Graeme GoldsworthyRezensionen
Autor von According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Rezensionen
Goldsworthy examina a Bíblia, a Teologia Bíblica e a Pregação e demonstra como essas três disciplinas se relacionam na preparação de sermões cristocêntricos.Ele então aplica o método bíblico teológico aos vários tipos de literatura que se encontram na Bíblia, extraindo sua contribuição para a pregação expositiva e focada na pessoa e obra de Cristo.
O livro inclui diagramas e gráficos que ajudarão os leitores a conceituar a estrutura da revelação na Bíblia, fazendo dele uma rica ferramenta, completa e imediatamente aplicável para pregadores, professores e estudantes das Escrituras.
In the first section, which addresses questions asked about the Bible, it is in Chapter 8 – “What Is the Structure of Biblical Revelation?” (pp. 97-114) – that Goldsworthy really seems to apply the theme of the work. The point made at the beginning of the chapter is that we need to start with the definitive fulfilling of the Gospel and allow this to illuminate the structure and significance of the Old Testament revelation. This means that when a text is encountered in the Old Testament, the text should be placed within salvation history and its relationship is linked theologically to the advent of the Christ before making application to the hearer.
Goldsworthy indicates that the progression of salvation history then can be visualized as a linier pathway beginning from the creation/fall to Abraham in which there is a progressive revelation of the kingdom of God, this revelation physically reaches its zenith with the kingly reign of David and Solomon. After this time there is a progressive decline of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah which continues to the end of the Old Testament, but it is at the beginning of this progressive decline when the work of the prophets begins in earnest. The work of the latter prophets takes on a decided air of judgment of the nation (and nations), but along with judgment comes the word of comfort and restoration also presented in the prophetic utterances. Although the message of the prophets is couched in “the terminology of Israel’s past history,” (108) the prophets portray what is to come as a solid reality as there is a promise being made by God of the salvific event of the Messiah. Jesus then fulfills all the expectations of the Old Testament and points forward to the second coming and the new creation as the completion of the salvation history of the Scriptures.
From this discussion, Goldsworthy shows in Diagram 7 the application of “macro-typology” (112) to the entirety of salvation history. From the creation to the schism of Judah and Israel is seen as the kingdom in Israel’s history. It is within this epoch that the type is established in the progressive building up of the pattern of salvation. A second epoch is indicated in the kingdom in prophecy which begins with the split in the physical kingdom and ends with the prophecies of Zechariah and Malachi. It is in this second epoch where the history of Israel no longer develops the theme of salvation, but the prophets become the focus of a proclamation of a future epoch that is to come. The third epoch described begins with the birth of Jesus and will continue until the new creation. It is in this epoch that the fulfillment of the foreshadowing in the previous two epochs is completed in the Christ. “The entire epoch of salvation history from Abraham to David and Solomon, is confirmed in prophetic eschatology, and fulfilled in Christ. All aspects of Old Testament salvation history bear a typological relationship to Christ.” (112) As Goldsworthy notes, this analysis underlines the fact that all texts of the “Bible bear a discernable relationship to Christ” (113) and are primarily intended to be a testimony to him.
In the second section of the work Goldsworthy begins to examine the individual literately genres to show their relationship to the advent of the Messiah (the Old Testament) or their relationship to the finished work and future second advent (the New Testament). Each section follows a similar pattern in which the chapter begins with a visual representation of the placement of the genre in salvation history and a discussion of the specific textual unit in biblical-theological context. After that discussion three to four sections from the genre are selected and those sections are examined to show their relationship to the Messiah and how those sections might be represented of other sections in the genre. After that, some literary and historical considerations are discussed, and finally tips for preaching the genre are given.
One could easily review any specific section, but the theme of the book almost demands that Chapter 16 – “Preaching from the Gospels” (222-232) – be the focus review for the second half of the work. As Goldsworthy notes, “the gospels complete the salvation history picture of the Bible by presenting Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises and hopes of the future salvation of God’s people” (Dia. 16, 222). Although many preachers feel very comfortable with the texts of the Gospels, placing the genre in the proper biblical-theological context does not happen automatically.
It is important to recognize that the relationship that Jesus had with his 1st century disciples is not the same relationship that Jesus has with his disciples today. Therefore, we must be diligent not to simply place ourselves into the text as if we are also standing in the physical presence of the Lord. The exegete must take care not to move from the narrative to ourselves without a consideration of the biblical theology, at its worst this type of exegesis presents the teachings of Jesus as simple moralism. There is an intent in the words of Jesus that needs to be understood, and that intent highlights a biblical-theological structure within the Gospels that shows a “significant modification from the Old Testament perspective of the day of the Lord.” In the Gospels one moves from an expectation of fulfillment as expressed in the Old Testament, thru the life and ministry of Jesus, to a “distinctly New Testament perspective on eschatology that clearly differentiates the first and second comings of Christ” (224). With the first advent of the Christ one moves from expectation and hope (the type) to the fulfillment (antitype).
