Theology and Religious Study: Elmer Towns' Old Testament Review

This essay analyzes Elmer Towns' 'A Journey Through the Old Testament,' a non-fictional narrative that guides readers through the major events and figures of the Old Testament. The essay highlights Towns' academic yet accessible writing style, his use of biblical quotations, and his chronological appr...Read More

Running head: THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDY
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A Journey through the Old Testament
Elmer Towns’ non fictional narrative, “A Journey through the Old Testament: The
Story of how god developed his people in the Old Testament helps in guiding us correctly,
interpreting and reading the most dominant events and people’s survival, which occurred
throughout the first half in the Bible, that is, the Old Testament. Elmer’s style of writing is
more of academic, but not scholarly, which is difficult to comprehend for the layman. In
addition to this, the author provides a huge number of quotations as well as passages directly
from the Bible in order to authenticate his findings, which also includes some from New
Testament. A major facet of this narrative is, the book offers some people’s chronological
perspectives, who are directly influenced by the most important events in Old Testament
(Balmer, 2014).
Elmer, by doing so, is now able to offer a fair and comprehensive summary of all the
key points, which the students need to know regarding the Old Testament. It will give the
readers a clear idea of how it has been set up and more specifically, it will help in facilitating
many occurrences that are recorded inside the New Testament. It also includes the
appearance of Jesus and more. It will also allow the people to conceptualize the previous or
earlier times in comparison to the recent times. In many aspects, the author did not maintain
any central plot, which runs synonymously. Rather, Towns’ texts contained narrative details
like fifty distinguished personages, for example, some of them are not exact people, that is,
fallen angel like Lucifer. Their significance is also explained in the Old Testament. Nearly
fifty sections of the literature work, is being divided among these specific segments and the
author has spread equal attention to all these subjects (Beek, 1960).
However, all the orders of these subjects are largely chronological; it starts from the
Book of Genesis, which includes some of the events which has preceded Genesis, like

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Lucifer’s wicked acts in order to take over God’s kingdom, to Nehemiah as well as the last
decades of the Prophets. The academic practice of comparative religion, in the nineteenth and
the twentieth century, divided the beliefs of religion into categories those were
philosophically defined, known as “World Religions”. It can be divided into three broad
categories; world religions, indigenous religions and new religious movements. World
religions refer to international faiths, indigenous religions which refer to smaller or nation
specific religious groups and new religious movements which refer to the faiths and beliefs
that recently developed. In that aspect, Elmer’s narration operates to something that is
buildup since the birth at the times of Jesus. The Old Testament itself functioned in this
regard. The description of Elmer’s book, establishes in detail the beginning of heavens and
earth, the man’s creation and also the establishment of the God’s covenant among the chosen
people, along with various tribulations and trials, which went all throughout for the
preservation of faith in the sanctity (Duvall & Hays, 2012).
The partitioning of the topics via individual people, who have an impact on the
influential events, has helped in presenting minor insights and details among the lives of
many characters, which escape an individual’s notice while simply reading Bible. The
religion’s origin is uncertain. There are several theories which are about the origin of
religious practices. Elmer mentioned that the inception of the world’s great religions is
through some sort of revitalization movements, as the visions and imaginations of people
seek more comprehensive answers to their questions rather than what is provided by their
everyday beliefs. Religion development has been in different forms varying from culture to
culture. Some religions emphasize on beliefs and some religion emphasize on practices.
Some focus on the experience which is more subjective, while other religions consider the
activities of the community to be more important (Fromm, 2013).

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Some claim to be universal, while others confine themselves to a closely localized
group. Many associate religion with the public institutions, like, schools, family, political
hierarchies, hospitals and the government. Scholars have emphasized the academic study of
religion in schools, colleges and university. Moreover, religion has marked its print in the
field of law, with several scholars involved in the school of law and the departments of
academics including history and political science. It is very important to take a note that even
during stratification of diverse people, those are detailed inside the book and a number of
categorization is done, keeping in mind different subject matter as well as events, those
pertaining to them. For instance; the book contains minimum six chapters, which is devoted
to Abraham. The chapters contain various details of his characterization and that too from
different aspects, regarding his faith for his nation and how he was founded by the God
(Pounds, 2013).
A number of chapters as well as elements of the character’s life is portrayed from the
scriptures and within certain chapters; the author devotes equal attention to the description of
raw events and deeds affecting a person and the interpretation or analysis of the deeds.
According to that aspect, the reader will understand the significance of the particular texts
along with the meaning of those in regard to an individual and the impact upon him/her, as
per the Bible. In the year 1871, English anthropologist, Sir Edward Burnett Taylor defined
religion as the belief or faith in the spiritual beings. He said that spiritual beliefs exist in all
kinds of society. Psychologist William James, in his book “The Varieties of Religious
Experience”, defined religion as, the acts, experiences and feelings of individual men in their
solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may
consider the divine. James meant divine as any object which is God Like or deity, be it
concrete or not. In his book “The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life”, French
sociologist Durkheim, defined religion as the unified system of practices and beliefs related

