The Presuppositions of a Christian Biblical Theology
We have said that the purpose of a biblical theology is to articulate the unity of the biblical canon centered in the person of Jesus Christ. Such a project is not an abstract enterprise for theological scholars. Rather, it is intended to set forth the biblical kerygma, or the proclamation of Jesus’ suffering and glory. This is so because the people of God, illumined by the Spirit of God, will recognize the Christ of the Holy Scriptures. These claims are based upon several presuppositions that should be clearly stated, namely, the truth of divine revelation, the inspiration of the biblical authors, the unity of the canon of Scripture, the coherence of the canon centered in Jesus Christ, and the recognition of Christ in the canon of the Scriptures by the people of God.
First of all, we affirm the truth of a verbal, plenary divine revelation in Holy Scripture. God, who spoke the creation into being in the beginning (Gen 1:3), likewise spoke through the office of the prophets as well, and spoke at last through his Son, whom He has made the heir of all things and through whom He made the world (Heb 1:1-2).
Second, in order to accomplish the revelation of His word for His people, the Spirit of God moved the biblical writers in such a manner that they faithfully reported all that God intended (2 Pet 1:21). It is this affirmation of divine inspiration that makes the discipline of biblical theology possible in spite of the many human authors who contributed to the sacred writings that the church has called canonical Scriptures.
Third, the doctrine of inspiration implies that there must be an authorial unity of purpose in the Scriptures that can be discovered and displayed (John 5:39). This makes necessary the Christian affirmation of the theological unity in the Bible, the coherence in the canon that can be expressed both systematically and biblically.
Fourth, all the Scriptures find their organic center in Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27, Eph 1:17, Col 1:26-28). This center accounts for the narrative unity of the canon, which has its beginning in the creation of the world through Christ (John 1:3), its middle in the earthly ministry of Christ (Luke 24:26, 1 Pet 1:11) , and its ending in the redemption of all things in Christ (2 Cor 5:19).
Fifth, the people of God, who under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth originally identified the canon of sacred Scriptures, are competent to understand the Christ of Scriptures as they themselves are moved in their hearts by the Spirit of God within them, consistent with the rational faculties revealed through the divine Logos (Luke 24:32, John 16:13, 1 Pet 1:12).
In sum, the poetics of a Protestant biblical theology requires a rigorous historical as well as grammatical exegetical approach and a disciplined typological method. J.I. Packer has clearly defined the approach we are advocating:
Biblical theology is the umbrella-name for those disciplines that explore the unity of the Bible, delving into the contents of the books, showing the links between them, and pointing to the ongoing flow of the revelatory and redemptive process that reached its climax in Jesus Christ. Historical exegesis, which explores what the text meant and implied for its original readership, is one of these disciplines. Typology, which looks into the Old Testament patterns of divine action, agency, and instruction that found final fulfillment in Christ, is another.