Could you guys please offer some input on books on Biblical Theology? I'm looking for something to give my wife that is more than just an introduction into the subject. I'd like something that can help her, and equip her in the area of Biblical theology. I was going to go with Vos on this, and may still, but the review of the book on Monergism said, "Vos proceeds on the assumption that, in order to do justice to the progressively unfolding nature of special revelation, it is illegitimate to use later revelation to inform the meaning of earlier revelation". So, I'm just trying to get a better ideas of other books on this subject out there. These are the books that looked like they might fill the bill from Monergism books:

The Progress of Redemption: The Story of Salvation from Creation to the New Jerusalem by Willem VanGemeren
The Coming of the Kingdom by Herman N. Ridderbos
Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity by Scott J Hafemann & Paul R. House (Editors)
Finding Christ in the Old Testament

I'd welcome any reviews or thoughts on these books. I'm going to keep looking, but any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to find something that is challenging and expanding for my wife in understanding the centrality of Christ and the unfolding plan of redemption as seen in Scripture. Thanks for your help and time!

~jacob

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Jacob
Sovereign Grace Ministries
Covenant Fellowship Church
West Chester, PA

"Grace renews nature; glory perfects grace." ~ John Owen
Blog - The Strasbourg Inn

I am not sure who Nathan Pitchford is who wrote the review of Vos that you cite, but I cannot see how one could read Vos and come away with that impression. In my opinion, although many of the books you cite are good, Vos is still the best. Ridderbos' "Coming of the Kingdom" is helpful but narrowly limited to the synoptic gospels.

Van Gemeren is good, but I do not think he is nearly as penetrating as Vos into the eschatological aspect of reveleation an redemptive history.

Vos' "Biblical Theology" is definitely the place to start

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Rev. Adam King
Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church (WPCUS)
Lyndon, VT
www.vt.wpcus.org

B. Childs; Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments - a MUST read

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John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]

I am reading this right now and enjoying it immensely. "The Presence of the Future" by Ladd was great although limited to the kingdom of God.

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Josef Pieper, "We are not yet what we are"

Great! Ridderbos is very insightful in that book, imho. It is a great tool for studies in the gospels. Personally, I have always found Vos somewhat clearer than Riddebos (maybe more to the point?). But if one is looking for a good source on a small part of the Bible, it is certainly worth looking at.

Vos is essential. Of course we use the NT to understand the old. We use scripture to interpret scripture. That is a fundamental axiom of protestant biblical interpretation. We don't interpret the OT like someone who has never heard of Christ.

As Augustine said, the OT is the NT concealed and the NT is the OT revealed.

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Scott Roberts
Ruling Elder, Lakeside Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Southlake, Texas

Jacob, I recently finished reading this book. I've never studied biblical theology before, so this has really helped me to springboard into the study. Has your wife ever studied BT before? How familiar is she with BT? I have both Vos' and Ridderbos' books and plan on reading them very soon beginning with Vos.

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~Greg Carpenter~
Deerfield Beach, FL

"It is a throne of grace that God in Christ is represented to us upon; but yet it is a throne still whereon majesty and glory do reside, and God is always to be considered by us as on a throne." –John Owen

She is generally familiar with it from our own discussions. I've helped her to see the development of God's plan through Scripture, but not in a technical way - usually when she asks my help in understanding a passage and where it "fits" in the whole of Scripture. I've read that book, and we have it. I thought it was good, and a great introduction, but I'd like something a little more "meaty" for her, if that makes sense. The book was helpful, but I'm trying to guide her in more serious, thorough studies of issues in the Bible - hence looking more towards Vos than towards Goldsworthy. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Graeme Goldsworthy's According to Plan is definitely worthwhile, and a lot more accessible than Vos. Actually, pretty much anything by Goldsworthy is helpful in this area.

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Wes Bredenhof
Co-pastor, Langley Canadian Reformed Church
Langley, British Columbia
www.bredenhof.ca

I concur on According to Plan by Goldsworthy. It is a good basic introduction to BT. He wrote it to serve that purpose, it being a primer for his trilogy on the subject.

If my wife wanted to learn more about BT I'd give her According to Plan without hesitation. I wrote a brief review of it here.

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Joe Holland
Associate Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Kosciusko, MS
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Mining Grace

I have John Owen's Biblical Theology. I ventured into it years ago but stopped. Has anyone read it so they can either give it a thumbs up or down?

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R. Martin Snyder
1689er PuritanCovenanter's MySpace Page
Harmony Baptist Church (Member)
"Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation."William Symington

Hear hear!

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Marty

From Creation to New Creation via Redemption

I would guess that Vos meant, assuming he wrote a line like this: "it is illegitimate to use later revelation to inform the meaning of earlier revelation," that this maxim would hold exclusively with regard to the doing of BT.

IOW, if you are studying unfolding revelation, you are studying that part of Scripture that was extant at a certain time. Like interpreting Moses, exclusively through the Pentateuch. Or studying what Abraham would know of God by trying to confine oneself to that written revelation he possessed combined with what he was given himself. Likewise, studying David through the Pentateuch, through Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Sam, and 1 Chron, plus those Psalms that he wrote (or Moses).

This is a bit of a tricky business, for it is not known what form pre-Mosaic revelation might have taken, nor should we think that everything the prophets ever said was committed to writing. And then there is the light shed by at least some later revelation. Jude, for instance, seems to indicate (not necessarily gathered from OT texts) that Enoch prophesied of the Second Coming. I'm not sure that apart from an inspired Jude, we would have even an inkling from Genesis alone (and only 5 chapters) that Enoch was a preacher of judgment.

In fact, some strict BTers would deny that it is legitimate for Jude to inform us in reconstructing an antediluvian eschatology! We should reject an extreme position like that, while respecting the BT discipline.

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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Who are some of these 'extreme' BTers? Not Vos or Ridderbos or Ladd I hope.

Yes, I have read it, and reread it. It's not the sort of book I'd recommend for people who are seeking to understand biblical theology in the "Vos / Goldsworthy" vein. Owen didn't give it the title "Biblical Theology" it was the the publishing house.

The book is very dense and difficult, and not for the faint-hearted! I personally don't think it's Owen at his best.

One other excellent book that is a simple and clear is Tim Chester, Creation to New Creation.

Cheers Randy.

Thanks for the recommendations, guys! I put The Goldsworthy Trilogy and From Creation to New Creation on order through interlibrary loan.