Just what is biblical theology anyway?

Last updated on: August 25, 2014 at 5:01 am by Coyle Neal

Just what is biblical theology anyway? 2014-08-25T05:01:52-06:00 Coyle Neal

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 What Is Biblical Theology? by James M. Hamilton, Jr.

Just what is “biblical theology”? And isn’t all good theology ‘biblical’ theology? Well, yes and no. Obviously all good theology will be based on the Bible, but “biblical theology” refers to a very specific category within the broad science known as theology. It is this specific category that Southern Seminary Professor James Hamilton’s What Is Biblical Theology? is intended to introduce. In this short book, Hamilton gives a quick overview of this largely overlooked field of study.

So, just what is biblical theology? Hamilton explains:

By the phrase biblical theology I mean the interpretive perspective reflected in the way the biblical authors have presented their understanding of earlier Scripture, redemptive history, and the events they are describing, recounting, celebrating, or addressing in narratives, poems, proverbs, letters, and apocalypses. (16)

In other words, biblical theology traces the unfolding storyline of Scripture and develops a doctrine out of the progressive revelation of God to His people. If it helps, think of it like this: systematic theology gathers all of the verses in the Bible about a single topic and then systematizes what the Bible says about that topic. Biblical theology, on the other hand, looks at the Bible not in its individual parts, but as a whole book. It looks at all topics at the same time and puts systematic theology in its appropriate context.

In What Is Biblical Theology?, Hamilton focuses on three key concepts relevant to the discipline: story, symbol, and church. The “story” section discusses the Bible as a narrative, with plot, themes, characters, and so on. “Symbol” is about how the Bible uses images and types to bind together the various components of the story. The “church” section is about those whom the Bible is for, the group to whom God is revealing Himself. The point of each of these concepts is to teach us how to better understand the Bible as a whole. What is the overall plot? What is the role of symbolism? How does it all apply to the church? When we have these tools under our belts, we’re better able to understand the Bible as a complete text.

Among the three sections, the middle section on symbols is probably the most useful. In this section, Hamilton breaks down the uses of symbols, images, types, and patterns and gives some broad guidelines on how to properly read and interpret them in Scripture. In the section on typology, for example, he notes that historical events in Scripture are connected to each other both in terms of foreshadowing (the Exodus foreshadows the return from Babylonian captivity, which foreshadows our salvation, which foreshadows our eventual entrance to heaven) and in terms of escalation (that is, each successive event is greater than the one before it). Taken together, we can better see how the narrative of Scripture ties together in God’s plan for the salvation of His people. Without a solid Biblical theology, it can be difficult to apply what happens in Exodus to our daily lives, or to understand how our salvation was foreshadowed by the return from Babylon, and so forth.

Overall, this is an excellent introduction to biblical theology—though it is only an introduction; the would-be student of biblical theology should not stop here. Hamilton is a competent writer (even if his examples at times are a bit forced) and this is a quick read, as well as being a way to help you master the basics of the discipline so that you can go on to read a longer and more difficult work of biblical theology. We’ll be reviewing a few of these longer works here in the next few weeks, but if you enjoy Hamilton’s approach and want to read more you can pick up his longer and much more onerous God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment: A Biblical Theology.

This book was provided for free by the publisher for purposes of review. I was not required to write a positive one. It is the first in an ongoing series of reviews of biblical theology texts.

Dr. Coyle Neal teaches Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri.

Previous Post

August 22, 2014

Why would you want to raise a reader?

Next Post

September 12, 2014 Don't Watch 'The Drop'

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

What part of the body does the Breastplate of Righteousness protect?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The stomach The heart The head The back