In the preface to Clowney's book, The Unfolding Mystery, J.I. Packer writes, "Biblical theology is the umbrella-name for those disciplines that explore the unity of the Bible, 
delving into the contents of the books, showing the links between them, and pointing up the ongoing flow of the revelatory and redemptive process that reached its climax in Jesus Christ."
If you're like me, maybe you grew up with expository preaching taught without a proper context. Line by line is a wise approach, only as much as the lines are placed in the context of the whole. Stories, analogies and imperatives lifted out of Scripture and broken off from the overarching story of redemptive history, can leave the listener listless and even despairing.
To remain faithful to an accurate understanding of Scripture, Christ must be sought out and seen, whether in the types and shadows of the Psalms and Prophets or in the plain speech of St. Peter. If we fail to see Jesus, we've missed the point. All of Scripture breathed out by the Holy Spirit, points to Him: The Serpent Crusher of Genesis, the Seed of Abraham, the Everlasting King in the line of David. Find Him and you'll find treasure.
Some great resources for Biblical Theology:
Michael S. Horton: God of Promise
Edmund P. Clowney: The Unfolding Mystery
Graeme Goldsworthy: Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture
Graeme Goldsworthy: According to Plan
Nancy Guthrie: Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament (series).
delving into the contents of the books, showing the links between them, and pointing up the ongoing flow of the revelatory and redemptive process that reached its climax in Jesus Christ."
If you're like me, maybe you grew up with expository preaching taught without a proper context. Line by line is a wise approach, only as much as the lines are placed in the context of the whole. Stories, analogies and imperatives lifted out of Scripture and broken off from the overarching story of redemptive history, can leave the listener listless and even despairing.
To remain faithful to an accurate understanding of Scripture, Christ must be sought out and seen, whether in the types and shadows of the Psalms and Prophets or in the plain speech of St. Peter. If we fail to see Jesus, we've missed the point. All of Scripture breathed out by the Holy Spirit, points to Him: The Serpent Crusher of Genesis, the Seed of Abraham, the Everlasting King in the line of David. Find Him and you'll find treasure.
Some great resources for Biblical Theology:
Michael S. Horton: God of Promise
Edmund P. Clowney: The Unfolding Mystery
Graeme Goldsworthy: Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture
Graeme Goldsworthy: According to Plan
Nancy Guthrie: Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament (series).
A helpful popular level resource from a Reformation Anglican is Vaughan Roberts’ “God’s Big Picture” which is a distillation of Goldsworthy’s work. I’ve used it for an adult Bible study. “The Big Picture Story Bible” by David Helm is a kids’ bible that distills Goldsworthy’s work. Also recently enjoyed Nancy Guthrie’s Interview with Goldsworthy on her “Help Me Teach the Bible” podcast. In it Goldsworthy explains how the Biblical Theology movement got going at Moore Theological college (Reformation Anglicans) when the source/text criticism movement was so prevalent.
ReplyDelete