The discussion of the individual sections of the Gospels begins with the genealogies of Jesus, which Goldsworthy notes often becomes little more than individual character studies. There is a rich theology embedded in the genealogies that show a progression thru the various epochs leading to the Messiah and highlighting the fact that understanding salvation history as presented in the Old Testament points like a beacon to the Messiah’s advent in the New. While Matthew shows a Messiah that is the seed of Abraham that fulfills the promise, Luke shows us that Jesus is the last and most significant individual among the sons of God. After a discussion of the temple cleansings and the parable of the Good Samaritan, Goldsworthy considers the postresurrection appearances. There is distinct theology in the perspective of John as he records an encounter with Mary Magdalene and another with Thomas. In the encounter with Mary Jesus specifically tells her not to touch him, yet in the encounter with Thomas Jesus specifically tells him to put his hand in the wounds. The difference is seen in the belief factor. Mary believes Jesus is alive but must be reminded that the return of Jesus does not mean “business as usual;” but, Thomas – who does not believe – must be reminded of the “continuity of things, not the radical discontinuity” (229). Both are confronted with a living Jesus, but both also must understand there is a change in the relationship.
Looking at the literary and historical considerations, Goldsworthy begins by noting that the Gospels form a new genre that developed from the need to communicate the event of the Messiah’s advent. Further, the Gospels show an affinity for the Old Testament in their frequent reference to genres of history, prophecy, and wisdom as evidence for the Messiah is amassed. The literary structure of the Gospels obviously serves a theological purpose, so the preacher should keep in mind that structure when presenting sermons. Along these lines, when planning sermons, Goldsworthy suggests that biblical theology should be of primary importance, but care should be taken not to only choose favorite passages and avoid those passages that do not speak to “our particular concerns or preoccupations” (231). Those parts of the Gospels that are presented should be placed within a theological context and not presented as a series of disjointed parts that do not relate to the whole purpose of the Gospel genre which is more than simply about conversion. “It is about life, about living by faith, about living with God, about knowing who Jesus is and what he ahs done, about what God is like” (232).
It should not be surprising that Goldsworthy identifies Jesus Christ as the hermeneutical key to the Scriptures, and the application of that key to the Scriptures is seen as the primary consideration of the homiletician. By making application of the Biblical texts to the Gospel message as presented thru the Christ first, the hearer then can be brought into closer unity with the heart of the Scriptures as application is made. Goldsworthy’s conversational style is well suited for the lay preacher while the more advanced student of the Scriptures will find deeper theological nuggets scattered throughout for further consideration. All those that preach should have a center to their message and this work helps the preacher find that center in its Christological emphasis.
Quotes from the work:
“Salvation history implies a recognition that Yahweh, the God of Israel, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Lord of history. History happens because of his decrees.” (28)
“The ontological nature of the Trinity can be expressed by saying that if God had never created anything, and thus there never was a human race that needed to be saved and that could be indwelt, God would still be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from eternity to eternity.” (66)
“Let us state this fact as a rule of thumb: the New Testament basis for ethical decisions is no longer Moses on Sinai but Christ on Calvary. This is not to drive a wedge between the two, however, for they are related. Christ on Calvary embraces and completes the principles that lie behind the law of Moses.” (96)
“To understand the relationship of this text [2 Samuel 6] to the gospel, we must be ready to pursue the great themes of kingship, the dwelling of God among his people, and the temple.” (147)
“Placing a label on a literary form or genre is not the issue. The preacher is under constraint to try to understand how the particular text functions as a vehicle for God’s word. The identification of the genre is important only if it helps us in this task.” (180)
“As interesting as much of the end of the world speculation of some might be, it is more likely that John wrote the whole book [Revelation] to encourage first-century Christians in their struggle.” (217)
“We can preach our hearts out on texts about what we ought to be, what makes a mature church, or what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives, but if we do not constantly, in every sermon, show the link between the Spirit’s work in us to Christ’s work for us, we will distort the message and send people away with a natural theology of salvation by works.” (237)
"Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles" is Goldsworthy's latest book, and in it he traces some of the influences to his thought. Along the way he gives a history of evangelical biblical theology and weighs the relative merits of competing approaches. He details the tripartite division of redemptive history that he inherited from his mentor, Donald Robinson. And by the end of this book, he has demonstrated just how careful and faithful his approach to Scripture really is.
