The Biblical Theology of

1. The Biblical Theology of Missions Part One

2. What is Biblical Theology? St. Thomas Aquinas Karl Barth

3. The History of “Biblical Theology” • For Centuries, Catholic theology was defined by the philosophies of St. Augustine (4th Century) and St. Thomas Aquinas (13th Century) • With the Reformation (16th Century), Scripture was re-established as the normanormans of Christian Theology. Post-Reformation scholars, however, recognized that Luther and Calvin had taken a dogmatic agenda to Scripture rather than letting it speak for itself

4. The term “Biblical Theology” was first used in the 1787 by Johannes Gabler. After the Reformation, Protestants looked to the Bible for prooftexts. Gabler called for more exegetical attention to the historical contexts of the Bible.

5. J.C.K. von Hofman (1841) • First to propose that the unifying theme for understanding the Bible was salvation history or Heilsgeschichte. Hofmann defined “salvation history” in terms of its ultimate goal: “Jesus is the end, and also the middle, of history; his appearance in the flesh is the beginning of the end.” For Hofmann, salvation history was a peculiar history, the understanding of whose witness took place subjectively, according to the testimonium spiritus sancti internum (“inner testimony of the Holy Spirit”). Thus its facticity was, to this extent, not subject to historical criticism; it unified at one and the same time individual pious experiences with the historical perspective. This understanding of salvation history had two facets: (1) as the history of God’s dealings with certain people throughout history, a history in which Christ was both the origin and the center; and (2) as the personal saving history of all people.

6. The Biblical Theology Movement • A great step forward in Biblical Theology was the movement that sprang forth after the rise of Neo-Orthodox theologians like Karl Barth.

7. Aims of the BT Movement (according to Brevard Childs) • rediscovery of the theological dimension • unity of the whole Bible • revelation of God in history, distinctiveness of the biblical mentality (Hebrew thought in contrast to Greek thought • the contrast of the Bible to its environment

8. Biblical Theology Today • the Bible is a theological book and cannot be properly interpreted without reference to its theology. • The subject-matter of biblical theology is the Bible as a whole. Every individual text and theme should be understood in the context of the whole. • Since its purpose is to establish the theology contained in and expressed by the Bible, it employs biblical exegesis which, by means of textual, literary and historical criticism, establishes the intention of specific texts. • Biblical theology is the intermediary between exegesis and dogmatics.

9. Missions and the Creation

10. Genesis 1 • There was a beginning. Creation is not accomplished in a timeless, mythological realm, but rather, it is hardwired into time and even HISTORY, followed by days and nights and weeks. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

11. Creation: The First Salvific Act The Bible does not deal with creation in order to satisfy philosophic [or scientific] concerns regarding the origin of the world. Its point of view is quite another . . . The creation of the world initiates history, the human struggle, and the salvific adventure of Yahweh. Faith in creation does away with its mythical and supernatural character. It is the work of a God who saves and acts in history. ─A Theology of Liberation (1971), p. 154) Gustavo Gutiérrez

12. GOD created the world without interference. • Babylonian and Canaanite cosmologies (creation myths) tell of creation out of conflict. • Marduk and Tiamat • Baal and Rahab Tiamat and Marduk

13. Creation as an act of salvation from Chaos. • Jurgen Moltmann and “God-forsaken space” • From Disorder to Order, therefore a PLAN. • The Presence of the Holy Spirit. Beginnings of the revelation of Trinitarian Community. 1:26 “let us create” 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

14. The Power of God’s Word • Nothing can resist the power of the word, not even “nothing.” • The Invincibility of the purposes of God. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

15. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. • The Creation is good, and demonstrates God’s good will toward his creatures. Common Grace has been poured out for all.

16. Reproduction according to kind. 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

17. 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. • The inferiority of the stars and planets to God and man.

18. The inferiority of the sea monsters. God has no competition in all the created order. 20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

19. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” • imago dei. All of humanity bears the image of God and is the object of his love and desire to save. • God’s desire for human partnership in his mission in the world.

20. Prose to Poetry • Humanity as the Climax of Creation and the revelation of its purpose • Men and women as complements in the display of God’s image and “fellowship nature”. 2:18ff. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

21. The first blessing: sexuality and reproduction. God’s desire to have many sons and daughters through our partnership. • The blessing of God as necessary for human fulfillment—a concept fully developed later. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

22. The Dominion Mandate and the inexorable spread of God’s Kingdom in the World. After the Fall, the dominion mandate will include not only the tending of the earth (2:15) but also the restoration of humanity as “subjects” of God’s Kingdom. • The First Command of God. Obedience to God is the first duty of humanity. Later the Great Commission will make the spiritual task of the Dominion mandate crystal clear, and our duty to obey it is clear.

23. Genesis 2 • God’s Sabbath Rest. The object of work is to enjoy its fruits, and God establishes here the value of rest as more than just the replenishment of spent forces. Not just rest at the end, but satisfaction in the process. Every Sabbath is a prolepsis of heaven. 1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

24. Humans are spiritual beings, different from the animals. 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and the man became a living being.

25. God’s desire for transparent fellowship with us and among us. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

26. Creation and Missions • God created the world with a plan to bless humanity. • Every human being bears the imago dei and is included in the missio dei. • God desires to bring both men and women into partnership for the fulfillment of the missio dei. • Our first duty is to obey the mandates of God, including the Dominion Mandate and the Great Commission. • God’s purposes are inexorable and no enemy can destroy them. • Rest and satisfaction are part of the mission.

27. The Fall of Humanity • Gen 2:25-3:1 • 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

28. The Promise of the Woman’s Seed Genesis 3:14-15 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

29. What did Eve understand? • Genesis 4:1 Kaiser’s exegesis is a bit too creative hwhyÁta ! Vya] ytynq rmaTw

30. The Flood and Covenant Promise Genesis 8:21-22 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. 22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

31. The Token of God’s Covenant Genesis 9:12-16 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

32. The Table of the Nations Genesis 10:1-11:1 10:1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. 5(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.) 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. 24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country. 31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

33. The Biblical Theology of Diversity

34. A Biblical View of Diversity Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

35. It is the manifest will of God that human diversity should persist forever.

36. The role of human diversity in God’s plan is first established in Genesis 11:1-9, the story of the Builders of Babel.

37. Their plan of salvation was a magnet city and a high tower that would stop the scattering by drawing the whole world into their hegemony.

38. “In New York I have always felt I was at the center of the world, in a modern Babylon, a sort of Borgesian aleph with representation of all the languages, religions and cultures of the planet, and from which, as from a giant heart to the extremities, there circulate to the globe all fashions and vices, values and nonvalues, usages, customs, music, images and prototypes resulting from the incredible mixtures in this city.” --Peruvian novelist and Nobel Prize winner for literature Mario Vargas Llosa

39. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

40. The arrogance of the magnet city was struck down, not to condemn the people, but rather to humble them and make them eligible for grace.

41. Human diversity is a means by which God communicates grace to us, keeping us humble. As such, it is sacramental.

42. Pentecost has often been seen as a reversal of Babel—in fact it is its most powerful reaffirmation.

43. Every time we speak in tongues, we declare our agreement that all peoples (and their languages) have been created for the praise of God and that they must be evangelized.