Biblical Theology and the Early Church

Stephen Presley has a concise discussion here of what we can learn about biblical theology from the early Church.

Three Words and the Theology of 1 Timothy

Claire Smith talks about the significance of three key words in 1 Timothy here.

Jesus Greater than Moses

Patrick Schreiner outlines some ways here. 

Biblical Theology and the Sermon

Gregory Goswell and Andreas Köstenberger talk about it here.

Andreas Köstenberger on Biblical Theology

I found this conversation with Andreas Köstenberger on biblical theology very interesting.

The Day of Atonment and the Eden Narrative

L. Michael Morales makes a thought-provoking observation linking the Day of Atonement with the Garden of Eden with the former providing a ritual reversal of the expulsion from Eden. Part of the move made by Morales is to highlight the parallel between Adam and the high priest and Eden and the tabernacle. Here he states,

"Not only is Adam's job description, best translated as "to worship and obey" (Genesis 2:15), used elsewhere only to describe the work of the Levites at the tabernacle (Numbers 3:7-8) but even Yahweh's clothing of Adam and the woman reappears later in the description of Moses' clothing of the priests (Genesis 3:21; Leviticus 8:13). While it is accurate enough to call Eden an archetypal sanctuary and Adam as an archetypal high priest, the theological message of the Pentateuch seems rather to focus on how the tabernacle, with the holy of holies, comprised an architectural Eden, with a garden, and how Aaron's priesthood functioned as renewed humanity, the high priest serving fundamentally as a new Adam figure. The Eden narrative of Genesis served to explain the logic of Israel's cult, providing God's people with a narrative backdrop for understanding their divinely ordained liturgy."

L. Michael Morales, Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2020), 100.

Journey into God's Presence through the Offerings

Using Leviticus 9 primarily, L. Michael Morales suggests a "procedural order" in the sacrifices ([1] the purification offering, [2] the whole burnt offering, and [3]) the peace offering that represent a "cultic exodus" into fellowship with God (see diagram below). That is, not only do the offerings represent what is necessary to enter into God's presence but the order itself matters. Frankly, I had not ever considered this before. Very interesting.

L. Michael Morales, Exodus Old and new: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2020), 91-98.

Identifying Central Themes

Kimble and Spellman provide helpful criteria for identifying central themes in the Bible. They suggest the following.

• "A central theme is a theme that shows up and develops across the canon. A central theme shows up multiple times at strategic moments in the Bible’s grand storyline and at strategic locations in the biblical canon."
• "A central theme will interface with several other major and minor themes."
• "A central them is one that is central for the biblical authors themselves."

Jeremy Kimble and Ched Spellman, Biblical Theology: Exploring the Shape, Storyline, and Themes of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2020), 239.

God’s Righteousness and Justice in the Old Testament

This looks looks to be an interesting study in two important themes in the Old Testament.

A Biblical Theology of David and Goliath

Jason Hood has a very interesting treatment treatment here of the David and Goliath story (1 Sam 17). His biblical theology treatment is interesting and even persuasive. But, I am wrestling with how his approach is different from the allegorical approaches that he rejects at the beginning of the article. I see two differences. First, Hood replaces anthropocentric allegorical approaches with what he sees as a theocentric biblical theology approach. Second, he approaches the David and Goliath within the broader story of the Bible whereas some other popular allegorical approaches fall outside of the biblical story line. But some of Hood's connections, his tracing of the biblical theology, seem a bit of a stretch for me. In any case, the article is worth checking out.

A Biblical Theology of Monarchs and Music

Peter Leithart has some interesting thoughts here.

Proverbs and Biblical Theology

I have been enjoying the online presentations for this year's Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting. One advantage of having the meeting online rather than in-person is that one can see many more presentations. It is an example of the old adage, "when life gives you lemons . . . ." In any case, one paper I have enjoyed was Daniel Estes' paper, "Proverbs and Biblical Theology: Can This Slipper Fit?" Estes rightly decries the general failure to integrate material from Proverbs in many recent biblical theologies. I often tell my students that the wisdom literature is where biblical theologies go to die!

That being said, Estes does note that there are five contexts in which biblical theologians have tried to incorporate Proverbs. They are (1) connection to Solomon, (2) creation, (3) covenant, (4) general coherence with the worldview that pervades the Bible, and (5) the connection between Jesus and wisdom. Estes also suggests other possible ways but I will leave that for the video in the Biblical Theology: Wisdom and Biblical Theology section.

Biblical Theology Myths

Drew Hunter talks about five of them here. I would add the "myth" that there is a consensus on the definition of biblical theology.

Reading Nahum Theologically

Russell Meek has some thoughts here.

The Madaba Map and Salvation History

Recently while revisited Madaba, Jordan and the famous Madaba Map, I picked up a little book by Herbert Donner on the map. In the book, he writes about the purposes of the map and I found the following statement interesting.

One of the superior purposes, however, is the realization of the exceptional idea, totally unknown before the 6th century, to illustrate God's salvation history in a map. On the mosaic map both Testaments, Old and New, are represented and the holy sites are displayed to the spectators eyes. 

The Mosaic Map of Madaba (Kampen, Netherlands: Kok Pharos, 1992), 30.

Bad Biblical Theology Preaching

Samuel Enmadi identifies four ways that bad biblical theology leads to bad preaching here.

Konrad Schmid on Five Turning Points in Biblical and Old Testament Theology

You can read about them here.

Annotated Bibliography on Biblical Theology

See here for a very helpful annotated bibliography of 101 works on biblical theology.

Genesis and Easter

William Barrick has a good post here asking, "What Does Easter Have To Do With Genesis?"

Ten Things You Should Know about the Exodus

Alistair Roberts identifies ten truths that you should know about the Exodus here. This is a list of the tend but do read the fuller discussion using the link.

1. The deliverance from Egypt is not the first example of the exodus pattern in the Bible.

2. The exodus is a pattern that can be broken down into many stages.

3. It is an event in which God discloses his identity.

4. The exodus is institutionalized and made foundational for the future self-understanding of the people of God.

5. The exodus and the exodus pattern help us to understand the meaning of and connections between events.

6. The exodus is a basis for prophetic expectation.

7. The exodus provides us with a framework within which to understand the work of Christ.

8. The exodus reveals the unity of Scripture and of the work of redemption to which it bears witness.

9. Both Baptism and the Lord’s Supper draw upon an exodus pattern.

10. The exodus gives us a sense of our place in God’s work of redemption.