In the linked article, I outline and explain forty passages on resurrection for use as Easter sermons. Yet, beyond serving pastors, I hope that even non-pastors can benefit from reading this article, as it—in so doing—provides something of a Biblical theology of resurrection.
Have you ever read a portion of the Old Testament and wondered to yourself, “What does any of this have to do with the larger story of the Bible?” In this book, Stephen Dempster helps us grasp the grand story of the Hebrew Bible by examining the twin themes of genealogy and geography (seed and land). Dempster takes us on a journey through the Old Testament, showing us how it’s not just a random collection of stories but a carefully woven narrative that brings coherence to the Bible’s overall message.
How does the whole Bible, in all its various parts, fit together to tell the story of God’s redemptive plan accomplished by Christ? This month’s book recommendation is According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Graeme Goldsworthy.
Biblical Theology – A discipline of Biblical studies concerned with doing theology according to and stemming from the contours and categories presented within the Bible itself (i.e., attending to scriptures diachronically rather than synchronically, tracing its themes, and considering the unique contributions, perspectives, and voices of particular Biblical authors and corpora).
There then seem to be three major forms of Biblical theology that stem from these general concerns (as defined above):
The Old Testament tells a unifying story of God working to restore his creation and establish his kingdom. This would finally happen permanently and irreversible at the end of history, the “last days.” But the New Testament presents this time as already having dawned in the arrival of Christ. We are living in those “last days,” as Peter said (Acts 2). Premier New Testament scholar, G.K. Beale, visits the Church Theology podcast to talk about the New Testament’s “inaugurated eschatology,” or as George Eldon Ladd put it, “the presence of the future.”
Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)
Kirk E. Miller 