Goldsworthy begins by explaining the problem. Biblical theology opens the way to a "big picture," grand view of all of Scripture. Yet too many view it as a "lame duck" and a distraction. Goldsworthy's faith in the potential of biblical theology stems from his simple faith in the entire Bible being "the one word of the one God about the one way of salvation through the one savior, Jesus Christ" (pg. 19). Drawing from his mentor, Donald Robinson (also a professor at Moore Theological College in Sydney) Goldsworthy sees a threefold structure to Scripture:
--Creation to Solomon's Temple (The Kingdom of God revealed in OT history)
--Solomon's Decline to the end of the OT era (The Kingdom revealed by the prophets in a future, glorified, Israelite form)
--The New Testament inauguration of the Kingdom (The Kingdom revealed in Christ)
He develops this further:
"The Old Testament... can be represented as a manifestation of promise and blessing reaching a high point in David's Jerusalem as the focal point of the land of inheritance, in Solomon as David's heir, and in the temple representing the presence of God to dwell among and bless his people. After Solomon's apostasy it is history primarily as a manifestation of judgment... overlaid with the prophetic promises that the Day of the Lord will come and bring ultimate blessing and judgment... It takes the person of Jesus, his teaching and the proclamation of his apostles to restore hope in the original promise of God." (pg. 25)
Goldsworthy addresses some of the objections to his approach as he traces out its foundation throughout the book. But at the onset he points out his pastoral concern in this whole debate. He is concerned with the simplistic way that so many Christians handle the Bible.
"Many have learned one particular way of dealing with the Bible and have not been exposed to a comprehensive biblical theology as an alternative. Some acknowledge that the Bible is a unity and that the heart of it is the gospel of Christ. But they have never been shown, or have tried to work out for themselves, the way the various parts of the Bible fit together. Reading the Bible then easily becomes the search for today's personal word from God, which is often far from what the text, within its context, is really saying.... Too many Christians go through life with a theoretically unified canon of Scripture and a practical canon consisting of favourite and familiar snippets and extracts removed from their real canonical context." (pg. 29, 37)
The heart of the book is Goldsworthy's romp through Scripture looking at its structure and storyline. He is convinced that the New Testament provides a model for how to interpret the Old Testament faithfully, but he focuses on the Old Testament's own use of earlier Old Testament themes and writings. The Old Testament creates the typological categories that the NT authors pick up. I found this point most intriguing, and cannot help but reproduce Goldsworthy's quotation from Donald Robinson to this regard.
"The blessings of God's End-time are described in the Old Testament for the most part in terms drawn from Israel's past history. The day of the Lord would be Israel's history all over again, but new with the newness of God. There would be a new Exodus, a new redemption from slavery and a new entry into the land of promise (Jer. 16:14, 15); a new covenant and a new law (Jer. 31:31-34). No foe would invade the promised inheritance, 'but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid' (Micah 4:4). There would be a new Jerusalem (Isa. 26:1, Ez. 40) and a new David to be God's shepherd over Israel (Jer. 23:5, Ez. 34:23,24) and a new Temple where perfect worship would be offered and from which a perfect law would go forth (Isa. 2:2-4, Ez. 40-46). It would not be too much to say that Israel's history, imperfectly experienced in the past, would find its perfect fulfilment 'in that day.' Indeed, nothing less than a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth, could contain all that God has in store for the End (Isa. 65:17)." (pg. 173 -174 [quote is from Donald W. B. Robinson, "The Hope of Christ's Coming" (Beecroft, New South Wales: Evangelical Tracts and Publications, 1958), pg. 13]).
When Goldsworthy looks at typology, he takes great care not to endorse a "no-holds barred" approach. While he advocates a macro-typology recognizing that "there is no aspect of reality that is not involved in the person and work of Christ." On the same hand, he argues that seeing "the pomegranates on the robes of the Israelite priest" as "types of the fruits of the Spirit;" or even "the redness of Rahab's cord" as a "type of Jesus' blood," is to pursue "fanciful, non-contextual associations that avoid the real theology behind these things" (pg. 186-187).
Throughout his book, Goldsworthy compares and contrasts his approach to biblical theology with several other evangelicals of note: Geerhardus Vos, Edmund Clowney and Dennis Johnson, Willem VanGemeren, William Dumbrell, Sidney Greidanus and others. He also details Donald Robinson's approach and legacy. In his assessment of differing approaches, he doesn't portray his view as the only faithful one, but as one faithful approach among many.
He doesn't provide a biblical theology in this book, but sketches the background for how to pursue a biblical theology. He does address a few issues more directly, since they focus on Robinson's legacy. One of these is an interesting discussion of the continuing distinction between Israel and the Church in the New Testament. He explores Robinson's contention that there remains a distinction between new Israel and the Church. The Gentiles get the blessings promised to Gentiles in the OT, while the blessings promised to Israel are experienced by the believing Jews in the NT era. Both groups of people are then subsumed in the new revelation of God's intent to make a new man, a new people for himself (cf. Eph. 2).
"Christ-Centered Biblical Theology" manages to keep from being merely a last word from an old theologian. There are memoirs and reflections, to be sure. But the over-all thrust of the book is to equip the reader to pick up the torch and take biblical theology into the new millennium. Numerous charts and diagrams help communicate the concepts of the book, and Goldsworthy ends with a litany of possibilities for furthering the discipline of biblical theology.
This book will kindle a fire in many hearts for biblical theology. And for those who are familiar already with this important discipline, it will stimulate further reflection on the structure of Scripture and the centrality of the Gospel. I hope it will find a broad audience, and that a new generation will carry on Goldsworthy's work.
Disclaimer: this book was provided by Inter-Varsity Press for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
Graeme Goldsworthy's new book, Gospel-centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles for Evangelical Biblical Interpretation, is a profound study of the ideas and issues involved in hermeneutics - and especially the importance of taking the Gospel of the Crucified, Risen, and Exalted Christ as our starting point for interpreting Scripture. The book is divided into three parts and nineteen chapters, followed by a bibliography, and Name and Scripture indices.
Part One: Evangelical Prolegomena to Hermeneutics
Part one contains four chapters dealing with concepts foundational to the task of hermeneutics and the remainder of the book. Those chapters are:
*The Necessity for Hermeneutics
*Presuppositions in Reading and Understanding
*Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics
*Towards a Biblical Theology of Interpretation
Goldsworthy states that "hermeneutics is about communication, meaning, and understanding" (24). These are the three dimensions involved in hermeneutics: the message/text, the sender/author, and the receiver/reader. Hermeneutics is about bridging the gaps (of language, culture, history, literature, etc.) that exist between the receiver/reader and the message/text and sender/author. When it comes to Scripture, God is the communicator, God's word is the message, and God's people are the receivers/readers.
The primary aim of this book is to show how all three of these dimensions in hermeneutics find their center in the person and work of Christ. "The gospel of Jesus Christ reveals him as the Word of God who is the truth. Jesus as the divine communicator, the saving message, and the human receiver demonstrates where the heart of true hermeneutics lies. The gospel is the power of God for salvation, which includes hermeneutical salvation" (53). Part one lays the groundwork for this kind of thinking and shows "from creation, through fall and redemptive history, to the new creation reveals a consistent approach to the basics of hermeneutics. In essence it shows that hermeneutic failure is due to human sin. The fact that we struggle for meaning and understanding as fallen creatures in a fallen world is ultimately problematic only if God has not acted to redeem the situation. But, because we believe he has acted redemptively in Christ, it is to this Christ that we must turn for hermeneutic salvation" (85).
Part Two: Challenges to Evangelical Hermeneutics
Part two is probably the most challenging section of the book, yet its value is great. The author shows how the Gospel has been "eclipsed" by the "invasion of non-biblical philosophical frameworks into the interpretive process" (91). What follows is both a survey of the history of hermeneutics and a biblically-faithful critique of the various schools of thought. In eight chapters Goldsworthy discusses The Eclipse of the Gospel in:
*The Early Church
*The Medieval Church
*Roman Catholicism
*Liberalism
*Philosophical Hermeneutics
*Historical Criticism
*Literary Criticism, and
*Evangelicalism.
The twelfth chapter on "The Eclipse of the Gospel in Evangelicalism" is especially insightful and relevant. This chapter is well worth reading, even if some readers preferred to skip over other parts. Goldsworthy deals with:
*Quietism: evangelical Docetism
*Literalism: evangelical Zionism
*Legalism: evangelical Judaism
*Decisionism: evangelical Bultmannism
*Subjectivism: evangelical Schleiermacherism
*`Jesus-in-my-heart-ism': evangelical Catholicism
*Evangelical pluralism, and
*Evangelical pragmatism
His summary of this chapter contends that "The irony of modern evangelicalism is that many of its aberrations have occurred because of a siege mentality and an attempt to ward off the effects of the enlightenment. When evangelicals become reactionary, they can often flee unwittingly into the arms of another enemy waiting in the wings . . . [The] matters raised in this chapter should move us to be more diligent in allowing the gospel to shape our hermeneutics, even if this means appearing to be somewhat tiresome in our questioning of some of the traditions of our evangelical culture" (180).
Part Three: Reconstructing Evangelical Hermeneutics
This final section contains the more positive and most valuable contributions Goldsworthy makes to the field of hermeneutics. In chapter thirteen, he begins by outlining several presuppositions for Gospel-centered interpretation:
*The sole content of Scripture is Christ (unity)
*Scripture is self-authenticating (authority)
*Scripture is clear and self-interpreting (meaning), and
*Christ is Lord of the Scripture
Chapters fourteen through eighteen take up the literary, historical, and theological dimensions of Scripture (chapters sixteen and seventeen respectively addressing "the two Testaments and typology" and "biblical and systematic theology") and contextualization. Chapter nineteen, "The Hermeneutics of Christ" is a summary of the main argument of the book, showing how interpretation of Scripture is shaped by the person of Christ, the work of Christ, the glorification of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ.
