Theology in the context of Christianity tries to understand what God has revealed in the Bible. And theology, by studying scriptures, seeks to understand God himself. It encompasses a wide range of interrelated disciplines like systematic theology, practical theology, and historical theology.
You can look into this guide to learn more about biblical theology and why they are relevant.
Biblical theology is not the same as systematic and historical theology
When people hear the term biblical theology, they assume it refers to a theology that is faithful to the Bible. Indeed, the main goal of Biblical theology is to promote the truth of the Bible, but it is different from other theological studies.
For instance, the goals of systematic theology will be to gather all possible knowledge about a particular topic that Bible teaches us. Studying everything that Bible teaches about salvation is an example of systematic theology. The main goal of doing historical theology will be to show the origin and development of beliefs as in the present day. They also aim to identify the theological errors of the past to avoid the same mistakes in the future. Biblical theology differs from these studies and can be considered a complementary discipline.
Traces the progressive revelation of God
Instead of gathering all the knowledge related to a particular topic in Bible, biblical theology traces the progressive revelation of God and how he plans to save humanity.
Traces the unfolding storyline of the Bible
Biblical theology analyzes the story of the Bible and tells us the story of the creator, the one who made everything. To sum up, the story of the Bible centers around creation, the fall of human beings, redemption, and new creation. And biblical theology traces this development of the storyline.
Recognizes the contribution of each author of scriptures
We understand God and his ideologies through the various scriptures that over forty authors had written in the course of about fifteen hundred years. Each of these authors had different styles that emphasized different theological themes. While they have different tones, each of the scriptures complements the other. The benefit of biblical theology is that they provide a method of studying and understanding different authors.
Help us find the harmony of the Bible
Along with helping understand the scriptures written by each author, biblical theology help in understanding unity in all these human interpretations. It helps in concluding that all the scriptures tell us the story of God, who will save all mankind.
Biblical theology puts Christ at the center
Biblical theology is that it enables us to read the Bible as a book centered on Jesus Christ. They allow us to see the whole Bible as a story about Christ and help us to understand the Christocentric shape of the Bible.
Understand Bible clearly
One of the advantages of biblical theology is that they help us to understand the real story of the Bible. They will also help us understand God’s might and glory through the various scriptures and see how he has guided us through history.
To conclude, Biblical theology helps us understand God’s glory and lead us to the path of worship of this supreme power.
