A Critical Review of Elmer Towns a Journey Through the Old Testament

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A critical review of Elmer Towns “A Journey Through the Old Testament” Elmer Towns points out his objective in writing his book, “Journey Through The Old Testament” in his opening introduction. He puts it thusly, “It is a study of those people who have influenced the events of the Old Testament”.1 His thesis in one’s own words could be put as it being a brief study of some of the key influential history makers of the Old Testament. From Lucifer to Malachi, Elmer Towns is unabashed in pointing out the good and bad instances, as far as it relates to the topic at hand, in the lives of the Old Testament characters. Take his evaluation of Abram for instance. “When God calls, faith responds in complete obedience. Abrams initial hesitancy to obey the call of God may have been in part due to family loyalties which were at that time stronger than his loyalty to God”.2 He points out the disobedience of Abram to express his faith in God by complete obedience. Elmer Towns does not try to gloss over or hide the faults of the Old Testament people. He also, unlike many contemporary “Christian” writers, “preachers”, teachers, etc., holds to the historical reality of the people of the Old Testament. In Robert H. Pfeiffer’s book, “Introduction To The Old Testament” he states his belief in the historicity of Job, and even Abraham, as follows, “The Book of Job consists of the prose folk tale about Job, whose piety withstood every test…”3; “The passing reference to Job in Ezekiel 14:14,20 shows that Job was a famous character of legend, like Abraham…”.4 While many believe Adam, Noah, and Job are fictional characters, Elmer Towns affirms their reality. “The last day of Creation is the greatest in the since that God created a person who mirrored Himself”.5 “But Noah, one man, made a difference. He was a man of faith who walked with God. Through one-man humanity was preserved”.6

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