The Drama of Scripture - Craig G Bartholomew and Michael W Goheen

Published by Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004.

This is a great book, one that I first read as part of my theological training.

Bartholomew and Goheen take the Bible as a whole and divide it into six "acts", namely: 1) God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation, 2) Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall, 3) The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated, 4) The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished, 5) Spreading the New of the King: The Mission of the Church, 6) The Return of the King: Redemption Completed.

By dividing the Bible thusly, they are able to focus on the 'overarching' story of the Bible, something that is important because "If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should." (page 12) The Bible is really the story of God and how He connects with His chosen creation, and Drama of Scripture helps to remind us of that.

Bartholomew and Goheen paint the broad strokes of the Bible story, but are also able to dig in and point out interesting parts of Scripture that might escape our notice. One humorous example is explaining that although the builders of the Tower of Babel "think of their tower as a wonderful achievement, a stairway to heaven itself, God has to descend from heaven just to be able to see the thing!" (page 53). At other times the authors are able to make challenging statements based on the principles they find: "The LORD intends that he should instruct Israel in every area of life. Only then will Israel truly become a light to the nations. "There is not a square inch of life of which he does not say, 'That is mine!'" Religion is no merely private affair: the LORD wants his law (torah, "instruction") to permeate every part of his peoples' experience." (page 77).

I have taken my time rereading this book, adding it in as a regular part of my quiet times and digesting it in bite sized chunks since sometime last year. This is something I enjoy doing with theology - savouring it a little more slowly than a fiction book. This is one I quite enjoy.

Completed 17 May 2022.


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