Biblical theology
Biblical theology is a scholarly approach to understanding the teachings and messages found in the Bible, emphasizing the text's historical context and thematic connections. This discipline seeks to discern how various narratives and ideas throughout the Bible converge to explain God's overarching plan for salvation. It is one of the three primary theological methods, alongside historical theology, which investigates the context of biblical events, and systematic theology, which focuses on the development of specific themes across the scriptures.
Scholars of biblical theology differ in their definitions and methodologies. Some, like Don A. Carson, concentrate on identifying prevalent themes, such as forgiveness and salvation, directly from the text. Others, like Geerhardus Vos, prioritize God's historical actions and their implications for understanding the biblical narrative. Stephen J. Wellum emphasizes the cohesiveness of the Bible as a masterful narrative that illustrates God's intentions for humanity across different eras and cultures.
Ultimately, biblical theology asserts that despite the diverse authors and context within the Bible, it tells a unified story centered on Jesus and his role in providing redemption for humanity, reflecting on the relationship between creation, sin, and salvation. This approach invites readers to explore the sacred text more deeply to uncover the significance of its teachings within the Christian faith.
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Biblical theology
Biblical theology is one of several ways to approach the study of God and God’s teachings in Christianity. Scholars have developed multiple definitions for the term. Generally, biblical theology refers to using the entire bible and its historical context to understand the teachings and messages it includes. This form of theology includes the study of how different themes expressed in the Bible connect throughout the text. It may incorporate aspects of the other two main types of theological study, historical and systematic theology. However, its primary focus is on understanding how the texts and teachings of the Bible come together to explain God’s plan.
Background
The word theology originated in the late medieval period and refers to the study of God and religious belief. It comes from the Greek words theos, meaning “god,” and logia, meaning “the study of.” While it can apply to the study of any god or religion, it is most commonly used in connection with the concepts of faith as found in Christianity.
The Bible is the sacred text of Christianity. It contains either sixty-six or seventy-three books, depending on the Christian denomination. All Christians share the same main belief that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected as part of God’s salvation plan for humanity. They also share the same general belief that because humans were created to have free will, they deviated from God’s original plan by sinning. This sin meant that without God’s plan for salvation, humans would be forever separated from God. However, there are different denominations of Christianity that have different approaches to worshiping and expressing faith in God.
In many Christian denominations, the books of the Bible are contained in two sections. These are known as the Old Testament and the New Testament. The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament start with the creation of the universe and end at around 400 BCE. It is similar in many ways to the sacred texts used in Judaism and contains many of the same books that are important to Jews. The twenty-seven books of the New Testament start with the birth of Jesus Christ and tell the story of his life and death, as well as the early formation of the Christian church. There are also seven books related to the Old Testament, referred to as the Apocrypha. Some denominations choose to add these books to the Bible between the Old and New Testaments.
Although the New Testament is focused on the life and teachings of Jesus, the other books of the Bible are also important to understanding Christianity. This is because Jesus was a practicing Jew and was often teaching other Jews. He used stories and lessons from the Jewish sacred texts as part of his teachings because these would have been familiar to his listeners. As a result, theologians who want to understand God’s teachings as preached by Jesus must also understand the teachings in the Old Testament.
Overview
Biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology are the three main approaches to theology. Historical theology focuses on studying the historical context of the stories in the Bible, such as what was going on politically and economically at the time recounted in the stories. Systematic theology analyzes the progress of one particular theme throughout the books of the Bible, such as looking at what the various authors included about God’s mercy or healing.
The term “biblical theology” has proven difficult to define because it includes aspects of both of these approaches. In addition, religious scholars have sometimes emphasized different aspects of the concept of biblical theology. While the overall concept of this theology looks at the Biblical texts as a whole to determine God’s plan for salvation, some theologians have focused on specific ways to explore that plan.
For example, Don A. Carson is a Canadian-born theologian who founded the Gospel Coalition. Like systemic theology, Carson’s approach focuses on various themes. However, his biblical theological method emphasizes looking at the text itself to determine what themes are important to study. According to Carson, themes such as forgiveness and salvation are studied because the Bible includes them so much, they must be important.
Geerhardus Johannes Vos was a Dutch-born Princeton professor who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He emphasized the importance of God’s historical actions over what was captured in words in the Bible. Vos focused on understanding the way the world’s history unfolded and how that related to the words of the Bible.
Stephen J. Wellum is a theologian, author, and professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His definition of biblical theology focuses on how the entirety of the Bible creates one story for all humankind. In this approach, the Bible conveys God’s plan and will for his creation and is one seamless story, despite the many diversions introduced into the text by human authors.
Though there are differences in how scholars approach biblical theology, the overall emphasis remains the same. The Bible uses many episodes of the lives of people over the course of thousands of years to tell God’s story of creation. The Bible also tells how part of that creation—humankind—fell into sin and needed redemption and how God provided the means for that redemption and a new path forward for humanity. The story unfolds through different eras and across different cultural groups. Though each of their stories can stand alone, when combined in the Bible, they contribute in distinct ways to the overall story. Biblical theology also considers how the entirety of the Bible is about Jesus and his role in the plan of salvation, even though more than half of the Bible occurs before his time on earth.
Bibliography
“Biblical vs. Systematic Theology.” Olive Tree Blog, www.olivetree.com/blog/biblical-vs-systematic-theology. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Bruno, Chris. “10 Things You Should Know About Biblical Theology.” Crossway, 10 Feb. 2017, www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-biblical-theology. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Carson, D. A. “What Is Biblical Theology? And Do We Need It?” Desiring God, 21 July 2015, www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-biblical-theology-and-do-we-need-it. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Goldsworthy, Graeme. “What is the Discipline of Biblical Theology?” 9Marks, 26 Feb. 2010, www.9marks.org/article/what-discipline-biblical-theology. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
“An Introduction to Christian Theology.” Boston College Boisi Center, www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/boisi/pdf/bc‗papers/BCP-Christianity.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Kostenberger, Andreas J. “What is Biblical Theology?” Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, www.mbts.edu/2019/10/what-is-biblical-theology. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Lawrence, Matthew. “3 Ways to Define Biblical Theology.” Crossway, 18 July 2017, www.crossway.org/articles/3-ways-to-define-biblical-theology. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.