Jude
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 1 – Fall 2015
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
By Thomas R. Schreiner. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013. xix + 714 pages. Hardcover, $49.99.
Thomas R. Schreiner has accomplished a grand feat with the publication of his pan-biblical theology, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments—Schreiner has struck a balance in writing a whole-Bible theology that is at once accessible to the church and yet penetrating enough to satisfy readers conversant with the issues and task of biblical theology. In writing this lucid, concise, and easily approachable work, Schreiner has sketched in broad strokes and in vivid hues, YHWH—The King in His Beauty.
The purpose of Schreiner’s work is to offer a concise, canonical approach to the metanarrative that runs throughout the Scriptures. Schreiner accomplishes his purpose by adopting a book-by-book approach following the canonical ordering for both the Old and New Testament. Schreiner’s thesis is conspicuously set forth in his Prologue,
I intend to argue in this book that the “kingdom of God,” if that term is defined with sufficient flexibility, fits well as a central theme of the entire Bible. . . . [S]uch a thesis does not rely upon a word study approach, for it is quite obvious that the kingdom of God cannot be a central theme if we count up how many times the words “king,” “kingdom,” or “rule” and “reign” appear, for in many books of the Bible they do not appear at all. Instead, the contention here is that the phrase “kingdom of God” thematically captures, from a biblical theology standpoint, the message of Scripture (xiii).
It is important to note that Schreiner is not arguing for the “kingdom of God” to be seen as the singular “center” of biblical theology, as Schreiner elucidates that, “[N]o one theme captures the message of the Scriptures” (xii). In terms of scope, Schreiner’s hope is that, “[T]his book will be understandable for college students, laypersons, seminary students, and pastors. It is not intended to be a technical work for scholars” (x). Methodologically, Schreiner adopts a canonical, synthetic approach in summarizing the Bible’s contents both accurately and inductively.
Structurally, Schreiner organizes his work into nine main parts—from Part 1, “Creation to the Edge of Canaan” (covering the Torah) to Part 9, “The Kingdom Will Come” (Book of Revelation). In addition, Schreiner also includes a prologue, epilogue, fifteen page bibliography, as well as helpful author, Scripture, and subject indices. Interestingly, given Schreiner’s New Testament background, the Old Testament sections (Parts 1–4) are substantially longer than those of the New Testament even in consideration of its consisting of thirty-nine books. Proportionately, the New Testament sections only make up about thirty-one percent of the book’s main text.
His first section, which deals with the Torah, introduces two main concepts that are repeated throughout the rest of the book and serve as theological threads connecting the canonical chords of Scripture—the war between the Seed of woman (i. e., Christ—Gal 3:16) and the seed of Satan (Gen 3:15) and the triadic promises (land, seed, and blessing) made to Abram in Genesis 12:1–3. Each section of Schreiner’s work traces the canonical development of these themes through the Scriptures highlighting the progression, regression, or fulfillment of each theme.
Perhaps the greatest strength of this work is Schreiner’s masterful synthesis of the biblical material in summarizing complex and lengthy topics in succinct, limpid style. The greatest weakness of this work, is most likely Schreiner’s lumping together of major sections such as the Book of the Twelve (Part 4) and the Pauline Epistles (Part 7). Schreiner could have easily added textual markers (or even begun new paragraphs) to indicate where one book/epistle started and another stopped. Schreiner’s work is also surprisingly lacking any explicit discussion on a theology of aesthetics—what exactly makes Christ, the King, so beautiful? This is, however, revealed implicitly throughout the book, but Schreiner would have better served his readers by adding a section (or excursus) that discusses this important aspect in more explicit detail.
Schreiner’s work is a top-shelf page-turner and welcome addition to the discussion of biblical theology. Some, perhaps, will criticize Schreiner’s repetition, assumptions, and methodological approach, but Schreiner has written a refreshing, synthetic work that is at once easily approachable, concise, and goes far in elucidating YHWH’s redemptive metanarrative from Genesis to Revelation. Schreiner’s contribution to pan-biblical theology has truly helped to reveal The King in His Beauty.