The following paragraph is an example of how Goldsworthy's Christ-centeredness works on a practical level: "The hermeneutics of the doing of Christ the fulfiller demand that we read carefully the Old Testament as a testimony to what he achieves in his life, death, and resurrection. The gospel is so dependent on its Old Testament antecedents that we can easily overlook some of its dimensions and texture if we do not carefully examine what it is that he fulfills. The Old Testament perspective on eschatology, with all the rich variety of its expectations of restoration, finds its resolution in the work of Christ. This includes the promises concerning the people, the place of God's kingdom, the temple, and redemption from sin. It also includes the promise of a new creation. Thus the hermeneutics of the cross of Christ must go beyond forgiveness of sin to the new creation. Jesus on the cross was putting the universe back together; he was restoring the true order of creation" (304).
Conclusion
This is not the easiest book I've read in recent months, but it is one of the most important. I found myself not just reading, but studying this book - rereading, highlighting, and taking notes. It is now on my mental list of books to read periodically. I would highly recommend this book to pastors and preachers who desire to be biblically-faithful and Christ-centered in their teaching and preaching of Scripture. For those who feel daunted by the length and weight of the book, I would suggest reading chapters one through four, nine, twelve, and sixteen through nineteen. But I think that pastors who will risk this book will find it compelling enough to return to again and again.
In his Introduction, Goldsworthy rehearses a scene that most of us have probably experienced - a young man faced with the challenge of sharing a Bible lesson to a group of children during a Sunday School Anniversary service. The big question is how to apply a familiar story from the Old Testament to his young hearers. He has recently seen someone tell the story of David and Goliath, but he was troubled with the application. "The fellow dressed up as Goliath had progressively revealed a list of childhood sins by peeling cardboard strips off his breastplate one by one, as the speaker explained the kind of `Goliaths' we all have to meet. Then a strapping young David appeared on cue, and produced his arsenal - a sling labeled `faith' and five stones listed as `obedience', `service', `Bible reading', `prayer', and `fellowship'" (8). Was this a legitimate application of the familiar story? We've all faced similar quandaries and, if we've given the least amount of reflection to it, have wrestled with such questions. "Every time we read the Bible we meet this problem of the right application of the text to us" (9). To help us navigate the choppy waters of Old Testament interpretation is the purpose of this book.
Chapter one begins with a more basic question: why read the Old Testament at all? There are multiple reasons why most people do not: on the left, there are those who view the Old Testament as sub-Christian and believing that it is merely the record of man's natural religious evolution, have written it off as irrelevant. On the right are those who are desperately trying to reconcile a high view of Scripture with disturbing things as imprecatory Psalms, Israel's slaughtering of enemy nations, and the imposition of the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes in the Mosaic law. Still others avoid the Old Testament because they find it "dry and uninteresting . . . wordy, cumbersome, and confusing" (12). To add the confusion are many "false trails" (13) that lead to faulty interpretation, especially the "allegorical method" of the early and medieval church (the author mentions W. Ian Thomas's If I Perish, I Perish as a modern example). Help, however, can be found from the Protestant Reformers whose rallying-cry of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) helped believers begin to see the value of the Old Testament and its "significance for Christians because of its organic relationship to Christ" (17).
This brief foray into history is concluded with the author's contention that "the most compelling reason for Christians to read and study the Old Testament lies in the New Testament" (18). The New Testament, with at least 1600 direct quotations from Old, and several thousand more allusions, "presupposes a knowledge of the Old Testament." The attitude of Christ Himself towards the Old Testament must determine our own. "The more we study the New Testament the more apparent becomes the conviction shared by Jesus, the apostles and the New Testament writers in general: namely, the Old Testament is Scripture and Scripture points to Christ" (19-20). Just how the Old Testament points to Christ is what we must learn. The New Testament itself will govern our steps as we remember that "the process of redemptive history finds its goal, its focus and fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. This is the principle underlying this book" (20).
