Old Testament Introduction Vol. I;

In his "Old Testament Introduction: The Historical Traditions", Paul Tarazi invites the reader to embark with him on a collective reading of God's Holy Book maintaing that since only God Himself can be the ultimate authority on matters of interpretation, it is the responsibility of each reader to challenge the interpretations of others - including those of Tarazi himself. He argues that only by means of a thorough cross-checking of different understandings can we hope to grasp the intentions of the Old Testament authors. Tarazi's approach to the Old Testament traces the development of the various historical traditions that arose within ancient Israel and Judah and suggests how these traditions eventually became the books of the Old Testament, "the human perception of what God, through various means, intended to reveal about Himself". This approach continually examines the historical evidence and the theological perspectives of these books, so that an informed reading of the Old Testament will be able to illuminate for us the New Testament. For, Paul Tarazi writes, "unless the New Testament is illuminated by the Old, the Christ of the New Testament will not shed light on the meaning of the Old Testament".