Thursday, April 03, 2008

Biblical Theology According To Goldsworthy

Evangelical biblical theologian, Graeme Goldsworthy was just here on campus and delivered three lectures on Biblical Theology. For those who read my blog and are unaccustomed to the term "biblical theology", I find a helpful distinction between it and "systematic theology" to be that systematic theology is the organization of all the exegetical data from the Bible into logical categories whereas "biblical theology" is not so much about fitting data into a system, but adjusting our minds to the Bible as a whole storyline in itself with a goal in sight. Tom Schreiner provides a helpful discussion about the difference here.

Men like Schreiner and Goldsworthy are able to more eloquently than me provide helpful definitions of Biblical Theology like this one from Goldsworthy:


Biblical Theology is the study of how every text in the Bible relates to every other text in the Bible. It is the study of the matrix of divine revelation. At the heart of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God come in the flesh. The nature of the Gospel is such that it demands that it be the center of the biblical message. Biblical Theology is then, the study of how every text in the Bible relates to Jesus and His gospel. Thus we start with Christ so that we may end with Christ. Biblical Theology is Christological for its subject matter is the scriptures as God's testimony to Christ. It is therefore, from start to finish, a study of Christ.

You can listen or read all of his lectures from the SBTS website or simply click on them here:

"The Necessity and Viability of Biblical Theology" (MP3) (PDF)
"Biblical Theology in the Seminary and Bible College" (MP3) (PDF)
"Biblical Theology and Its Pastoral Application" (MP3) (PDF)

1 comment:

Jim Peet said...

Thanks for this post and the helpful link to Tom Schreiner's article.

God bless,

Jim