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to sacred things, which he meant things those are forbidden and set apart. Modern definition
of “religion” includes the definition given by MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions, which
mentions an experiential aspect of religion which is common to almost all cultures (Pritchard,
2016).
The majority of Old Testament is quite extensive on its own, since the time it has
comprised approximately forty books which covers a period of about forty thousand years.
The story of how god has developed people is the central theme of this work. The fact
becomes clearer when an individual considers, immense variety of existence in the book’s
nature, which makes up this Old Testament. The books consist of different songs, laws,
poems, ethics and the common historical books. However, one of the most important facets
of Elmer’s book is that he introduces a central idea or theme all throughout the disparate
elements. The theme is being elucidated more in a structured manner, where the influential
events are placed chronologically. Elmer mainly focuses on the characters which are central
and influenced by several events. This would gain importance inside the New Testament. The
author has given the readers a well noted perspective of David and Abraham, as they are
being depicted as more human beings rather than iconic statures, which are attributed to them
generally (Towns, 1989).
Elmer’s way of presenting the stories is innovative, which would attract the reader.
He mainly shows the correlation between the church’s history and the destruction of
Gomorrah and Sodom. This thought is continued clearly from Abraham’s conversation with
the God, at the time of destruction of two cities. He mentioned prayer as the communicating
device, which bonds our relationship with the God. However, a question still arises that how
many people are on the verge of destruction and why he stopped at ten. This helped in setting
a good rhythm, among the Genesis, for establishing the relationship of people with the God.
Towns mainly tied all these stories directly to the Christian Testaments’ teachings. In the

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beginning, the church was out of Judaism. He establishes it by co relating the Joseph’s story
of Genesis with the Romans (Wright, 2014).
In that aspect, Elmer’s narration operates to something that is buildup since the birth
at the times of Jesus. The Old Testament itself functioned in this regard. The description of
Elmer’s book, establishes in detail the beginning of heavens and earth, the man’s creation and
also the establishment of the God’s covenant among the chosen people, along with various
tribulations and trials, which went all throughout for the preservation of faith in the sanctity.
The ending testament within the Genesis is used for summarizing the entire section, which
brings in the comparison of Holy Spirit and the servant. The comparison in the beginning
seems to be very practical and unique, but it does not hold strong points in explaining the
facts of Holy Spirit being the community or believer (Pritchard, 2016).
Elmer Towns have uniquely recreated the Old Testament sequentially. He has placed
the influential events in a chronological manner. The book presents various events through
the lives of fifty individuals, such as, Lucifer, Adam, Malachi, Zechariah and others. He
mainly focuses on the characters which are central and influenced by several events. This
would gain importance inside the New Testament. The author has given the readers a well
noted perspective of David and Abraham, as they are being depicted as more human beings
rather than iconic statures, which are attributed to them generally. “A Journey through the
Old Testament: The Story of how God developed his people in the Old Testament”, helps the
readers to understand the events which occurred before Christ’s birth. The book also shows
common desires, frustrations and difficulties of the people who has been in this world for
long. The reader will also be able to gain an insight regarding the failures and successes of
men and women and how God influenced their generation (Duvall & Hays, 2012).

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The book mainly follows a historian approach and the struggle between good and the
bad. The book is not only Old Testament survey, but also gives a brief understanding
regarding the central them, religion and other historical facts. It can be divided into three
broad categories; world religions, indigenous religions and new religious movements. World
religions refer to international faiths, indigenous religions which refer to smaller or nation
specific religious groups and new religious movements which refer to the faiths and beliefs
that recently developed. The religion’s origin is uncertain. There are several theories which
are about the origin of religious practices. Anthropologists John Monaghan and Peter Just
mentioned that the inception of the world’s great religions is through some sort of
revitalization movements, as the visions and imaginations of people seek more
comprehensive answers to their questions rather than what is provided by their everyday
beliefs (Wright, 2014).
Elmer Towns presents an uncommon approach of getting the understanding of the
people who has influenced and shaped the organization as well as initiation of the early
Christian Church. Religion development has been in different forms varying from culture to
culture. Some religions emphasize on beliefs and some religion emphasize on practices.
Some focus on the experience which is more subjective, while other religions consider the
activities of the community to be more important. Some claim to be universal, while others
confine themselves to a closely localized group. Many associate religion with the public
institutions, like, schools, family, political hierarchies, hospitals and the government.
Scholars have emphasized the academic study of religion in schools, colleges and university.
Moreover, religion has marked its print in the field of law, with several scholars involved in
the school of law and the departments of academics including history and political science
(Balmer, 2014).

