Contexts: theology, hermeneutics, evangelicalism, salvation history
Confer: systematic theology, historical theology
In evangelicalism, biblical theology is a branch of theology that traces
the introduction and development of biblical themes throughout the entire biblical strata.
In particular, it aims to show the relationship of the Bible as a whole to Christ, him
being the fulfilment of both the Old and New Testaments
as a whole.
Paradigmatic to the study of biblical theology is the concept that the Bible is one
coherent story (or in epistemological terms, metanarrative). The Bible
is written by one author—God and is principally about Jesus Christ. Thus one
could expect that certain biblical themes, such as "the kingdom of God" can
be traced throughout biblical literature and find its fulfilment in Christ.
In fact, the kingdom of God is often used as the unifying concept when introducing
biblical theology. This is particularly aided by the usage of this in
Graeme Goldsworthy's two introductory books on biblical theology,
Gospel and Kingdom (1981; Exeter: Paternoster, nearly out of print) and
According to Plan (1991; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press).
Biblical theology is important. An amazing number of biblical misinterpretations (particularly in the Old Testament, but also in apocalyptic books like Revelation) is due to a lack of understanding in biblical theology.