Biblical Theology is often viewed as a difficult discipline to master, but Christians should not shy away from the study of Theology. Our task as Christians is to honor and glorify Christ and delight in Him. We do this by knowing God and making Him known.
Biblical Theology is easily defined as getting to “know” God. It’s not just “knowing” about Him, but it is imperative that we “know” Him in a personal relational way.
James Hamilton, Jr. wants all of us to be able to study the Bible as a whole unit, not just 66 individual books with 66 individual central topics. He believes that there is a “central” theme to the Bible and one that we should keep in mind as we read through the Bible in a year, or study individual books and chapters of books.
Hamilton is aware that many may disagree with his premise, so early in the book he declares, “Anticipating the charge that it might be too broad to be useful, I am sharpening the proposal to focus specifically on the glory of God manifested in salvation through judgment.” He then asks the question, “Can the center hold?”
His book will seek to answer the question that yes, the center can hold. He will also seek to show how the theme of God being manifested in salvation through judgment is part of each of the 66 books of the Bible. As such after a brief introduction to his topic he delves into examining each book of the Bible to show how it fits into the central theme that he is working from.
I believe that you will find that his work is thoughtful and well documented. You will be drawn to see the case that he is making and be challenged to adopt or refine his thesis. He does not shy away from sharing how other Theologians would differ with him in his thoughts. That is comforting because it shows that he is not trying to just dismiss others views to push his own.
As a Missions Pastor I teach part of the Perspectives Course every year regarding Missions the major theme of the Bible, God’s Story of making His name known among the nations.
Each of us has our leanings towards how we see Scripture fitting together as a whole. I was very encouraged by Hamilton’s book to contemplate on his structure and theme and see how that complimented or helped to further explain the Theme of the Bible that I have taught for years.
The work is well written and will be easy for the average laymen to understand as well as provide good material for serious Bible students to contemplate as they work through understanding the whole Theme of God’s Word.
Particularly helpful is Hamilton’s Analytical Outline at the beginning of the book. It will help you quickly catch the structure of his thesis as well as find a section that you might be particularly interested in.
At 640 pages this is not a quick read, but it is a very interesting one.
Enjoy!
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