Dennison: "every part of revelation is directly related to the plan of the Revealer for the history of redemption."

Four quotes on the definition of biblical theology considered by our Pauline Epistles class today at our church's Biblical Theology Study Center:

"The unfolding or progressive character of revelation enables the biblical theologian to trace the increasingly rich display of God's own self-disclosure to sinners. In this way, the Scriptures become more than a proof-text of doctrine; more than a "topic" for the present-day. The Scriptures are seen to be organically linked and historically interconnected. One part of Scripture is integrally united with other parts. Hence the advocate and practitioner of biblical theology is always searching backwards and forwards in the unfolding history of redemption. The crucial question for the interpreter of the Bible becomes: how is this passage organically related to what God has disclosed of himself before, and what he will yet disclose of himself in the future? Indeed, if all Scripture is God-breathed, then every part of revelation is directly related to the plan of the Revealer for the history of redemption. His revelation, given in history, has both a retrospective (looking backward) and prospective (looking forward) dimension. The new order or the new creation which God progressively displays in Scripture, advances toward its fulfillment and consummation." -- James T. Dennison, "What is Biblical Theology?"

"...in terms of the principle of context, the text, whatever its relative size, is always to be read in its redemptive - or salvation-historical context, understanding the text's subject matter within the horizon of the unfolding history of salvation - that, I take it, is the distinguishing concern of biblical-theological exegesis (= redemptive-historical interpretation).

"Such an approach stems from recognizing that Scripture as a whole, with its various human authors and diverse literary genres, has its integrity as the God-breathed record of the actual revelation process of Scripture, the Bible's own origin being an essential part of that process. This history of (verbal) revelation, in turn, is tethered, as a strand within, to the larger history of the accomplishment of redemption (deed revelation); that history begins already in the Garden, subsequent to the Fall (Gen. 3: 15), and reaches its consummation in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4), in the incarnate Christ and his work.

"The clearest, most explicit biblical warrant for this fundamental theological construct is provided by the opening words of Hebrews 1: 1-2a: 'God, having spoken in the past to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has spoken to us in these last days by his Son'. This umbrella statement, intended to provide an overall perspective on the teaching of the entire document, is fairly applied, by extension, to the Bible as a whole. Note how it captures three interrelated factors: a) revelation as a historical process; b) the diversity involved in that process (including, we might observe, multiple modes and literary genres - as well as, whatever legitimate methodologies have emerged, particularly in the modern era, for dealing with them); and c) the incarnate Christ as the integrating omega-point (d. 2:2-4; 3: 1-6, esp. 5-6), the nothing-less-than-last days, eschatological endpoint of the process." -- Richard Gaffin, "Redemption and Resurrection: An exercise in biblical-systematic theology"

"We say biblical theologians with two things in mind. First, we must keep in mind that the Bible is the self-revelation of God; it is the source material for developing great thoughts about God. The Christian who is interested in knowing his God is the Christian who wants to know what God says about Himself in the Bible. He or she is not the person that typically begins sentences with "I like to think of God as…" Neither is she the type of person who tries to blend together a little New Age, with a little Hinduism, and a little Christianity in order to arrive at an eclectic but custom-fitted deity for herself. No, the Christian church member who is serious about knowing God is the church member who is committed to the teachings of the Bible about God, because that is where God tells us about Himself.

"Second, the "biblical theologian" is a person that is committed to understanding the history of revelation, the grand themes and doctrines of the Bible, and how they fit together. In other words, the healthy church member is one that gives himself to understanding the unity and progression of the Bible as a whole—not just isolated or favorite passages. She or he approaches the Bible knowing that they are reading one awesome story of God redeeming for Himself a people for His own glory. And in that story, they see that God is a creating God, a holy God, a faithful God, a loving God, and a sovereign God as He makes and keeps His promises to His people, beginning with Adam and Eve and progressing to the final consummation of all things." -- Thabiti Anyabwile, "The Second Mark of a Healthy Church Member: Biblical Theologian"

"Biblical theology, rightly defined, is nothing else than the exhibition of the organic progress of supernatural revelation in its historic continuity and multiformity." -- Geerhardus Vos, "The Nature and Aims of Biblical Theology"