Biblical theology

Review: The Earth Will Be Filled

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Cover image of "The Earth Will Be Filled: by Donnie Berry

The Earth Will Be Filled

The Earth Will Be Filled, (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology), Donnie Berry. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514010778) 2025.

Summary: The glory of God in scripture, that God reveals his glory to his people and through them, to fill the earth.

The glory of God is the bedrock of scripture. So maintains Donnie Berry who finds the glory of God wherever he turns in scripture. But what do we mean by the glory of God? Berry studies the words used and proposes this definition;

“Glory refers to all the fullness of the triune God–the fullness of his wisdom, love, creativity, beauty, strength, compassion, justice, life, joy–all that makes him weighty and wonderful, made manifest for us to see, experience, respond to, and, perhaps most surprisingly, participate in” (p. 7).

Berry argues that this is a worthwhile study. God made and redeemed us for Himself and to long for and behold God’s glory is the bedrock of joy in our lives. So what is the witness of scripture to God’s glory? Like other volumes in this series, Berry will trace the theme of glory from Genesis to Revelation. In the process he will formulate a biblical theology of the glory of God.

The narrative begins with creation. God fills the earth with the glory shared with God’s triune self. Not only that but God crowns humans with the special glory of dominion, bringing God’s goodness to all creation. But as a result of disobedience, humans cease to glorify God and spread his glory to all creation. Instead, they spread destruction and death. But even then, God clothes them and spares Noah and his creatures.

But God does not give up on his plan to spread his glory through his people. Beginning with Abraham, he calls out a people through whom he will bless the earth. He reveals that glory through Israel in the exodus and at Sinai. When they rebel, Moses not only pleads for God to go with them but asks to see God’s glory. God cannot do this. It would kill Moses. But he makes all his goodness pass before him. Moses sees what is glorious about God. Then he discloses Israel’s purpose–they are God’s treasured possession and a kingdom of priests. Furthermore, God makes his glory dwell among them through giving them both Torah and tabernacle. Eventually, the temple will replace the tabernacle at the height of Solomon’s rule. God’s glory will descend upon it.

Yet Israel, like Adam will rebel. The nation will fall and the glory will depart from the temple. But God doesn’t give up. God is present and preserves them through exile. Then he promises that his glory will not only return to Zion but fill the earth. Key to this will be “the servant of the Lord.”

Then John tells us “the Word became flesh” and glory came down among us. Signs of that glory fill the first part of John’s gospel. Then the hour of his glory comes when he is lifted up on the cross to draw all people unto him. God raises him and and he imparts the Spirit of glory, empowering his disciples for mission.

Paul, in Romans, speaks of our hope of sharing in God’s glory as God restore all creation. This is hope for both Jew and Greek, for all who hear God’s “no condemnation.” God’s glory in Christ extends to this redeemed humanity, and through them to the groaning creation.

Finally, in Revelation, we witness the final victory of God’s glory, centering on the slain Lamb, who is worthy of all praise. Though him, God brings all earth under his rule. And in the new creation, his people share his glory and rule.

How then shall we respond? The invitation is to behold, and by beholding, God transforms us from one degree of glory to another. Whereas our enemy subjects us to slavery, our redeeming Lord both reveals and shares his glory with us.

I wish Berry could have discussed the Synoptic gospels and Acts, and the witness of Hebrews, which would have enriched this study. However, there are plenty of riches in this “story of glory.” In addition, Berry uses various iterations of a very clear diagram to show the unfolding story. I felt Berry wrote in such a way as to not merely inform but to invite us to behold God’s glory and be transformed. This is biblical theology at its best.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Rereading Revelation

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Cover image of "Rereading Revelation" by Greg Carey

Rereading Revelation

Rereading Revelation, Greg Carey. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802878120) 2025.

Summary: A thematic exploration of Revelation’s dangerous call and encouragement to resist idolatrous imperial Rome.

We usually consider Revelation as the perplexing book with which we are both fascinated and yet unable to understand. In this work, Greg Carey, a scholar of the New Testament and of eschatological literature, makes a different assertion. He argues that Revelation was, and is, a dangerous book. In its setting, it was a call to the seven churches to resist the idolatrous power of imperial Rome. As he will elaborate, this had to do not merely with worship, but had social, economic, and political implications. He also finds it can be a dangerous book in its use of authoritarian and misogynistic language, as well as in the violence it portrays. While Revelation’s readers are never called to violence, its violent imagery may be used to legitimate violence.

