Biblical Theology (and the God of Mission): Reading the Bible as Intended
This Viewpoint blog post is a companion to the March 24 episode of the Theologically Speaking podcast featuring BJU Seminary Professor Andreas Köstenberger and hosted by Dr. Ken Casillas, Professor and editor of the Seminary’s Journal of Biblical Theology and Worldview.
Takeaways:
- Biblical theology, simply defined, is the theology of the Bible as revealed in the authors’ writings, put into practice by emulating the New Testament authors’ “connecting the dots” of Old Testament themes and storyline to the coming of the Messiah.
- A foremost example is the Bible’s presentation from Genesis to Revelation of the Missionary God who has invited us to join in that mission.
- Congregations appropriately exposed to expository preaching will benefit from having that preaching presented in a biblical-theological manner that from the outset draws out key themes and showing how the individual book’s and author’s theology contributes to the Bible’s overall storyline.
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A Simple Definition, Put into Practice
Much confusion exists as to what biblical theology is. Various treatments of the subject posit anywhere from three to five competing definitions, some paragraphs long. Even liberal scholars have forwarded their own definition.
In the past, Andreas has offered his own simple definition: it’s the theology of the Bible—that is, the biblical authors’ convictions about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and about God’s work in human history, as revealed in their writings.
Putting that definition into practice is equally simple: it’s reading the Bible the way it is intended. We emulate how the New Testament authors connected the dots of Scripture, specifically linking the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, to Old Testament messianic themes, predictions and patterns.
In 1 Peter 1:10–11, the apostle writes that “the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”
And yet, it was not until the Messiah’s actual appearance and the church’s formation, as presented in the New Testament, that the veil was lifted, the mystery revealed, and Jesus was presented as Prophet, Priest and King—offices the prophets and people of Israel may have thought belonged to three separate figures but converged in Him.
A Three-Step Exercise in Synthesis
Interestingly, many believers—even pastors—put biblical theology into practice without even knowing the term, much less its formal definition. Yet again, the definition is not important. What matters is rather understanding the grand plan of salvation and how the story of Scripture fits together. In conjunction with this, we can profitably explore the major themes across the Bible as a whole and what each individual book contributes to the complete library of 66 diverse works of history, prophecy and poetry.
In that sense, Biblical Theology is an exercise in synthesis encompassing, in order, three steps—applied in combination, not in isolation:
- starting with the theology of a given book, because every author has an original case for writing to an original audience;
- progressing to a thematic approach, connecting individual books to broader themes across the Scriptures;
- finally, relating the various themes even more broadly to the meta-narrative of Scripture, God’s plan of salvation, and how that plays out across the history of redemption.
At the end of this process, we emerge with a story informed by the theologies of the individual books and the individual writers of Scripture.
An Example: The Theme of God’s Mission
An example of a central theme drawn out from and across Scripture through the application of biblical theology is that of God’s mission—an exercise that began for Andreas as the thesis for his doctoral dissertation with a focus on the Gospel of John. Andreas then wanted to broaden that to the rest of the Bible.
These days, one sees and hears a great deal about humans having been created for worship. We were indeed programmed for and commanded to engage in worship joyfully, as we will for all eternity.
But one truth is certain: We were created for mission and invited to join in mission by the missionary God whose presentation is at the heart of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Paul wrote that we were in fact created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared for us ahead of time that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). Not only is the greatest of these good works to share the Word of God (and thereby gain more worshippers), but this should also be our primary purpose.
This missionary God commands the man and woman created in His image to be fruitful and multiply (in fact, part of the mission is to procreate more image-bearers and disciples of Christ). He pursues them in the Garden after the Fall and promises a Seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent.
He further promises, among the hundreds of prophecies and types related to this mission, that through Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed, that there will always be a King from David’s house, and that God will send a Messiah who will be a light to the nations and who will suffer for our iniquities.
Ultimately, the storyline of Scriptures brings us to the revelation of this Christ in the Gospels and the assertion in the Gospel of John that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to save it. This is followed by the story, told in Acts and the Epistles, of the formation of the church as His body to continue that mission, and culminates in Revelation which depicts the gathering of the church in the New Jerusalem.
Application for Pastors: A Biblical Theological Approach to Preaching
We love expository preaching. But we also challenge pastors to pursue this approach in a biblical-theological manner.
Expository preaching often involves working through books, in series lasting sometimes months and even years. Yet that’s not how the original audience experienced the works in question. The epistles would have been read in a single sitting, with their key themes developed throughout and their application developed throughout and/or in the latter sections but heard and applied in context immediately.
Accordingly, it can be of tremendous value to a congregation learning about a book to have from the outset an awareness of key themes, how they play out across the book, and how the particular theology presented by an individual author contributes to the entire biblical narrative.
One reference tool we would humbly recommend to pastors in preparing a series in this manner is a volume Andreas co-authored with Gregory Goswell, entitled Biblical Theology: A Canonical, Thematic, and Ethical Approach. This work provides an approximately 10-page overview of each book of the Bible, drawing out each book’s and author’s theology—its key themes, and its place in the overall storyline of Scripture.
Additional Resources by Dr. Köstenberger:
