According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy

A fellow pastor here on staff suggested that I read this book by Graeme Goldsworthy. I am so happy that he did. This book easily fulfills Goldsworthy's stated purpose of, "to introduce the reader to an integrated theology of the whole Bible." Each chapter walks you through another aspect of God's design in the Bible of "making Himself known" to man. I have looked for a good primary text that would help my Bible students understand the Bible as a whole and the message that it is attempting to deliver. Goldsworthy's book gives me that text. 

Each chapter is well thought out, written in very understandable language for layman as well as pastor. At the end of each chapter there are study guide questions to help you reflect back on what you have just read as well as to provide discussion starters for a small group to talk about the material and further apply it to their lives. 

One of Goldsworthy's main statements is that every Christian is a Theologian whether they want to be or not. This is because Theology is basically the study of God to get to "Know God." As such the Bible is the tool that God uses to make Himself known to us. We have to read it, study it, meditate on it and apply it to our daily lives if we want to grow in our relationship with God. 

Goldsworthy is conservative and well grounded in the Gospel. He comes from the school of, The Bible is God's Inspired Word and is accurate. It is without error. It will answer our human desire to know, "Why do I exist?" As well as answer the question, "Who is God and does He really exist?" 

Goldsworthy divides his work about Biblical Theology into three parts, 1) Why, 2) How and 3) What. Each section builds on the previous. Each section gives us more information about God and makes us desire Him even more. 

I would recommend this book to every Christian but especially to those students of the Word who are tackling the task of teaching a Bible class to children, youth or adults. You will not be disappointed with this book. It will give you a great overview of who God is and push you to desire Him more and grow to know Him deeper. 

Enjoy!

God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment by James Hamilton

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!