Carey’s approach is not to offer a commentary on the book, nor propose a “system.” Rather, he thematically addresses a number of questions related to Revelation and its call for this dangerous resistance. The first chapter begins with what kind of book this is, apocalyptic, prophetic, or a letter. He contends that it is all three, basically a letter that unveils (apocalypse) the warfare between the Lamb and the beastly power of empire, calling believers to unequivocal loyalty to the Lamb.

That call to loyalty is one of authority, and in Chapter 2, Carey explores how a message that “carries absolute authority and brooks no dissent” cannot help but be seen as authoritarian. On one hand, he notes how John balances authoritarian and egalitarian statement, speaking as a brother. On the other hand, Carey also calls us to recognize those times where moral clarity and humble but unequivocal calling things for what they are is necessary.

Then Chapter 3 takes a step back and explores the Christology and Trinitarian relationships in Revelation. Remember that this preceded the conciliar statements on these matters. Regarding the Trinity, Carey explores references to the three persons yet notes a certain “blurring” in John’s references. However, with regard to Christ, he notes the focus on the Lion Lamb in the text and argues that the bloodied Lamb reflects not his enemies blood but conquest through his own death. Then Carey asks whether Revelation has an eschatology. He contends that it does not in any systematic sense. However, that does not exclude the portrayal of God’s victorious intervention in history nor the realities or resurrection, judgement, and the New Jerusalem.

Chapter 5 returns to the challenging call to the churches to total allegiance. Carey studies John’s use of pathos, of an appeal to emotion to move believers to resolved resistance. He uses direct address, anticipation and surprise, crisis rhetoric, aversion, and emulation in his appeal. In the midst of authoritarianism in our culture and the church, he weighs the ethics of the use of such rhetoric. Then in Chapter 6, he wrestles with the implications of that call given the extremes of wealth and poverty in the Roman empire. Faithfulness could be costly, certainly for the poor, and perhaps even more for the affluent enmeshed in economic relationships. Who had more to lose when absenting oneself from honoring idols of the emperor?

Chapter 7 explores gender and sexuality. One aspect of this chapter was to explore portrayals of women: Jezebel, the Woman clothed with the Sun, the prostitute, and the Bride. He wrestles with readings that find these idealized extremes misogynistic when real women are viewed in light of these. He also dips his toe into “queer” readings, noting some figures be interpreted beyond gender binaries. I found this aspect the least supported by the text.

Chapter 8 goes more deeply into the theme of violence. Again, without sanctioning violence on the part of readers, Carey acknowledges the violent language that many may shy away from and others use to justify violence. He observes the setting of the book amid a violent empire. And he would have us be aware of our longings for vindication against evil. Who of us is free of violence? Finally, Chapter 9 explores what resistance looks like. Beyond eschewing idolatry and violence, resistance on an everyday basis may likely have been faithful endurance and overcoming through faithful testimony, even in death.

Throughout, Carey is cognizant of both the horizon of the text and of contemporary readers, particularly in the United States and the West. He recognizes the misinterpretation of Revelation that endorses authoritarianism, violence, misogyny, and even idolatrous nationalism. He doesn’t dodge or gloss over the elements in John’s text that contribute to such misinterpretation.

At the same time, he draws out the unequivocal call of Revelation to total allegiance to Jesus and that believers overcome through faithful testimony and endurance, even martyrdom. They never overcome through violence. Nor do they overcome through political alliances with imperial power. In all this, Carey helps us wrestle deeply with the text and its implications for our own time.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Faithful Exchange

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Cover image of "Faithful Exchange" by David W. Opderbeck

Faithful Exchange

Faithful Exchange, David W. Opderbeck. Fortress Press (ISBN: 9781506467016) 2025.

Summary: Economic life through biblical and historic lenses with attention to current debates on capitalism versus socialism.

How might one think Christianly about economic life? How have Christians thought about these matters through the centuries? Among the contemporary systems, is one more inherently Christian? And what resources do we find in the ancient texts of the Bible that speak into our present realities? David W. Opderbeck, a professor of law at Seton Hall University has set out to address these questions in this book.

He describes this book as offering a narrative theology of economic life. After an introduction and overview, chapters 2 through 5 explore the economy of biblical narrative. Specifically, he covers the periods from creation to Babel, the patriarchs through the exodus, the judges, kings, and prophets, and then Jesus and the New Testament.

