This book provides intelligent enrichment for encounters with the Old Testament, the first part of the Christian Bible. There are chapters on its five main sections: the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, Poetry and Wisdom, the Prophetic Books, and the Apocrypha/Deutero-Canon. Each of the core chapters covers three areas: an introduction to the general significance of each section in its ancient context; a survey of major ways these sacred texts have been interpreted in the global history of Christianity; and suggestions for how its texts apply to Christian ministry and mission today. These...