In short terms, Biblical theology refers to the theology of the Bible. It is what the biblical writers write in their books about the Bible and studying God in particular. It also holds convictions about Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God’s work in creating a human history on earth. It is mainly introduced to the people to represent the teachings of Jesus, by various writers.
Understanding biblical theology, written by various writers, depends on how we interpret texts or scripture. Therefore, it is best to use a historical, descriptive, and inductive method to understand the true sense of the term.
Historical approach to biblical theologies
When we view biblical theology through a historical lens, it talks about the teachings of the Bible by understanding each page and verse of the scripture. Generally, meaningful explanations a provided by various biblical writers.
An inductive approach to biblical theologies
An inductive approach provides an open mind to understand every term of the scripture to learn better about Christ and his dedication to improving humankind. Generally, writers and readers who follow an inductive approach have an authorial-intent mind to convey and interpret what’s given in a particular passage. Usually, believers who follow this approach listen and understand the scriptures before bringing their own inputs to a conclusion.
Descriptive approach to biblical theologies
A biblical theologian generally starts with a descriptive approach. This means they will try to relate all the events mentioned in the book by respecting the terminologies used by the biblical writer.
Hence, people who follow the biblical theologies to interpret in their life generally explore all the teaching of major these of the scripture in three different approaches and gain the best perspective from the scripture.
Ideas of biblical theology
The three primary ideas are followed:
- It is practiced only by theologians who believe in gaining knowledge from the writers of the scriptures.
- It does not deal with encompassing the ‘story of the bible’ but emphasizes the teachings of the Lord or Jesus Christ.
- Since most concepts are purely theoretical and descriptive, it provides insights into what people believed in the early ages and centuries.
- It is about creating a redemptive or a salvation history to create a big story in the readers’ minds. Hence it is considered a World Building exercise.
- It generally throws light on how the new biblical writers use the new testament to interpret knowledge from the old testament.
- Biblical theologies do not stress the historical events that took place. Instead, it focuses on the messages it interprets to the people.
- Biblical theology also focuses on the different historical events that generally make up most of the verses and the texts.
- It generally traces themes that are interpreted in the entire scripture, which is revealed progressively through time.
