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
What is Biblical Theology? (Definition)
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):
- Systems of redemptive-history — how the Bible fits together (“whole-bible” Biblical theology).
- Tracing themes across scripture, e.g., a Biblical theology of temple or land.
- Studying the particular theology of a given author, book, or set of books, e.g., a Pauline theology, a theology of Romans, an Old Testament Theology, etc.
The Presence of the Future: The New Testament’s Inaugurated Eschatology (with G.K. Beale)
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.)
God’s Big Picture (Vaughan Roberts) — Video Series
I just realized that one of my favorite, introductory books tracing the overarching storyline of scripture now has an accompanying video course.
The following video series, by Vaughan Roberts, is based on his short, incredibly well-done, and very accessible God’s Big Picture. This book sets out to trace the Bible’s overarching plotline, and show how all of scripture leads us to Christ.
Overview of the Big Story of the Bible
The following was created for use at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission as a resource for the men in the New Journey recovery program.
Creation (Genesis 1-2) – God creates the world. In this we see what God intended for his creation: God’s people (Adam and Eve), in God’s place (the Garden of Eden), under his loving rule, experiencing his presence.
The fall (Genesis 3-6:8) – Adam and Eve sin, and humanity enters into a state of rebellion. They experience God’s curse of judgment and death. God’s original intent for creation is lost.
The flood | Noahic Covenant (Genesis 6:9-11:26) – God judges the world with a flood, but saves Noah and his family. God makes a covenant[1] with Noah and creation that, despite humanity’s rebellion, he will not ultimately destroy his creation. This anticipates that God must have a rescue mission planned for his creation.
The patriarchs | Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 11:27-50:26) – Here we start to see the details of God’s rescue mission.
God chooses Abraham and makes a covenant with him. In this covenant, God promises to remake his creation: a new people (Abraham’s offspring, a new humanity), in a new place (the Promised Land, a new “Garden of Eden”), under his loving rule, experiencing his presence.
These promises are passed down to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and then Isaac’s son, Jacob (or Israel).
The Exodus (Exodus 1-18) – Abraham’s descendants find themselves in Egypt after God uses Jacob’s son, Joseph, to save the world from a famine.However, after some time, a new Pharaoh takes the throne and starts oppressing and enslaving Abraham’s people. God’s promises to Abraham feel far from true. But God acts on his promises to Abraham by raising up Moses, delivering his people from Egypt, and judging their enemies.
However, after some time, a new Pharaoh takes the throne and starts oppressing and enslaving Abraham’s people. God’s promises to Abraham feel far from true. But God acts on his promises to Abraham by raising up Moses, delivering his people from Egypt, and judging their enemies.
Here we see that God’s rescue mission to remake his creation involves deliverance from things that oppose it.
Kirk E. Miller 