The Bible as Story (Part 2)
Each generation seems to be a bit near-sighted. A prevailing assumption among some in the current generation seems to be to think of biblical theology—especially holistic (whole-Bible) biblical theology—as the fairly recent discovery of evangelicalism, especially by the evangelical academy. But there are earlier examples that are generally ignored, if even recognized at all. I suspect a couple of reasons that contribute to this are that they were dispensational in approach, and were expressly produced for the church and published outside the academy; so they are widely viewed as “popular” rather than “scholarly” writers. Before getting into some of the more contemporary efforts to articulate the theme of a whole-Bible storyline (next time), I want to briefly highlight two of these older pastor-theologians who understood and, it may even be argued, pioneered this concept.
W. Graham Scroggie (1877-1958)
Born in England to Scottish parents, Scroggie was one of nine children. He attended Spurgeon’s College in London to prepare for ministry. His opposition to liberalism cost him his first two pastorates, though he later pastored Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle during World War II (1938-44). Scroggie became a preacher of international repute, as well as a writer. Some of his best known works include A Guide to the Gospels, A Guide to the Psalms, and most pertinently for this column, The Unfolding Drama of Redemption. In this 1953 work, Scroggie was attempting what today would be called whole-Bible biblical theology. He believed the Bible had a thematic center: “The underlying theme of all the Scriptures is redemption.” And he viewed the whole Bible as comprising one story: “the historical unfolding of the redeeming purpose presents a dramatic unity. The stories make one Story . . . .” If you do any reading in the contemporary field of biblical theology, that sounds remarkably modern.
J. Sidlow Baxter (1903-1999)
Though born in Australia, Sid Baxter grew up in England. Despite a godly, praying mother, he spent much of his youth in worldly pursuits until God used his reading of one of Spurgeon’s sermons to convict and convert him. Like Scroggie, he enrolled at Spurgeon’s College to train for the ministry and, also like Scroggie, developed an international reputation as a preacher and author of some twenty-six books. In his celebrated volume Explore the Book, Baxter describes his methodology in biblical theological terms: “to get hold of the controlling thought, the outstanding meaning and message of each book, and then see it in relation to the other books of Scripture.” That method entailed attention to each book’s structure, a synopsis of its contents, and attention to distinctive features that warranted further study. His operational procedure is one well worth emulation by modern preachers: “We shall resolutely guard against forcing any artificial outline on any book of Scripture. To sacrifice exactness for the sake of smart alliteration is an impertinence when dealing with Divinely inspired writings…. [For] an erroneous analysis, however adroitly drawn up, obscures the real and vital message of a book.”
Biblical Theology for the Church
Brian Rosner defines biblical theology as “theological interpretation of Scripture in and for the church. It proceeds with historical and literary sensitivity and seeks to analyze and synthesize the Bible’s teaching about God and his relations to the world on its own terms, maintaining sight of the Bible’s overarching narrative and Christocentric focus” (New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 10).
Scroggie and Baxter seem to fit that definition of biblical theology rather well as prototypes of modern evangelical biblical theologians, whatever their imperfections (as most prototypes are). They certainly lack the scholarly sophistication of recent works in biblical theology; but that’s because of a characteristic that has much to commend it—their writing aimed primarily at the church not the academy, as Rosner says biblical theology should. Some might think of them (somewhat disparagingly) more as popularizers than prototypes. It may be more accurate to say that, even without the benefit of all the advanced scholarly training and background brought to the table by modern biblical theologians, they were intuitively doing holistic biblical theology.
Everyone has a native tendency to historical myopia—to think that everything significant and worth knowing began in their lifetime. We should be prepared to welcome and appreciate the advances and insights of our own generation, including the biblical theological study of the Scriptures that has burgeoned over the last few decades. At the same time, we also need to cultivate an awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of those prior to our generation, including those outside the hallowed halls of academia who labored to do theology for the church.
