God B.C.: God’s Grace in the Old Testament

“A classic of biblical interpretation”
ROWAN WILLIAMS

“A gem of OT introduction. … It is hard to image a better entry point into academic study of the HB for undergraduates.”
JAMES E. PATRICK

God B.C. is a clear and profound guide to the spiritual world of the Old Testament, providing a highly readable introduction to the nature of the God whom Jesus called “Father”. It charts the relationship between God and God’s people Before Christ, and how that relationship informs our understanding of grace.

This revised and much expanded work revisits the subject in the light of recent scholarship, enabling us to see how the whole Bible reveals the character of our humanity as well as that of God’s divinity.

Anthony Phillips’ clear and profound introduction to the spiritual world of the First Testament is wonderfully accessible. He highlights the focal point of ‘B.C.’ faith—allowing God to be God—and shows the intimate connection of it with the one in whom Christians believe God is most fully God. This book will undoubtedly establish itself as a classic of biblical interpretation that is both scholarly and deeply imaginative.

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

A gem of OT introduction. This remarkably effortless read crystallizes decades of deep engagement, both with the shifting hypotheses of biblical scholarship and with the profound pastoral needs of doubting believers amid inexplicable suffering. It is hard to image a better entry point into academic study of the HB for undergraduates.

James E. Patrick, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

This is a refreshing book which opens up the Old Testament in an absorbing and original fashion. … There are some beautifully wrought interpretations, especially on the 8th-century prophets, Amos and Hosea. … But, in perspective, the scholarship lying beneath this book matters less than the driving force of the message: that God’s love for humanity is unrestrained, and visible throughout the Hebrew scriptures despite the violence of the age and the formalities of the law. God B.C. is a provocative but highly recommended read.

Alice Burdett, The Reader

God B.C. offers a clear articulation of the composition of the Old Testament and the development of Israel’s understanding of God, which links grace and covenant to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This is a valuable and accessible introduction rooted in both historical scholarship and theological interpretation.

Mark Scarlata, The Church Times

An unashamedly theological engagement with that part of the Bible that Christians call the Old Testament. This is a volume that will speak powerfully and lucidly to a wide range of readers.

Paul Joyce

Anthony Phillips was Dean and Chaplain of Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he taught Old Testament Studies. During this time he presented documentaries for BBC Radio 3 and undertook television work. Later he moved to be Chaplain of St John’s College, Oxford where he continued to teach Old Testament studies. For ten years before he retired, Phillips was Headmaster of The King’s School, Canterbury.