. But we knowenough to suggest some directions for theological reflection. On the basis of the wisdom traditions I have tried to pay attention to the cultural world in which they had meaning, for that world was not unlike our own. --from the Foreword Contents 1. Religious Despisers of Culture 2. The Trusted Creature 3. Theology Fit for a King 4. Tempted to Commodities 5. The Meaning and Maturity for Current Theology 6. The Wise Man as a Model for Ministry 7. Uneasy Reflections from a Son of Neoorthodoxy