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Through identification of various places, persons as well as situations which are
responsible for the laying of groundwork of early movement of the Christianity, Towns helps
in taking the readers to a very exciting and adventurous journey of the first century’s era of
Christianity. He also travelled very methodically or chronologically by presenting each and
every person of influence and representing them in the beginning of the New Testament era.
It will help the students to gain an intensive understanding of the teachings of Christ’s and the
influence of Holy Spirit during the inception of the church. He also mentioned the point that
practicing of religion sometimes harms the society and become violent while promoting their
goals and endorsing themselves It should be kept in mind that no leader exploits his or her
devotees. Through these, the author presented detailed compilation of the making up of
biblical world in the early church (Beek, 1960).
Elmer delicately described a very incomparable role, which is played by the Holy
Spirit, in framing and influencing the doctrines and beliefs of the people who labored in the
new Christian’s movement. The fact becomes clearer when an individual considers, immense
variety of existence in the book’s nature, which makes up this Old Testament. The books
consist of different songs, laws, poems, ethics and the common historical books. However,
one of the most important facets of Elmer’s book is that he introduces a central idea or theme
all throughout the disparate elements. The theme is being elucidated more in a structured
manner, where the influential events are placed chronologically. Elmer mainly focuses on the
characters which are central and influenced by several events. This would gain importance
inside the New Testament. The author has given the readers a well noted perspective of
David and Abraham, as they are being depicted as more human beings rather than iconic
statures, which are attributed to them generally. This book is really a valuable one for the
biblical students, who have the urge to know more about men and women, who had played a
remarkable role on developing the New Testament (Towns, 1989).

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Towns really did a great job in writing this book; his compilations with the facts are
commendable. The partitioning of the topics via individual people, who have an impact on
the influential events, has helped in presenting minor insights and details among the lives of
many characters, which escape an individual’s notice while simply reading Bible. The
religion’s origin is uncertain. There are several theories which are about the origin of
religious practices. He mentioned that the inception of the world’s great religions is through
some sort of revitalization movements, as the visions and imaginations of people seek more
comprehensive answers to their questions rather than what is provided by their everyday
beliefs (Wright, 2014).
To conclude, the everyday rendition of the people has been serving a wide importance
in order to facilitate the theme of non-fiction work. Those people still exists today who will
find greater interest in reading the book like the chose people of God, as being depicted
within the book. This sort of realization is the author’s primary motive, when he was writing
the book. It helps in providing continuity between the contemporary Jewish or Christian
people, of the then period. In addition to this, he mentions regarding the deeds of people and
how to overcome those. The overall nature of such literary strategy is basically to lie
emphasize on the conditions of the modern day society, which are quite similar to the ones
being depicted inside the Old Testament. The people who survived before the Christ are not
different from the people living today. Average American is not at all interested in the dusty
stories of history. They are more into knowing about people and God’s development of
people. So, people will like reading the Old Testament and gain much idea regarding God’s
creation of human beings.

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References
Balmer, R. (2014). Mine eyes have seen the glory: A journey into the evangelical subculture
in America. Oxford University Press.
Beek, M. A. (1960). A journey through the Old Testament. Harper.
Duvall, J. S., & Hays, J. D. (2012). Grasping God's Word: A hands-on approach to reading,
interpreting, and applying the Bible. HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
Fromm, E. (2013). You shall be as gods: A radical interpretation of the Old Testament and its
tradition. Open Road Media.
Pounds, W. (2013). Christ in the Old Testament. Genesis, 12, 1-4.
Pritchard, J. B. (Ed.). (2016). Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament with
supplement. Princeton University Press.
Thomson, J. G. S. S. (1955). Christ and the Old Testament. The Expository Times, 67(1), 18-
20.
Towns, E. L. (1989). A Journey Through The Old Testament.
Wright, C. J. (2014). Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament. InterVarsity Press.