Chair on Old Testament

Gert Kwakkel has held the Chair on Old Testament at TUU as a professor since 1993, a position he has held part-time since 2012. In teaching and research, he strives to do justice to the historical context and original intent of the books of the Old Testament. At the same time, he wants to keep in mind the connection to the whole of God’s revelation. Thus, the Old Testament is also read in conjunction with the New Testament and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Education

Education in the Bachelor’s degree focuses on the distinct nature and message of each book of the Old Testament and the setting in which it originated. Students reflect on the character of biblical historiography and such phenomena as prophecy and wisdom. They are also invited to reflect on the relationship between Old and New Testaments and the meaning of the texts for today.

In the one-year General Master, students can choose Old Testament as their major. In it, the foundation is laid for further study, sometimes in the form of doctoral research. With the Preaching Master, the main focus is on learning exegesis of concrete texts and the theological processing of the content of Old Testament revelation. In both Master’s programs there is plenty of room to address exciting questions. Like, for example, the violence that people apply in the name of God according to the Old Testament.

The professor’s research and publications focus primarily on prophecy (Hosea) and the theological content of the Old Testament (the covenants made by God).

Involved

In addition to Prof. Kwakkel, the following persons are involved in teaching and research in the field of Old Testament:

• Prof. Dr. Koert van Bekkum (Evangelical Theological Faculty Leuven). The focus of his research is on the Bible books Genesis to 2 Kings. He is also concerned with theological exegesis and the history of Old Testament studies.
• Egbert Brink ThD. His heart is devoted to Old Testament wisdom literature. Furthermore, he is the man behind two curricula that deal with Bible reading comprehension and topical interpretation of the texts from the root languages.
• Prof. Dr. Jaap Dekker (Henk de Jong Chair). He focuses on the book of Isaiah and on biblical theology. In this the connection between Old and New Testament is emphatically discussed.
• Wolter Rose DPhil. He teaches Biblical Hebrew and other Semitic languages and is fascinated by various theological themes, such as the glory of God.

The research associated with the Chair on Old Testament is housed in the Biblical Exegesis and Systematic Theology research group. This is a unique collaboration of biblical scholars and systematic theologians from Apeldoorn Theological University and TUU. The research program 2024-2029 is entitled “Crucial commitment.