Session 1: Introduction to Biblical Theology

Saturday, 28 September 13

PROJECT

DATE LOCATION30 SEP 2013 SBTC

INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL THEOLOGY SESSION ONE: BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH

TUTOR JON SWALESSaturday, 28 September 13

‘the history of ‘biblical theology’ is extraordinarily diverse. Everyone does that which is right in his or her own eyes, and calls it biblical theology’.....

Biblical theology has become a catchphrase, a wax nose that can mean anything

What is Biblical Theology?




Johann Philipp Gabler (1787 )



Johann Philipp Gabler (1787 )



Johann Philipp Gabler (1787 )There is truly a biblical theology, of historical origin, conveying what the holy writers felt about divine matters; on the other hand there is a dogmatic theology of didactic origin, teaching what each theologian philosophizes rationally about divine things, according to the measure of his ability or of the times, age, place, sect, school, and other similar factors.



Johann Philipp Gabler (1787 )There is truly a biblical theology, of historical origin, conveying what the holy writers felt about divine matters; on the other hand there is a dogmatic theology of didactic origin, teaching what each theologian philosophizes rationally about divine things, according to the measure of his ability or of the times, age, place, sect, school, and other similar factors.TEXT

EXEGESIS

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY:

DOGMATIC/SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY




WHAT THE TEXT IS SAYING?

TEXT

EXEGESIS

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY:






WHAT DO WE COMMUNICATE TO THE CHURCH/WORLD?

TEXT

EXEGESIS

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY:






WHAT DO WE COMMUNICATE TO THE CHURCH/WORLD?

TEXT

EXEGESIS

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY:

DOGMATIC/SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY ENLIGHTENMENT FILTER



What is Biblical Theology?“Biblical theology is principally concerned with the overall theological message of the whole Bible. It seeks to understand the parts in relation to the whole and, to achieve this, it must work with the mutual interaction of the literary, historical, and theological dimensions of the various corpora, and with the inter-relationships of these within the whole canon of Scripture Biblical theology may be defined as theological interpretation of Scripture in and for the church. It proceeds with historical and literary sensitivity and seeks to analyse 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.”B. S. Rosner, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (IVP, 2000



1. UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF SCRIPTURE




3. FOCUSED AND BROAD









4. ECCLESIAL CONTEXT






5. OT/NT






5. OT/NT

6. USES LANGUAGE AND CATEGORIES OF SCRIPTURE






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE

8. THEOLOGICAL


Brevard Childs (1923-2007)

‘The role of the Bible is not bring understood simply as a cultural expression of ancient peoples, but as a testimony pointing beyond itself to a divine reality to which it bears witness... Such an approach to the Bible is obviously confessional. Yet the Enlightenment’s alternative proposal that was to confine the Bible solely to the arena of human experience is just as much a philosophical commitment.’ Biblical Theology: A Proposal (2002, 12)






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE

8. THEOLOGICAL






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE

8. THEOLOGICAL

9. NARRATIVAL


Grahem GoldsworthyFrom the evangelical preacher's point of view, biblical theology involves the quest for the big picture, or the overview of biblical revelation. It is of the nature of biblical theology that it tells a story rather than sets out timeless principles in abstraction. It does contain many timeless principles, but not in abstract. They are given in an historical context of progressive revelation. If we allow the Bible to tell its own story, we find a coherent and meaningful whole. G. L. Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, (IVP, 2000)






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE

8. THEOLOGICAL

9. NARRATIVAL






5. OT/NT


7. PRESCRIPTIVE

8. THEOLOGICAL

9. NARRATIVAL

10. CHRISTOCENTRIC







Suppose there exists a Shakespeare play whose fifth act had been lost. The first four acts provide, let us suppose, such a wealth of characterization, such a crescendo of excitement within the plot, that it is generally agreed that the play ought to be staged. Nevertheless, it is felt inappropriate actually to write a fifth act once and for all: it would freeze the play into one form, and commit Shakespeare as it were to being prospectively responsible for work not in fact his own. Better, it might be felt, to give the key parts to highly trained, sensitive and experienced Shakespearian actors, who would immerse themselves in the first four acts, and in the language and culture of Shakespeare and his time, and who would then be told to work out a fifth act for themselves.

ACT 1 CREATIONACT 2 FALLACT 3 ISRAELACT 4 JESUSACT 5 CHURCH


Education

Session 1: Introduction to Biblical Theology