The next five chapters concern historical and contemporary discussion. Chapter 6 explores property and economics from pre-Constantine through the Reformation. Chapter 7 centers on influences contributing to American capitalism: Locke, Hobbes, Hume, Blackstone, and Smith. Then chapter 8 turns to Marxism and socialism, including Christian socialism and social teaching. Chapter 9 covers the period from the Great Depression, the postwar settlement and our more recent internet-based and global economy. Finally, the last chapter, titled “Toward a Contemporary Constructive Christian Economics” gestures toward how Christians might think about capitalism and socialism. And he draws all this narrative and historical material together.

As you can see, Opderbeck sets himself a huge task. Consequently, much of what he does is, indeed,, narrative and descriptive. The final section of each of the biblical narrative sections offer syntheses summarizing the economic material. The history up to the Reformation addresses private property in tension with a “the earth is the Lord’s perspective.” The discussion of influences upon the American experiment was fascinating, particularly in how all this failed to resolve the vexing problem of slavery, even as it laid the groundwork of commerce and capitalism. For those who conflate communism and socialism, his overview of both movements, and particularly, the Christian socialists is important in understanding the distinctions. He also shows how these challenged the exclusive emphasis on private property in seeking the economic welfare of all.

In the final “constructive” section, Opderbeck first engages a number of contemporary thinkers (Sirico, Waters, Tanner, Milbank, Pabst, and Turner). His skill as a legal scholar was on display in a section on “Critical and Constructive Threads” where integrates biblical material, economic theory, and discussions of corporate practice. Then he illustrates these threads in a case study on land and MOSFET chips.

His approach throughout is to show how the biblical hope informs, critiques, and transcends our earthly economic systems, whether capitalist or socialist. Opderbeck captures this well in his concluding words:

“Freedom for generosity and freedom from the love of money and the lust of the eyes is offered in the waters of baptism and at the table with Jesus in the community of his people. Every -ism, including capitalism and socialism, is here exposed as unworthy of devotion. In every time and place discerning the Kairos and listening to the Spirit of Christ, we are called to act with grace and wisdom, affirming but relativizing private property rights, prioritizing the poor, emphasizing fairness, and actively waiting for the coming of Jesus, when God will be all-in-all” (p. 258).

My sense is that Opderbeck, as a legal scholar, has assembled a careful set of “briefs” summarizing both biblical and historical theology with regard to economics. Then he applies them to our contemporary situation. This is a tremendous resource on Christian economic thought, concisely summarizing, without sacrificing nuance, a vast amount of material. It’s a great place to begin if one wishes to discover the landscape of Christian economic thought, and how it has addressed questions of property and profit, moving beyond slogans, sentiments, and prooftexts to substantive thought.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Walking the Way of the Wise

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Cover image of "Walking the Way of the Wise" by Mitchell L. Chase

Walking the Way of the Wise (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology), Mitchell L. Chase. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514010914) 2025.

Summary: Traces the idea of wisdom in scripture and how integral it is to walking well with God in covenant relationship.

For most of us, when we think of Wisdom in connection with the Bible, we think of the Wisdom literature. Three books stand out: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. We might add some of the psalms, perhaps the Song of Songs. Then some might even add James. While these books are of the “genre” of Wisdom literature, Mitchell L. Chase proposes that wisdom runs through the whole storyline of the Bible. An adequate theology of wisdom must encompass the whole Bible.. In this book, Chase offers an outline of the contours of such a theology.

It is a story that begins in the Garden. God wanted Adam and Eve to be wise in knowing good and evil through trusting obedience. Instead, they chose the folly of moral autonomy in a quest for wisdom apart from God. Now the divine wisdom that created the world would be needed to save it. Before continuing the storyline of Genesis, Chase considers our need for wisdom amidst suffering in the ancient story of Job. Then we turn to Abraham and his descendants, including the children of Israel in the exodus. We observe the wisdom of trusting obedience that saves Egypt in famine, and the consequences of giving way to fear when Israel heeds the bad report of the spies rather than trust God’s power to give them the land.

Eventually, under Joshua, Israel enters the land. As he passes the torch to the next generation, Joshua exhorts them to live by God’s law. This was wisdom for enjoying the covenant relationship God had established with Israel to be their King and enjoy his protection. But they would have none of it and rebelled. Rejecting God, they had no king and pursued the folly of doing what was right in their own eyes, becoming prey to the nations. They believed only an earthly king could save them. In Saul, they learned that a king whose heart was not after God would also be a problem.

