Urban Legends of the Old Testament: 40 Common Misconceptions
By David A. Croteau
Urban Legends of the Old Testament surveys forty of the most commonly misinterpreted passages in the Old Testament. These “urban legends” often arise because interpreters neglect a passage’s context, misuse historical background information, or misunderstand the original language of the text.
With a pastoral tone and helpful explanations of where the error originally occurred, authors David A. Croteau and Gary E. Yates tackle legendary biblical misinterpretations of topics like the origin of evil or the purpose of Mosaic food laws, as well as common misconceptions about dinosaurs, or NASA discovering Joshua’s long day. Urban Legends of the Old Testament will help readers avoid missteps in the interpretation of key biblical texts while modeling interpretative techniques that can also be applied to other Old Testament passages.
About the Author
David A. Croteau (Ph.D., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament and Greek in the Seminary and School of Ministry at Columbia International University. He is co-editor (with Andreas J. Köstenberger) of Which Bible Translation Should I Use? (B&H Academic, 2013) and author of Tithing after the Cross (Energion, 2013).
Dr. Croteau joined the faculty of Columbia Biblical Seminary in 2013, became Ph.D. Program Director in 2018, Associate Dean for Online Studies in 2019, Associate Dean in 2020, and Dean of the Seminary and School of Counseling in 2021. He teaches New Testament and Greek courses and is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society. He has previously taught at Liberty University (full-time), Grand Canyon University (online adjunct), Southwestern University (Kansas; online adjunct), and Luther Rice Bible College (online adjunct). Dr. Croteau has taught overseas in Tanzania, Kenya, South Korea, India, Nepal, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Haiti, and Mexico.