Chapter two focuses on the importance of "Bridging the Gap" between the ancient text and the contemporary world. We must bridge the gap of time and culture, but also of theology. But the gap widens with each move backwards in redemptive history, so that the gap between us and pre-Pentecost believers is greater than the gap between us and Paul, while the gap between us and the pre-crucifixion disciples is greater still, and the gap between us and Old Testament Israel greatest of all. The upshot of this is that ways of handling the Old Testament which ignore its redemptive-historical context are inherently dangerous. For example, we should be wary of character studies which simply consist of observing behavior and exhorting people to learn from those observations. "We must not view these recorded events as if they were a mere succession of events from which we draw little moral lessons or example for life" (25). For example, to apply the story of David and Goliath with the exhortation that believers should overcome the giants in their lives as David did Goliath ignores a significant contextual consideration - namely that "David is the one who, immediately prior to the Goliath episode (I Samuel 17), is shown to be God's anointed king . . .So when it comes to his slaying of Goliath it is as the unique anointed one of God that he wins the battle" (27-28). This changes the application. Rather than identifying ourselves with David, we should identify ourselves with soldiers who watched the anointed king battle in their stead. "The same point may be made about the lives of all the biblical characters who have some distinct office bestowed on them by God. If their achievement is that of any godly man the lesson is clear, but if it is the achievement of a prophet, a judge or the messianic king, then to that extent it no more applies to the people of God in general than does the unique work of Jesus as the Christ" (28). This then raises the question of "what governs the right approach to the meaning of the Bible" (28). What principles will help us avoid "flights of fancy" in our interpretation? Is there a unifying theme to Scripture, and if so, what is the structure of that theme? Discovering that theme and structure is all important and determines everything else in our interpretation. "If the unity of the Bible has any meaning at all, the real context of any Bible text is the whole Bible" (31).
"What is the Old Testament?" asks Goldsworthy (chapter three). It is three things: literature (with many different genres), history (although not a simple history of Israel, or the history of ancient religion), and theology. In fact, it is "theological history" (41) which is governed by God's purpose and comes to us as "a part of God's word to man" (41). The Old Testament "records how God speaks to man declaring his purposes and intentions, how he acts on the on the basis of his word, and how he then interprets the events of his word" (42). The theology controls the history. "Theology means the knowledge of God as God himself reveals it" (42). The task of the interpreter is to discover that theology. "But we may not separate what God says and does from the context in which he says it and does it (the history) nor from the way he says what he does (the literary record)" (43). The unity of the Bible's message must take into account both its complexity and its diversity.
The fourth chapter discusses "Biblical Theology and the History of Redemption." Goldsworthy reminds the reader that biblical theology is to be distinguished from Christian doctrine. "Christian doctrine (systematic or dogmatic theology) involves a systematic gathering of the doctrines of the Bible under various topics to form a body of definitive Christian teaching" (44-45). This approach is helpful in many ways, but has certain limitations. Since the Bible itself is not a systematized textbook, the discipline of systematic theology necessarily involves the transformation if truth revealed in the dynamic historically-grounded text of Scripture into static, timeless truths. Biblical theology, on the other hand, "follows the movement and process of God's revelation in the Bible" (45). "Biblical theology is not concerned to state the final doctrines which go to make up the content of Christian belief, but rather to describe the process by which revelation unfolds and moves toward the goal of God's final revelation of his purposes in Jesus Christ" (45). Whereas systematic theology is more concerned with the finished product - a summary of Christian belief - biblical theology seeks to understand the progressive unfolding of truth within the historical context of God's revealed and redemptive word. The Old Testament is to studied, in fact, as "a history of redemption" (46) which progressively moves forward to the goal of "the Kingdom of God" (47). The author then highlights several features of this history of redemption. First, it is progressive, unfolding in "a series of stages, each self-contained, each coming to a climax leading in turn to a new stage" (47). Further, "the history of redemption is incomplete without the New Testament" (47). The Old Testament must be understood in light of the New. Which leads to a third feature, "the history of redemption is to be interpreted" (48). When the biblical text has been understood in its original context (exegesis) and interpreted in light of God's full revelation in Jesus Christ (hermeneutics), then (and only then) can it be rightly applied to the people of God today.
The next chapter is simply profound in its treatment of "The Covenant and the Kingdom of God." In only seven pages, Goldsworthy provides an interpretive compass that will greatly aid any reader to navigate the Old Testament Scriptures. "The Kingdom of God involves: (a) God's people (b) in God's place (c) under God's rule" (53-54). This basic concept is woven throughout Scripture and can be traced from Eden to God's promise to Abraham through the redemptive experience of the Exodus to the Davidic monarchy in Israel to the eschatological hope of the Old Testament prophets, all of which are fulfilled with the inauguration of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. The inter-canonical connections between Old and New Testaments begin to emerge here as the basic pattern of God's kingdom comes into focus with each successive stage of redemptive history.
