This article argues that Old Testament theology considers the insight that emerges from the form of the Old Testament canon, that it focuses on the canon of the Old Testament itself, not the history of Israel. According to Goldingay, Old Testament theology lets the canon itself be the canon.

It became fashionable in the early 1980s to study Old Testament theology from a political and sociological point of view. The author critically confronts such an approach and reflects on the task of Old Testament Theology.