Biblical Theology. Review: Introduction. What is Biblical Theology? In the past few weeks we have talked about:

Transcription

1 Review: Biblical Theology In the past few weeks we have talked about: 1. Introductory material the need for hermeneutics. 2. General principles for hermeneutics. 3. Using Bible translations in study. 4. Genre 5. Basic Discourse Analysis 6. Historical/Cultural Context & Background Studies 7. Word Studies 8. Interpretive Correlation Introduction 1. The majority of this lesson is adapted from Biblical Theology, in Andrew David Naselli, How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017). 2. We are including a lesson on theology, and biblical theology in particular, because the hermeneutical process remains incomplete if we never move from interpretation to theology. Our interpretation of Scripture will necessarily guide us into theological conclusions. 3. There are four branches of theology, generally speaking: a. Historical Theology Surveying and evaluating how significant exegetes and theologians have understood the Bible and theology. b. Practical Theology Applying the Bible to oneself, the church, and the world. It answers the question, How should we live? c. Systematic Theology Correlating what the whole Bible teaches and organizing it by topics or themes. It answers the question, What does the whole bible say about (blank)? d. Biblical Theology Studies how the Bible progresses, integrates, and climaxes in Christ. What is Biblical Theology? 1

2 Long definition: Biblical theology is a way of analyzing and synthesizing the Bible that makes organic, salvation-historical connections with the whole canon on its own terms, especially regarding how the Old and New Testaments integrate and climax in Christ. 1. Biblical Theology Makes Organic, Salvation-Historical Connections a. Organic relates to elements harmoniously growing together as parts of a whole. 1. Example: A tree has several parts, but it is all one tree. 2. Explanation: Many themes in the Bible start off early in the story line as a seed, but then sprout and grow into a mature, fruit-bearing tree. 3. Biblical theology studies and synthesizes (combine into a coherent whole) that growth. I.e. it traces that growth by showing how the parts relate to the whole. b. Salvation-Historical connection refers to the Bible s redemptive story line: 1. Creation 2. Fall 3. Restoration 4. Consummation c. Ways to make organic, salvation-historical connections: 1. Trace a theme s salvation-historical progression. For example, trace the them seed from Genesis to Revelation 2. Track promise and fulfillment. For example, work through the fulfill language in the Gospel of Matthew and connect it to the Old Testament. 3. Trace type and antitype. Typology analyzes how New Testament persons, events, and institutions (i.e. antitypes) fulfill Old Testament persons, events, and institutions (i.e., types) by repeating Old Testament situations at a deeper, climactic level in salvation history. For example, the Feeding of the Five Thousand fulfills God s giving manna in the Old Testament by repeating that event at a deeper, climactic level in the history of salvation. 4. Think through how the New Testament uses the Old. Why do New Testament authors quote or allude to specific Old Testament passages in the way that they do. d. Possible themes to trace throughout the Bible (articles in the Zondervan NIV Study Bible: 1. The glory of God 2. Creation 3. Sin 4. Covenant 5. Law 6. Temple 2

3 7. Priest 8. Sacrifice 9. Exile and exodus 10. The kingdom of God 11. Sonship 12. The city of God 13. Prophets and prophecy 14. Death and resurrection 15. People of God 16. Wisdom 17. Holiness 18. Justice 19. Wrath 20. Love and grace 21. The gospel 22. Worship 23. Mission 24. Peace 25. The consummation 2. Biblical Theology Analyzes and Synthesizes the Whole Canon a. Biblical theology can be done in a number of ways: 1. You could focus on a single book, studying themes like righteousness in Romans or wisdom in 1 Corinthians. 2. You could focus on the collected writings of a single author, studying themes like love in John s writings or faith in Paul s writings. 3. You could focus on one of the Testaments, studying kingdom in the New Testament or studying land in the Old Testament. b. When biblical theology is done with the arc of salvation-history in view, it studies in light of the whole Bible. This requires that we read the Bible as progressive revelation: God progressively revealed the Bible throughout history, so late revelation builds on earlier revelation. 3. Biblical Theology Analyzes and Synthesizes the Whole Cannon on Its Own Terms a. In this definition, on its own terms distinguishes biblical theology from systematic theology. 1. In systematic theology, modern-day controversies or philosophical questions set the agenda. 2. Systematic theologies vary in what they address based on the time and culture they are written (i.e. a Systematic theology written for a group of people saved out of animism will address different issues than a systematic theology written for a group of people saved out of atheism). b. Biblical theology is inductive, historical, and organic. It is born out of the text. 3

4 4. Biblical Theology Analyzes and Synthesizes How the Old and New Testaments Integrate a. Because the Old and New Testaments are part of a single book, they integrate with one another. b. Because of this, Biblical theology is concerned about how the New Testament authors use Old Testament texts and events. This usage can be analyzed by: 1. Studying the New Testament context 2. Studying the Old Testament Context 3. Seeking to discern the NT author s hermeneutical warrant for using the OT in the New. Some possible ways the NT uses the OT include: a) Direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy b) To indicate affirmation that a not-yet-fulfilled Old Testament prophecy will be fulfilled in the future c) To indicate an abiding authority carried over from the Old Testament 4. Seeking to discern how the New Testament author theologically uses the Old Testament: a) What point is the NT author making? b) For example, Galatians 4: Biblical Theology Analyzes and Synthesizes How the Old and New Testaments Climax in Christ a. The Old and New Testaments have a unified theological message: God reigns, saves, and satisfies through covenant for his glory in Christ. b. The big story of the Bible is all about the glory of God in Christ in Christ is everything. 1. John 5:39 2. Luke 24:27, Corinthians 1:20 4. Hebrews 1:1 3 c. Because the Bible is one unified story, climaxing in Jesus, wee can, and should, read each part in light of the whole. Whether the theme is creation or covenant, law or liberty, sin or salvation, happiness or holiness, rest or righteousness, it all climaxes in Jesus. 4

5 Summary 1 1. Read the Bible progressively as a historically developing collection of documents. God did not provide his people with all the Bible at once. There is a progression to his revelation, and to read the whole back into some early part may seriously distort that part by obscuring its true significance in the flow of redemptive history. This requires not only organizing the Bible s historical material into its chronological sequence but also trying to understand the theological nature of the sequence. 2. Presuppose that the Bible is coherent. It has many human authors but one divine Author, and he never contradicts himself. BT uncovers and articulates the unity of all the biblical texts taken together. 3. Work inductively from the text from individual books and from themes that run through the Bible as a whole. Although readers can never entirely divorce themselves from their own backgrounds, students of BT recognize that their subject matter is exclusively the Bible. They therefore try to use categories and pursue agendas that the text itself sets. 4. Make theological connections within the entire Bible that the Bible itself authorizes. One way to do this is to trace the trajectory of themes straight through the Bible. 1 D. A. Carson, The Bible and Theology, in NIV Zondervan Study Bible, ed. D. A. Caron (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015),