Biblical Theology is not a different theology from Systematic Theology or Historical Theology, but rather is simply God’s revealed theology as organized and expounded by surveying the unfolding history of redemption through the books of the Bible, as opposed to systematizing it according to fundamental principles or viewing it as it has developed historically through Church history.
As such, Biblical Theology often brings out insights and treatments of topics not typically found in Systematic and Historical theologies, which sometimes brings with it a different emphasis. Different facets of the diamond of the Revelation of God are often brought out more prominently depending on the angle from which one views it, all of which angles that shed light upon the beauty of God’s Word, the true Christian will cherish.
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Subsections
Old Testament Theology 8+
New Testament Theology 11+
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Outline
Treatises of Biblical Theology on the Whole Bible 10+
On the Discipline of Biblical Theology 4
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Treatises of Biblical Theology on the Whole Bible 10+
1600’s, Reformed
Owen, John – Biblical Theology: the History of Theology from Adam to Christ Buy 856 pp.
This work is not in Owen’s 16 volume Works, nor in his Hebrews commentary, but muct be purchased as a separate volume, it being only recently translated out of the Latin.
John Edwards (1637–1716) was a reformed, Anglican divine.
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1700’s, Reformed
Edwards, Jonathan – A History of the Work of Redemption, comprising an Outline of Church History Re-Typset PDF 450 pp.
Edwards gives a history of redemption (the preminent thing God is concerned about) from the Fall to the End of the World, including an interpretation of post-Apostolic Church history through the lens of a historicist eschatology.
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1800’s
Reformed
Whytock, George – Chs. 1-8 of Twelve Essays on the Church 1843 120 pp. ed. Thomas M’Crie the younger
Whytock (1750-1805) was an Old Light, Anti-Burgher Secession minister.
Robinson, Stuart – Discourses on Redemption: as Revealed at ‘Sundry Times and in Divers Manners’, designed both as Biblical Expositions for the People and Hints to Theological Students 1866 500 pp.
Robinson was an American Southern Presbyterian.
Bannerman, David Douglas – The Scripture Doctrine of the Church: Historically and Exegetically Considered 1887 620 pp.
D. Douglas Bannerman was of the Free Church of Scotland, the son of the more well known Free Church Professor James Bannerman (known for his works on Justification and The Church of Christ).
This work traces the history and teachings about the Church, and the unfolding thereof from the time of Abraham through the Acts and the Epistles. James Bannerman had written the classic systematic exposition of the doctrine of the Church in two volumes; this work is an attempt to cover the same topic from a Biblical-Historical methodology. It is very good, though Douglas is weaker on the purity of worship than his father was.
Non-Reformed
Storr, Gottlob Christian – An Elementary Course of Biblical Theology, vol. 1, 2 1826
Storr (17476-1805) was a German Protestant theologian and professor of philosophy and theology at Tubingen and Stuttgart. He was an outspoken advocate of Biblical supranaturalism, and founder of Ältere Tübinger Schule (a conservative Tübingen school of theologians). His conservative orthodox views in theology placed him at odds with proponents of the Enlightenment, rationalism and Kantian philosophy.
Storr was the first to propose that the New Testament book of Mark was written prior to the other Gospels (Markan priority), an assertion that opposed the traditional view that the book of Matthew was the earliest Gospel written.
This work is laid out like a systematic theology, but as his method is very exegetical through the history of Scripture, like a Biblical theology, it is placed here. Storr represents a transitional phase during the 1700’s from traditional dogmatics to Biblical theologies.
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1900’s, Reformed
Vos, Geerhardus
Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments Buy 1948 402 pp.
Vos (1862-1949) was one of the last conservative theologians at Old Princeton, and is known as the father of reformed Biblical Theology.
Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos Buy ed. R. Gaffin 1980 560 pp.
Robertson, O. Palmer – The Christ of the Covenants Buy 1980 300 pp.
Robertson (1937-). This work is one of the best, detailed, contemporary arguments for Covenant Theology. Robertson comes from a 2-Covenant perspective (not holding to a distinct Covenant of Redemption).
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1900’s – 2000’s Broadly Evangelical
ed. Bauer, Johannes B. – Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology, vol. 1 (A-H), 2 (Hu-R), 3 (S-W) 1970
Hafemann, Scott – Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect Buy 2002 286 pp.
Goldsworthy, Graeme
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible 1991
Goldsworthy (b. 1934) is an Anglican who is a popular writer in Biblical theology.
The Goldsworthy Trilogy: The Gospel and the Kingdom, The Gospel and Wisdom, The Gospel and Revelation 2001
The first work views Christ in the Pentateuch and the O.T. historical books, the second views Christ in the O.T. wisdom literature, and the third is about the purpose and contemporary relevance of the Book of Revelation.
Kaiser, Walter – The Promise-Plan of God: a Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments Buy 2008
Kaiser (b. 1933) is an evangelical Old Testament scholar who has been a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
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On the Discipline of Biblical Theology
Articles
Gabler, Johann Philipp – ‘On the Proper Distinction Between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology’ 1787 10 pp. An address. Excerpted from John Sandys-Wunsch & Laurence Eldredge, ‘J. P. Gabler and the Distinction between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology: Translation, Commentary, and Discussion of His Originality,” Scottish Journal of Theology 33 (1980) 133-44
Gabler (1753–1826) was the first to clearly and consciously define Biblical theology as its own distinct discipline. Gabler was a German Protestant Christian theologian of the school of Griesbach and Eichhorn. “…the ideas he expressed were those of eighteenth-century Enlightenment theology.” – Translator’s Introduction
Muller, Richard – ‘Biblical Theology’ in The Study of Theology (Zondervan, 1991), ch. 2, pp. 85-96
Poythress, Vern S. – ‘Biblical Studies: Kinds of Biblical Theology’ Westminster Theological Journal 70 (2008): 129-42
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Book
Hafemann, Scott – Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect Buy 2002 286 pp.
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Related Pages