Chapters six through nine focus in turn on the revelation of the Kingdom of God in these successive stages of redemptive history. "The Kingdom Revealed in Eden" (chapter six) emphasizes the importance of the Creator-creature relationship between God and man in understanding the Kingdom of God, discusses the meaning of man being made in the image of God, focuses on the kingdom pattern revealed in creation - "God's people (Adam and Eve) in God's place (the Garden of Eden) under God's rule (the word of God)" (60) - and contemplates man's fall into sin and the resulting consequence of judgment as well as the intervention of God's grace in early human history (Adam -Noah). The next chapter takes up "The Kingdom Revealed in Israel's History." The author's concern here is not to summarize all of the details or facts of Israel's history but to "uncover the structure of the whole range of history" (67). This is the longest chapter in the book and covers the primary epochs of Israel's history and the theological significance of each event. Goldsworthy begins with the calling of Abraham God's covenant promises to him and his family. He explains the three elements of the Abrahamic Covenant - Abraham is promised descendants who would become a great nation, inherit the promised land, and become God's own people. "God in fact promises Abraham that his descendants would be God's people in God's place under God's rule, and all the Abraham stories must be seen in this light" (68). The next epoch is the Exodus, which becomes "the key model for the understanding of redemption in the life of Israel" (73). This section includes an extremely helpful discussion of the Sinai Covenant and the giving of the law (pages 73-78). The law can only be rightly understood when seen in relation to two major events which stand behind Sinai: the Exodus and God's covenant with Abraham. "The law is given to the people of God after they become the people of God by grace. Sinai is dependant upon the covenant with Abraham and is an exposition of it" (75). "The Entry and Settlement" (78) then follows, covering the importance of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, along with "The Progress Towards Monarchy" (81) on Judges. Then Goldsworthy takes up the stories of Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon with a focus on God's covenant with David recorded in II Samuel 7. The chapter ends with Israel as a divided kingdom, as both Israel and Judah "move with gathering momentum towards a cataclysmic judgment of God upon their sinful rejection of the covenant" (90).
Chapter eight continues with "The Kingdom Revealed in Prophecy." The chapter begins with a brief overview of prophecy in the Old Testament, which distinguishes between two "orders" of prophets and places the various prophets of Israel (from Moses to Malachi) in their historical contexts. Several features of the prophetic ministry are highlighted, such as transgression of the law, judgment, and salvation. Then Goldsworthy focuses on "The Kingdom Pattern in Prophecy." "All the hope for the future is expressed in terms of a return to the Kingdom structures revealed in the history of Israel from the Exodus to Solomon" (99). But this future hope will be significantly different, in that "sin and its effects will be eradicated" with the restored Kingdom "in the context of a new heaven and a new earth" (99). Goldsworthy is at his best in fleshing this out. He first draws out the features of Israel's history which make up the Kingdom pattern - namely: "i. Captivity as a contradiction to the Kingdom. ii. The Exodus events as God's mighty act of salvation on the basis of the Abrahamic covenant. Iii. The Sinai covenant binding Israel to God as his people. iv. The entry and possession of Canaan. [and] v. The focusing of God's rule through the Temple, the Davidic king, and the city of Jerusalem" (99). Then Goldsworthy show how "each of the features of the historic kingdom revelation will be renewed in the last days when God acts finally for salvation" on the basis of his covenant love. These features are outlined as the new captivity, the new exodus, the new covenant, the new nation, and the new creation (100-102) - this outline laced with pervasive references to key passages in the Old Testament prophetic books. A brief postscript summarizes the high points of Israel's history from the reconstruction under Ezra/Nehemiah through the interval between the Old and New Testaments.
Chapter nine turns the corner from old to new in consideration of "The Kingdom Revealed in Jesus Christ." Since Christ is the goal of all redemptive history, "the whole Bible must be understood in light of the gospel" (105). Jesus is the key to interpreting the whole of Scripture and our task is learn how this works. Central to this task is clarity in defining the gospel. "It is not sufficient to stress the ethics of the man Jesus of Nazareth out of the context of the saving acts of God (as many liberals do), nor to stress the supernatural presence of the Christ with the believer out of the context of the meaning of the historical humanity of God come in the flesh (as many evangelicals do)" (105). So what is the gospel? Christians answer in many different ways and usually with some truth to their answers. Yet clarity on exactly what the good news is seems to be lacking. Goldsworthy contends that "the gospel is a declaration of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, rather than (as is often implied) what God does in the believer, although we may not separate the two" (106). But the subjective experience of the gospel flow from the objective historical facts of the incarnation, perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the gospel; this is the good news. Our new birth, faith, sanctification and perseverance result from, but are not themselves, the gospel, and Goldsworthy contends that this distinction has a bearing on our overall interpretation of Scripture. This gospel is called "the gospel of the kingdom," which leads to the "unavoidable conclusion . . . that the gospel fulfills the Old Testament hope of the coming of the Kingdom of God" (108). The revelation of the kingdom in Jesus Christ is related to, yet different from, the earlier kingdom expressions in