Then in David came a king who sang God’s wisdom from the heart, giving us many of the psalms. He sang of the wisdom of delighting in the law of the Lord and the folly of rejecting God. He sang of the holiness by which we may approach God, the presence of God in death’s shadow, and how God would guide all our ways in wisdom.

Following David, Solomon sought, received, and gathered wisdom to instruct both his children and his corporate son, Israel in living well with God. Then in the Song of Songs, Solomon, as tradition would have it, gave us wisdom for love in the covenant relationship of marriage, a parable for God’s covenant relationship with his people. Finally, Solomon offers us the wisdom that comes in knowing we will die. He paints our pretentious projects as futile against the transience of our lives, and commends the wisdom of receiving with joy the gifts of the day: good work and its fruits.

Israel’s history after Solomon is the sad story of pursuing Lady Folly rather than Lady Wisdom. Folly led to a kingdom torn asunder the fall of the north under a relentless string of kings who did evil in the lord’s eyes. In the south, a few respites of righteous rule were not enough to prevent Babylonian conquest and exile. Yet even in exile, God’s wisdom was manifest in Daniel, wisest of councilors and one who, along with other prophets to the one, the Son of Man, who would redeem God’s people.

At last, the one greater than Solomon comes. He is wisdom in the flesh, the way, the truth, the life. He renews us in his image, to live in covenant relationship with him as King over all our lives. And living wisely in Christ enables us to perceive the life that is ours beyond death. Thus, we live in the blessed hope of partaking of the tree of life in the heavenly city.

I love how Chase shows the wisdom of God for life that runs through the biblical storyline. Likewise, we see the folly of rejecting wisdom and the sad history of thinking we know better than God. By Genesis 3, we already know how that story plays out. Yet we keep falling for the same lies. Thanks be to God for Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Chase helps us see how all that treasure is ours in Christ. He helps us see how all of scripture can not only make us wise for salvation but to live well with God.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review Kingdom through Covenant

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Cover image of "Kingdom through Covenant" by Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum

Kingdom through Covenant, Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum. Crossway (ISBN: 9781433553073) 2012, 2018. (My review is of the first edition, the link to the 2nd edition with revised and updated content.)

Summary: A biblical-theological exploration of covenants, how they are related and unfold the reality of God’s kingdom.

The authors of this work contend that the idea of “covenant” is central to the narrative arc of scripture. On this, many Christians are agreed. Where believers differ is in their understanding is in how the covenants unfold and relate to one another. Roughly speaking, there are two major camps: the dispensationalists and the covenant theologians. Their differences are reflected in different conclusions about things like the land promises to Israel and whether baptism under the New Covenant is the counterpart of circumcision, including infants in the covenant, or for professing believers only.

Wellum and Gentry propose is a via media, what might be termed new covenant theology or progressive covenantalism. They argue for the unity of God’s plan and yet that God has progressively unfolded his plan through the covenants. The main idea is the unfolding of his cosmic kingdom rule through each of the covenants. These culminate and find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

The book consists in three parts. The first is Prolegomena, outlining the importance of the discussion, the two classic positions and key hermeneutical issues in putting together the covenants. This is followed by a lengthy section of exposition of each of the biblical covenants: Creation, Noah, Abraham, Mosaic, Davidic, and New Covenant. Finally, Part Three focuses on theological interpretation, summarizing the biblical theology of Part Two and a few of its theological implications. An appendix provides a lexical analysis of berit,

One of the striking aspects of the expositions of the covenants is the use of key texts from the major Old Testament prophets to frame their understanding of the New Covenant. They show how prior covenants, and particularly the covenants with Adam and Abraham lay the basis for the New Covenant. Yet they argue that as a fulfillment of the prior covenants, the New Covenant does supersede the previous covenants. But what then of the land promises to Israel? These are fulfilled in the new covenant but “the land” is extended to encompass all creation, all the nations. However, when it comes to baptism, the promises of a new heart signify that the church consists of those born again in Christ. Hence baptism is for believers.

