Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church (and why they need each other)

Last updated on: May 15, 2013 at 6:43 am by Kendrick Kuo

Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church (and why they need each other) 2013-05-15T06:43:07-06:00 Kendrick Kuo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church by Michael Lawrence

What is biblical theology and why is it important to the local church? It’s easy to understand why theology in general is important since we need to know what we believe and apply certain biblical ideas to contemporary living. But when we talk about the importance of theology, I think we usually have in mind systematic theology (i.e., what does the Bible as a whole say about X?). In Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church, Michael Lawrence makes the case for biblical theology. He discusses not only its importance, but also how it is a necessary complement to systematic theology, as well as the tools biblical theology provides for us to read and apply Scripture.

The great strength of Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church (BTLC) lies in translating a potentially complicated, sprawling topic into digestible paragraphs that uphold the nuances in this discursive discipline. A basic example is how he defines “biblical theology”. Lawrence gives us three definitions from different authors:

“Biblical Theology is the branch of Exegetical Theology which deals with the process of the self-revelation of God deposited in the Bible” – Geerhardus Vos (p. 88)

“…biblical theology…seeks to uncover and articulate the unity of all the biblical texts taken together, resorting primarily to the categories of those texts themselves.” – D. A. Carson (p. 88)

“[Biblical theology] contends that to read the Bible as unified Scripture is not just one interpretive option among others, but that which best corresponds to the nature of the text itself, given its divine reveltion. As such, [biblical theology[, as a discipline, not only provides the basis for understanding how texts in one part of Scripture relate to all other texts, but it also serves as the basis and underpinning for all theologizing….” – Steve Wellum (p. 89)

After walking through these different definitions with their own emphases, Lawrence cuts through the attendant frills and offers his own simple definition: “Biblical theology is the attempt to tell the whole story of the whole Bible as Christian Scripture. It’s a story, therefore, that has an authoritative and normative claim on our lives, because it’s the story of God’s glory in salvation through judgment” (p. 89). The last phrase should be familiar to the Reformed crowd since Lawrence borrows it from Jim Hamilton’s famous thesis and book.

Lawrence structures BTLC as a handbook to help pastors do biblical theology themselves (though it remains accessible to lay members). Thus he starts the book not by actually doing biblical theology, but rather by explaining the tools. Lawrence does a great job in the book’s logical structure. He moves from exegetical theology to biblical theology, and finally to systematic theology, which mirrors the way we should reason through any Scriptural text (i.e., exegesis → biblical theology → systematic theology).

This groundwork is followed by examples of Lawrence tracing the biblical theology of five themes through Scripture: creation, fall, love, sacrifice, and promise. Finally, BTLC concludes with concrete case studies as applied to preaching certain texts and how local churches should think through contemporary issues such as missions, social justice, and counseling.

The heftiest part of BTLC is the “Tools that are Needed” section. Lawrence walks readers through how Scripture is structured around covenants, epochs, and canon, each engaging a larger historical context. Understanding where a text is situated–within which covenant, which epoch, and where in the canon–is a necessary antidote to irresponsible proof-texting. In addition, another set of tools include prophecy, typology, and continuity. Lawrence explains that prophecy may have multiple horizons of fulfillment (Isaiah being a perfect example). He describes the proper use of typology and how to guard against seeing types where there aren’t any. And he helps readers understand that there can be both continuity and discontinuity between the covenants (sometime promises are fulfilled by discontinuity).

I personally wish I had read this book before digging into meatier works like Geerhardus Vos’s Biblical Theology and Michael Horton’s Introduction to Covenant Theology. Don’t make the same mistake. If you’re new to biblical theology but are convinced of its necessity (and if you’re not, read BTLC’s introduction), pick up BTLC as an onramp to the Biblical theology highway. I would follow-up BTLC with either Graeme Goldsworthy’s According to Plan or Vaughan Robert’s God’s Big Picture.

I’ll conclude this review with Lawrence’s own final sentences: “Biblical theology is useful theology. Biblical theology is theology at work. So pick up your Bible, and let’s get to work” (p. 217).

Books

Christian

Michael Lawrence

Previous Post

May 14, 2013

Eyes of the Heart in Photography

Next Post

May 16, 2013 Star Trek Into Terror

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was sent by the Jerusalem church to witness revival in Samaria?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul and Barnabas Silas and Timothy Peter and John James and John