# Good Books on Biblical Theology



## FenderPriest (Apr 29, 2008)

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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## ADKing (Apr 29, 2008)

FenderPriest said:


> 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
> ...



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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## Sydnorphyn (Apr 29, 2008)

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


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## KMK (Apr 29, 2008)

ADKing said:


> Ridderbos' "Coming of the Kingdom" is helpful but narrowly limited to the synoptic gospels.



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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## Sydnorphyn (Apr 29, 2008)

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


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## ADKing (Apr 29, 2008)

KMK said:


> ADKing said:
> 
> 
> > Ridderbos' "Coming of the Kingdom" is helpful but narrowly limited to the synoptic gospels.
> ...



Great! Ridderbos is very insightful in that book, In my humble opinion. 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.


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## Scott (Apr 29, 2008)

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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## Greg (Apr 29, 2008)

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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## FenderPriest (Apr 29, 2008)

Greg said:


> 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.



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?


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## Guido's Brother (Apr 29, 2008)

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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## joeholland (Apr 29, 2008)

Guido's Brother said:


> 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.



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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## PuritanCovenanter (Apr 29, 2008)

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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## JohnOwen007 (Apr 29, 2008)

Guido's Brother said:


> 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.



Hear hear!


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## Contra_Mundum (Apr 29, 2008)

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.

In other words,, 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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## KMK (Apr 30, 2008)

Contra_Mundum said:


> 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.
> 
> In other words,, 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).
> 
> ...



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


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## JohnOwen007 (Apr 30, 2008)

PuritanCovenanter said:


> 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?



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.


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## Scott (Apr 30, 2008)

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


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