Book Review
Gospel and Kingdom: A Christian interpretation of the Old Testament by Graeme Goldsworthy (Paternoster Press 1981)
When I was studying for my Theological Certificate (which I still haven't finished, but that is another story) this was one of the recommended texts, and recently I pulled it out again for another read. Graeme Goldsworthy's preface states that he wrote this book out of a deep concern for the recovery of the Old Testament as part of the Christian Bible.
In Gospel and Kingdom Goldsworthy recognises the problems that modern Christians have applying ancient texts to their modern lives. By following the themes of redemption and the Kingdom of God, he shows the movement and process of God's revelation in the Bible. Goldsworthy helpfully explains how Exegesis (the explanation of the original text as it was originally intended) leads to Hermeneutics (using Biblical theology to interpret the text) before it can be applied to contemporary hearers in Homiletics (preaching and teaching). Goldsworthy writes, "The lesson of biblical theology is that no text stands alone, and the whole of Scripture is its ultimate context. So we should beware of taking every portion of a size convenient for daily reading (whatever that might be) and forcing it to yield up some self-contained Christian truth. In our efforts to make every snippet of Scripture relevant and edifying to the Christian we may in fact destroy the very message which is present for us in the wider context." (p102)
Gospel and Kingdom has been very helpful in preparing our Messages from the Messiah study series. We find the application part of every study the most challenging part to write and hope that we can be relevant to today's world while still being true to God's word.
Gospel and Kingdom is part of a trilogy of works which also includes Gospel and Wisdom and The Gospel in Revelation.