Therefore, the via media proposal has elements each of the “camps” will applaud and each will oppose. However, what is important is that these two scholars bring a careful study of the covenants worth considering by all concerned. What I appreciate is the theological coherence of what they propose. They neither oppose prior covenants to subsequent ones. Nor to they create a disjunction between Israel and the church. Finally, what they propose truly exalts Christ.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Conceived by the Holy Spirit

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Cover image of "Conceived by the Holy Spirit" by Rhyne R. Putman

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Rhyne R. Putnam. B&H Academic (ISBN: 9781087766317) 2024.

Summary: A study of the nativity narratives offering a defense of the virgin birth and considering its significance.

“Conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Some of us speak this phrase every week, or even every day. It is part of the Apostles Creed, one of the early creeds of the church. It is a confession to the supernatural conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary apart from sexual relations with a man. There has always been skepticism surrounding this idea. Babies just don’t happen that way. Yet Christians regularly confess that it did happen this way on one occasion.

Rhyne R. Putnam has given a wonderful gift to pastors preaching the nativity passages and to all of us who wonder about these things. This book explores the nativity passages in Matthew and Luke, defending the doctrine of the virgin birth, conceived by the Holy Spirit and considers the importance and significance of this doctrine. In the book, he takes small portions of the narratives and draws out the significance of the textual material.

He begins with Luke’s introduction and notes the Marian perspective of the early narratives evident in the following:

  • Only Mary would know whether she had never been sexually involved with a man.
  • Only Mary would have knowledge of a private visitation from Gabriel.
  • If Mary spent three months with her cousin Elizabeth, she would have been very familiar with the circumstances surrounding John’s birth.
  • Although Mary was not present with the shepherds when the angels visited them, Luke explicitly tells us that the shepherds “reported the message they were told about this child” to Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:17).
  • She was present when Simeon and Anna blessed the child in the temple.
  • Like any other parent, Mary would remember the time when her son went missing in a large city (p. 22)).

While these don’t “prove” the virgin birth, the likelihood that Luke’s account was based on the witness of the one in the best position to know about these things is not to be lightly disregarded. Along the way, Putnam also offers sidebar discussions of objections posed such as the origins of the virgin birth in pagan theology. He shows how the miraculous conceptions in the Old Testament (and that of Elizabeth) anticipate this event.

Not only does he defend the virgin birth, he unpacks the theological significance of this event. God keeps his covenant promises. We listen to Mary’s glorious Magnificat and realize we are even more blessed. The accounts reveal the babe as Savior, King, God with us, God’s Anointed One. He was born under the law, and from his circumcision and dedication onward, met all its requirements for all of us who don’t. And he is the King manifested to the nations in the visit of the Magi. For example, Putnam writes:

“In the case of the magi, something wonderful and unusual was happening. These men of a higher station–potentially emissaries from an eastern king–were lying prostrate in a humble Jewish home before a small child, revering him as a king unlike any other. More remarkable still, God had called these pagan men from a faraway land to worship at the feet of his Son. What Matthew depicts in this humble, earthly scene mimics the future heavenly scene where ‘a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number’ stand around the throne and sing praises to God and to the Lamb (Rev 7:9) (p.181).

Putnam’s writing is at once theologically and devotionally rich. This extends to the second part of the work which considers “The Virgin-Born King in Christian Theology and Practice.” Putnam discusses briefly and concisely the Christological debates of the early church. In concluding, he argues that they “saved Christmas.” Then he discusses how Jesus is both God and Man in One Person, and how it is fitting to call Mary theotokos (the God bearer). Appendices offer a harmonization of the accounts and an irenic discussion of the author’s differences with Marian dogma in the Catholic Church.

I especially liked the chapter on the “fittingness” of the virgin birth. Firstly, it is a sign we are saved by God’s grace alone. Secondly, it demonstrates that divine revelation is solely God’s initiative. Thirdly, it is a sign of Jesus uniqueness as the natural, only begotten Son of God. Fourthly, it is a sign of Christ’s supremacy. Finally, it is a fitting sign of Christ’s pre-existence. Rich stuff!

I wish I could have read this during Advent! As I’ve noted, Putnam does more then defend and expound the virgin birth. He leads us into the blessedness of these truths. Thus, our response becomes “O Come Let Us Adore Him!” I’d encourage you to pick up a copy to have it on hand for Advent reading next year. And pastors, get a copy to enrich your thought and preparation for next Advent and Christmastide. Apologists will benefit from the defense of the virgin birth. I’m glad to add this to my library!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.