Biblical Theology According to the Apostles: How The Earliest Christians Told The Story Of The Old Testament (New Studies in Biblical Theology, vol. 52 | NSBT)
Overview
Although relatively few in number, the New Testament’s explicit summaries of the Old Testament story (e.g., Acts 7, Rom 9–11, and Heb 11) give readers direct access into the way the earliest Christians told Israel’s story, which is to say, into the way they did biblical theology. These curiously-overlooked summaries are the subject of this study.
The first part focuses on the summaries of Israel’s story in the Synoptic Gospels, the second on Paul, the third on Hebrews, and [tentatively] the fourth on John (Revelation 12). All this, together, suggests just how valuable a lens these summaries provide for a clearer vision of the earliest Christians’ practice of biblical theology.
The authors’ ultimate goal is to move beyond the descriptive to the prescriptive, to show how contemporary readers can and should follow the apostles' example.
- Examines the New Testament’s explicit summaries of the Old Testament story
- Explores the apolstolic use of biblical theology
- Focuses on the summaries of Israel’s story in the Synoptic Gospels, Paul, Hebrews, and Revelation
- Introduction
- Matthew and Israel’s continuing story
- Luke, Acts and the climax of Israel’s story
- Galatians and Israel’s law
- Romans and Israel’s identity
- Hebrews and Israel’s inheritance
- Conclusion: a biblical-theological rule of faith
Top Highlights
“Guided by Hood and Emerson’s criteria, we have identified seven SIS in the NT: (1) the genealogy in Matthew (Matt. 1:1–17); (2) Jesus’ parable of the tenants (Matt. 21:33–46; etc.); (3) Stephen’s speech (Acts 7); (4) Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16–41); (5) Paul’s argument from salvation history in Galatians (Gal. 3–4); (6) his defence of God’s faithfulness to Israel in Romans (Rom. 9–11); and (7) the author of Hebrews’s exhortation to his readers about persevering faith (Heb. 11).” (Pages 7–8)
“The vineyard, which represents God’s covenantal presence, is taken away from unfaithful Israel and rebuilt on the foundation of the Messiah, Jesus. In this telling of Israel’s story Jesus is the Psalm 118 cornerstone of the new temple, which is also the Daniel 2 stone foundation of the temple-kingdom that will fill the whole earth.” (Page 40)
“Therefore, the story of Israel in the parable of the wicked tenants is this: God entrusted his people, Israel, with the covenantal blessing of his presence. However, when God’s prophets held the people accountable to keep their covenant obligations, they failed time and again. Finally, God sent his son, the Messiah, Jesus, to the tenants. When they rejected and killed him, this was the final straw. The vineyard, God’s covenantal presence, would be taken from them and given to others (v. 43) by means of a new temple, built on the foundation of the rejected cornerstone.” (Page 41)
“Our goal is to explore those parts of the iceberg that are standing in plain sight under the light of the sun. Sometimes the most difficult thing to observe carefully is the thing that you see all the time, such as the famous ‘hall of faith’ in Hebrews 11. And yet Hebrews 11 is not only one of the most important examples of the use of the OT in the NT, but is also an inspired example of how to put the story of the Bible together.” (Page 2)
This book is a fresh entry into the crowded field of biblical theology. One form of biblical theology seeks to unpack the distinctive theological voice of each biblical book and corpus; another very common form of biblical theology traces themes across the canon, watching them develop and sometimes even take on a typological life of their own. The approach adopted by the three authors of this volume follows neither pattern. Instead, they set themselves the task of studying how the story of Israel is picked up in various ways in the New Testament, whether directly or allusively. What does Matthew’s handling of Jesus’ genealogy disclose about the evangelist’s understanding of Israel’s history? What about the treatment of Israel by Stephen in Acts 7, by Paul in Romans 9-11, by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 11? The journey through these and other texts is surprisingly interesting, and contributes mightily to a fresh understanding of some of the ways in which the biblical documents intertwine so as to flesh out the good news of Jesus the Messiah.
— D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, USA
- Title: Biblical Theology According to the Apostles: How the Earliest Christians Told the Story of the Old Testament
- Authors: Chris Bruno, Jared Compton, and Kevin McFadden
- Editor: D. A. Carson
- Series: New Studies in Biblical Theology (NSBT)
- Publisher: IVP
- Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 288
- Resource Type: Biblical Theology
- Topic: Old Testament in the New Testament
Chris Bruno (Ph.D., Wheaton College) is Assistant Professor of Bible and Theology at Cedarville University. He previously served with the Antioch School Hawaii, Harbor Church and Northland International University.
Jared Compton (Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a pastor at CrossWay Community Church, Bristol, WI.
Kevin McFadden (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Cairn University (Philadelphia).