The New Testament authors shared their understanding of their spiritual history as they wrote their accounts and letters. How they do this following Jesus’ life, death and resurrection shows us the significance of Jesus to God’s unfolding purposes. The title and subtitle provides a good summary of the book: Biblical Theology According to the Apostles : How the earliest Christians told the story of the Old Testament.
In the book, the three authors (Chris Bruno, Jared Compton and Kevin McFadden) take seven examples of the retelling of Israel’s history. Two from the book of Matthew (his genealogy 1:1-17 and Jesus’ parable of the tenants 21:33-46); two from Acts (Stephen’s speech chapter 7 and Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch 13:16-41); one from Galatians (the history of salvation chapters 3-4); one from Romans (God’s faithfulness to Israel chapters 9-11); and Hebrews (‘hall of faith’ in chapter 11). In each example, they explain the context, content and the contribution the story makes to biblical theology.
The book is heavy going. It’s an in-depth look at issues we probably don’t think a lot about. However, the authors do share valuable insights and aim to deepen our understanding of how the early Christians viewed Jesus as the climax of history and what this means for believers today.
Overall, an academic read with worthwhile information.
More reviews of this book can be found on Goodreads.
