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https://nicolevanwoudenberg537157.substack.com/p/biblical-theology

Biblical theology has a few definitions that I’ve found. (nothing like getting right into it, right?)

Nancy Guthrie says, “Biblical theology is a way of understanding and approaching the Bible that recognizes that even though the Bible is made up of various kinds of literature and written over centuries by 40 different human authors, it is really telling one cohesive story about what God is doing in the world through Christ.”

T.D. Alexander (from The Gospel Coalition essay) says, “Biblical theology refers to the overall theological message of the whole Bible. The 66 books that comprise the Bible are sufficiently unified that together they provide a coherent theology.”

It is The One Story with the main character being: God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Bible is not a collection of individual disconnected stories. The words we read in the Bible are God-breathed by the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The whole Word of God is one unified grand story of redemption authored by the Holy Spirit leading to Jesus and teaching us to live as God’s children.

You may have heard the term “systematic theology”(ST) before. ST is not at odds with BT (biblical theology). They complement each other. ST, as the phrase suggests, is composed of systems – it gathers everything the Bible teaches about a particular topic, such as Soteriology or the Trinity or the Person and Work of Christ under its category. ST is very valuable, and does inform BT, as BT informs ST.

Chris Bruno in his article “10 Things You Should Know About Biblical Theology” says that the goal of biblical theology is to “trace the progressive revelation of God and His saving plan, the unfolding story of the Bible.” The Bible tells one story – of one Creator God who made and rules over all things. Everything from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 tells us what the story is about: Jesus Christ. Yes, the Old Testament (OT) points to, or anticipates Jesus and his work of salvation for us sinners.

All 40 human authors wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that God’s words and message were communicated to us in different genres.  The Bible isn’t one type of genre. There’s Historical-Narrative, Law, Prophets, Wisdom/Poetry, Gospel, the Epistles and Apocalyptic literature. Skeptics would argue that there is no way all these different authors and all the different styles over all the different eras of time could ever lead to one cohesive story. Except that they forget one thing. There is ONE Divine Author.  2 Peter 1:20-21: “Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Although each of the 40 authors writes in their own words with their own purposes, themes, teachings etc. under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – these complement each other. This should cause us to marvel at the Holy Spirit’s unifying work!

Alexander uses the body as an example in his essay to show how there is unity in diversity. Paul also speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-30 when he tells of there being one Body. So to the diversity of books in one unified book. The eye has a different function than the ear which has a different function than the heart. We need all to be complete. “In the same way, the theology of the Bible is enriched by diversity that is complementary…Job appears to contradict the teaching of Proverbs, yet the different perspective provided by both books balance one another. Despite claims to the contrary, when correctly interpreted the Bible provides an amazing single theology.”

Jesus himself spoke of how the entire Scriptures tell of him in Luke 24 when he joined two of his disciples on their way to Emmaus. “And he said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets [the entire OT], he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Biblical theology provides an understanding of redemptive history. Of how the whole OT teaches that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer for our sins and then be exalted through his resurrection and ascension. BT helps us understand the proper Christocentric shape of the whole Bible. (Christ-centered)

BT is often studied by looking at different themes. And there are a lot of them that run straight throughout the whole Bible, weaving threads of truths that point to Christ, to complete the one overarching story – or the metanarrative. For example: Have you ever wondered why there are 4 gospels, not just one big one?  Yet, God gives us four gospels! Each of them has different emphases, each of them records different things – these help us in our overall understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus.

Similarly, each theme serves to communicate a coherent message about the person and work of Christ. One cohesive story. We are not to read any part of Scripture and then first ask ‘how does this apply to me?’. We need to learn to see Christ – especially in the OT. This is where understanding biblical theology helps; where understanding themes, types, and shadows helps to link everything to Christ and the NT.

It’s helpful to think of this in light of stories. Stories are not just about cold, hard facts. Stories impact our emotions, shape our imaginations, challenge us, even shape our lives in many ways. Think of how you have been impacted by childhood stories like Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, Charlottle’s Web, The Hardy Boys, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings – and you add in yours!  Much of the Bible is in narrative or story form – and are meant to impact us, change us, and teach us through story about God’s Story. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra are all OT stories. There are different genres interspersed through them as well. You’ll find poetry, for instance, in most books.  In the NT the Gospels and Acts are all narrative stories. There’s a compelling story or a metanarrative about relationships in the entire Word of God – the relationship of God with a people of His own. Or we could say the Bible’s overarching story is about our relationship with the awesome, magnificent, beautiful God of the cosmos.

