The Authority of the Septuagint

Does the Septuagint have authority for the church today?

Numerous scholars have explored what the Septuagint is and its history and uses, but less scholarship has engaged with the ways it exercises authority within the Christian tradition. In the first multicontributor volume of its kind, biblical scholars Greg Lanier and Will Ross bring together experts from a variety of disciplines to explore the nature of the Septuagint's authority over the ages.

Discover fresh insights from experts across disciplines—including Old Testament, New Testament, patristics, systematic theology, historical theology, and more—into whether and how the Septuagint holds authority for today's church. With clarity and depth, this helpful addition to Septuagint studies will expand the conversation of how Christians should understand the Septuagint both in the academy and in the church.

This book seeks:



- To explore the "authority" question from multiple perspectives.

- To examine how the early church, Reformers, and systematic (Protestant and Catholic) theologians view the Septuagint.

- To disentangle the NT's frequent use of the Septuagint from its perceived status as authoritative or "canonical".

Whether you're a scholar, theologian, pastor, or seminary student, The Authority of the Septuagint is an invitation to engage with the Septuagint, its history, and its significance for the church today.



William A. Ross (PhD, University of Cambridge) is associate professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). He specializes in the Septuagint and Hebrew Bible textual history, as well as lexicography and the history of biblical philology.







Daniel J. Treier (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. He is the coeditor of nine books and author of three, including Virtue and the Voice of God and Introducing TheologicalInterpretation of Scripture.







J. V. Fesko (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Harriet Barbour Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He initially served as a church planter from 1998 until 2004 when the church particularized and called him as their pastor. He served as pastor of Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church from 2004 until 2009 when he was called to serve as Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California until June of 2019. Dr. Fesko's research interests include the integration of biblical and systematic theology, soteriology, and early modern Reformed theology.







Gregory R. Lanier (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando). He also serves as the academic dean of RTS Global. He specializes in the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, early Christology, textual criticism, and the Septuagint.



Preface



Abbreviations



1. Introduction



2. The Question of Old Testament Canon



3. The Question of the Old Testament Text



4. A New Testament Approach



5. A Patristic-Historical Approach



6. A Reformation-Historical Approach



Excursus "Kept Pure in All Ages"?



7. A Systematic-Theological Approach



Excursus The Septuagint and "Confessional Bibliology"



8. A Roman Catholic Approach



9. Synthesis: The Septuagint and Authority



Afterword



Bibliography



Contributors



General Index



Scripture Index



Ancient Texts Index