Dr. Brevard S. Childs was a leading Old Testament scholar during the 20th century and Professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School. The service begins with organ music (00:00-06:18). President Randall Lolley welcomes all the guests to the Spring Lectures, he delivers the Scripture reading from Isaiah 45:5-8, and he gives a word of prayer (06:19-08:54). Brevard S. Childs is introduced as the Spring Lecturer (08:55-11:29). The title of Childs’ lecture is "Reading the Old Testament As Religious Literature.” He begins his lecture by addressing the influence of the traditional Protestant and historical-critical approaches in field of biblical studies, and he recognizes the shifting landscape of the field of biblical studies (11:30-21:49). Childs main message is about the evolution of the biblical text as a method of interpretation, and he examines three stories from the Hebrew Scriptures to show that the biblical text should be interpreted canonically in opposition to pagan religious practices (21:50-56:50). Lolley concludes the lecture with a word of prayer (56:51-57:27). The service ends with organ music (57:28-58:53).