Eden, the history of Israel, and the prophetic hope of Israel. The reality of the kingdom in Jesus Christ fulfills all of the "terms, images, promises and foreshadowings in the Old Testament" (109). "That is to say that the coming of the Christ transforms all the Kingdom terms of the Old Testament into gospel reality" (109-110). The Kingdom of God involves God's people in God's place under God's rule and the coming of Christ gives new and final definition to each of those three elements. Goldsworthy takes each in turn. "The People of the Kingdom" (God's People) in the Old Testament were Adam and Eve, then the descendants of Abraham, the people of Israel, the Davidic dynasty, and the faithful remnant. And in the New Testament, Christ is depicted as the last Adam, the seed of Abraham, the true Israel, and the Son of David. "These various identities of Jesus establish one clear point. Jesus Christ is the head of the new race" (112). "The Location of the Kingdom" (God's place) in the Old Testament revelation was first Eden, then Canaan, and in the prophetic hope, a glorified Canaan. The Old Testament also focuses on "Jerusalem (or Zion) as the centre of God's land" (113) and the Temple as the place which represented the dwelling-place of God among His people. In the New Testament, Jesus Himself is the locality of the Kingdom. God "tabernacles" among us in the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is the Temple and Zion is where Jesus now reigns at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:22). "The Rule of the Kingdom" (God's rule) is testified in the Old Testament with the themes of covenant and kingdom. The great covenant summary was "I will be your God, you shall be my people." This goal was implicit in Eden, and progressively explicit in God's covenants with Abraham, Israel, and David, finally culminating in the prophetic hope of a "new covenant" - which would be written in the hearts of God's people. The New Testament shows that the gospel fulfills the hope of the new covenant by perfectly achieving what could only be foreshadowed in the old (cf. Hebrews 8-9). The New Testament also takes up the theme of kingdom by showing how Jesus, the Son of David, fulfilled the prophecies concerning David's restored rule in his resurrection (cf. Acts 2:30-31, 36). But the kingdom is both "now and not yet" (118) and Christians live in the tension between what the inauguration and the consummation of the kingdom. This chapter concludes with Goldsworthy's assertion that "to see the kingdom of God we must look at Jesus Christ" (120).
In chapter ten, Goldsworthy begins to pull all the pieces together, discussing again "Principles of Interpretation." He first summarizes the main points already covered (with a helpful diagram - the last of eight which are spread throughout the book), then discusses "The Method in Practice." According to Goldsworthy, the process of interpretation involves three basic steps. "1. Identify the way the text functions in the wider context of the kingdom stratum in which it occurs. 2. Proceed to the same point in each succeeding stratum until the final reality in the gospel is reached. 3. Show how the gospel reality interprets the meaning of the text, at the same time as showing how the gospel is reality is illumined by the text" (126). But with these steps, he also warns readers not to overlook the complexity of the Old Testament and to remember that "no text stands alone . . . the whole of Scripture is its ultimate context" (127). Therefore, readers should "beware of taking every portion of a size [of text] convenient for daily reading (whatever that may be) and forcing it to yield some self-contained Christian truth" (127).
Chapter eleven ("It's That Giant Again!") considers "the application of Christological interpretation methods" (128). This is a fascinating and helpful chapter which takes up David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Rahab's Scarlet Cord (Joshua 2:15-21; 6:22-25), The Polluted Spring (II Kings 2:19-22), Blessing the Child-Killers (Psalm 137), and Nehemiah Rebuilding Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:17-4:23) as examples for how apply Christ-centered hermeneutics. Goldsworthy avoids simplistic and forced explanations of the text, while faithfully applying the principles developed throughout the book. The Conclusion then discusses Goldsworthy's conviction that "twentieth century evangelical Christians have experienced a radical loss of direction in handling the Old Testament" (136) and discusses how both "allegorical interpretation" and "prophetic literalism" have both caused some evangelicals to throw away "the hermeneutical gains of the Reformers in favour of a mediaeval approach to the Bible" (136). He also challenges "a generation of bad habits in Bible reading" which contributes to the modern misuse of the Old Testament and discusses the shift in evangelical thinking from "the Protestant emphasis upon the objective facts of the gospel in history to the mediaeval emphasis on the inner life" (137). Goldsworthy believes that "the evangelical who sees the inward transforming work of the Spirit as the key element of Christianity will soon lose contact with the historic faith and the historic gospel" and that "inner-directed Christianity . . . reduces the gospel to the level of every other religion of the inner man" (137).
Finally, the book ends with three appendices, which include suggested Old Testament readings which will introduce readers to some primary Old Testament themes (Appendix A), a list of group study questions for each chapter (Appendix B), and a list of ten Old Testament passages on which the reader can practice the hermeneutical skills learned in this book. A subject index is also included. Gospel and Kingdom is easily one of the most enriching books I have ever read. Graeme Goldsworthy's obvious passion for Christ and Scripture make his book a delight to study. The book is as clear in style as it is rich in content. Scholars and students, pastors and laymen alike will all benefit from a thorough digestion of it. I heartily recommend Gospel and Kingdom.
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Gospel and the Kingdom 1981,
The Gospel in Revelation 1984
Gospel and Wisdom 1987