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Biblical theology looks at the Bible "as it
comes"
—
book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter,
verse-by-verse. But Biblical theology
and systematic theology must go hand-in-hand. A
new, illegitimate "Biblical theology" movement
rejects systematic theology, and the result is
an unbalanced view of the Bible and the spread
of false teaching.
A
Shared Basic Principle
Like systematic theology, the
legitimate discipline of Biblical theology is a
method of studying God's Word that is founded on the principle that the
Scriptures reveal a single God-ordained,
well-ordered, coherent, and unchanging system of
doctrine.
Systematic & Biblical Theology Compared
As we saw in a
previous
article,
the discipline of systematic theology looks at
the Bible topically, collecting and organizing –
not capriciously, but according to sound
principles of interpretation – all the
Scriptures pertaining to a particular question.
(For example, "What does
the Bible say about the Holy Spirit?")
On the other hand, Biblical
theology looks at the Bible "as it comes" – book
by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. The
study of Biblical theology results in an
understanding of each book of the Bible based on
questions such as these:
-
Who were the human author(s)?
(We must also always remember that all of
Scripture is inspired by God and has a
single divine author, the Holy Spirit.)
-
What was the historical
setting of the book?
-
What was the cultural setting
of the book?
-
What literary forms are used
(e.g., historical narrative, poetry,
parable, teaching, prophecy, etc.)?
-
What use, if any, is made of
symbolism, and how should those symbols be
interpreted?
-
What is the outline of the
book?
-
What are its main messages?
-
What is its relationship to
the other books of the Bible?
When answering these questions,
systematic theology must also be in the Bible
student's mind. We must maintain an attitude of
servanthood and submission to the Word of God by
always remembering what systematic theology
shows us: The Bible is a unified whole without
contradictions,
revealing a single God-ordained, well-ordered,
consistent, and unchanging system of doctrine.
The "New" Biblical Theology: Man's Word Over
God's
In the 20th century, a discipline
arose that is also called "Biblical theology"
(also known as redemptive-historical theology)
which does not adhere to these principles.
Instead, the adherents of this illegitimate
study method impose their own perspectives upon
Scripture, thus placing man's word in authority
over God's. Sadly, this is the method
increasingly taught in Bible colleges and
seminaries today. In our next article, we'll
discuss this movement in more detail, and
explain its dangers.
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