The Bible answers the questions of all stories: Who are we? Where are we? Why are we here?  What went wrong? How will it be resolved? What will that look like?

The Bible – like all other stories – starts in the beginning where we are introduced to the main characters and the setting of the story to unfold. Soon enough there arises a conflict or a crisis – followed by a “rising action” that leads all the way to the climax where the crisis is dealt with, followed by a “falling action” that tells us what happens as a result of the crisis being resolved before finally seeing a full resolution, a new setting. Throughout we see character development, plots within the main plot, and many twists and turns that leave us unsure of the ending!

And this is the story of the Bible. We can see it in 4 parts:

1. Creation
2. Fall
3. Redemption
4. New Creation.

Genesis 1 and 2 set the scene. We are introduced to the main character first: our Trinitarian God. We meet Adam and Eve through the telling of the creation story. We read of the beauty of Eden and hear of the creation mandate given to Adam and Eve. We see God walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, face to face.

Genesis 3 gives us the crisis. And what a tragic, universal in scope crisis. Sin enters the story in a dramatic, cosmic all-encompassing way. But God, while not solving the crisis immediately, provides them and us with Hope.

Then…Genesis 3:15 – sometimes referred to as the ‘protoevangelium’ (the first gospel). We wonder how the crisis of sin will be solved. And God gives us the answer: Someone will fix this. The seed of the woman. The rising action is seen throughout the entire OT. Sin remains a big, big problem. Crisis upon crisis, tragedy upon tragedy, sin upon sin, judgment upon judgment – with stories of hope, mercy, grace, compassion, and love in between.

In Genesis we see a unique lineage of descendants, or offspring. The seed. This would eventually lead to the serpent-slayer spoken of in Genesis 3. Throughout the OT we are introduced to covenants that give us a clearer view of what to expect. Ultimately it boils down to this: God’s People, in God’s Place, under God’s Rule.  A future King. And the fulfillment of all the promises in the covenants in Christ. This is the theme of promise and fulfillment.

If you know your Bible, then you know that the climax of The One Story is the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus – the serpent-slayer! Sin and the curse of Genesis 3 has been dealt a death blow. But – there is a falling action before we get to the final resolution. The rest of the NT, and our present reality, is us living in light of what Jesus fixed for us – since we could not do anything to save ourselves. We live in the ‘already and not yet’, and while we live, we wait for the final resolution – the Consummation, the New Creation! Where God will dwell with us face to face again in an even better Eden on the New Heavens and New Earth.

Alexander concludes: “The study of BT is not an end in itself. It is rather a tool for understanding better the Bible as the inspired Word of God. BT helps us see the big picture, the themes woven throughout, how the story develops, how the promises of the OT – sometimes expressed through covenants – are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, as witnessed in the NT, and appreciate how the OT provides patterns or types that explain later developments in the story. When this is achieved, BT is strongly Christ-centered.”

The One Divine Author has something he wants to communicate to us, and we should desire to lean in and learn. The study of theology is not optional for the Christian. He uses the different authors in different time eras with different genres to tell us of His love for us and all of creation, of His sovereign plan from Day 1 until Christ returns. And the themes which we can trace help us to see the whole story through different angles or facets. BT pushes us toward the categories and symbols that the authors of Scripture used. For example, the unfolding revelation of God’s covenants with His people. We need to understand the symbols, the typology and more that Scripture uses.

To end with, I’ll leave you with a list of well-known themes that you can trace throughout Scripture.  Some of them start right in Genesis! (*)

*Eden/Garden/Wilderness

*Trees

King and Kingdom

*Seed/Offspring

*Promise/Fulfillment

*Sacrifice/Blood/Redemption/Lamb/Substitute

*Life/Death/Resurrection

*Creation/Decreation/New Creation

Tabernacle/Dwelling/Presence/City

Mountains

*Light/Darkness

Bread/Life

*Blessings/Curse

*Covenants/Promises

*Sabbath rest

Priest/Priesthood

*Marriage/Bride/Bridegroom

Famine/Feast

*Nakedness/Clothing

*Exodus/Exile/Promised Land

Opposition/Deliverance

*Fruitfulness/Barrenness

*Suffering/Glory

*Covenant

Grace and Peace!