"All Scripture is breathed out by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). From Paul's epistles the divine inspiration of Scripture may be confidently affirmed. However, on turning to Jesus and the Gospels, it is difficult to find such an explicit approach. In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Matthew Barrett argues that Jesus and the apostles have just as convictional a doctrine of Scripture as Paul or Peter, but it will only be discovered if the Gospels are read within their own canonical horizon and covenantal context. The nature of Scripture presupposed by Jesus and the Gospel writers may not be addressed directly, but it manifests itself powerfully when their words are read within the Old Testament's promise-fulfilment pattern. Nothing demonstrates Scripture's divine origin, divine authorial intent and trustworthiness more than the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the advent of the Son of God, the Word has become flesh, announcing to Jew and Gentile alike that the covenant promises Yahweh made through the Law and the Prophets have been fulfilled in the person and work of Christ. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.
Contents
Introduction: reorienting the hermeneutical approach to Jesus and the scriptures of Israel
1. Divine authorial intent, canonical unity and the Christological presuppositions of biblical theology
2. The book of the covenant and canon consciousness
3. The scripture must be fulfilled: the Matthean witness (case study 1)
4. The ultimate fulfilment and self-disclosure of God--The Word made flesh: the Johannine witness (case study 2)
5. Living by every word from the mouth of God: what Christ's covenant obedience to the Scriptures says about the Scriptures
6. The Word became flesh: from Christology to canon
7. Is our doctrine of scripture Christological enough? The future of inerrancy and the necessity of dogmatics
About the Author:
Matthew Barrett is associate professor of Christian theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of numerous books, including None Greater, God's Word Alone, 40 Questions About Salvation, John Owen on . . . and Salvation by Grace. He is also editor of The Doctrine by Which the Church Stands or Falls and host of the Credo podcast, where he talks with fellow theologians about the most important doctrines of the faith.