“Only the slain Lamb who is now alive is able to open the scroll.
Jesus Christ is both the content of Scripture and the interpreter of Scripture.”
–Craig A. Carter, Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2018), 215.
“The whole of Scripture stands united by a single and primary author: God.
Rather than a collection of man’s highest thoughts about God, the Christian Scripture is God’s self-communication to humanity about who He is and what He has done to redeem a lost race in Adam.
Inspiration guarantees that the canon’s many stories tell one story; there is a single story to be told because there is a single divine author, who has declared Himself to be its architect and creator.
He is not only the main actor in the drama of redemption but the drama’s scriptwriter.
Presupposed is a striking reality: it is because the story of Scripture has one divine author that His divine authorial intent is embedded throughout Scripture’s storyline.”
–Matthew Barrett, Canon, Covenant and Christology (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Vol. 51; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 16-17.
“Biblical theology is inherently practical because the Bible is inherently practical. The Bible is not only for information but also for transformation.
Further, these two go hand in hand. As we understand better how to read Scripture, we understand its message better and, therefore, are better able to be transformed by it.
Biblical theology gives us the framework to read Scripture. Yes, other tools are needed, but without this big picture, without our topographical map, it’s easy to lose our place in the forest because we are so busy looking at individual trees.
Biblical theology helps us to see where we are in the forest and to make our way toward the end of our trail, the end of all biblical trails, the person and work of Jesus. As we strive toward that end, biblical theology tells us which turns we need to take to stay on that main Christological path.
In doing so, it orients our devotion, mission, doctrine, counseling, and preaching and teaching toward that same goal.”
–Matthew Emerson, The Story of Scripture: An Introduction to Biblical Theology (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2017), 88.
