Explores how New Testament conceptions of God contribute to a contemporary constructive theology

In this substantial volume, Thomas Schreiner takes up the study of New Testament theology, looking for the themes that emerge from a detailed reading of the whole rather than considering the individual writings separately. Two themes in particular emerge. The first concerns redemptive history and the kingdom of God. The New Testament writers adopt the Old Testament vision of God's reign and affirm that it has come in Jesus Christ, although final fulfillment is yet to come. Second, the ultimate goal of the kingdom is God's glory. Schreiner goes on to relate these themes to the life of the believer and the community of faith. Pastors and students will find this a comprehensive and illuminating survey of the unifying themes found throughout the New Testament.

In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, David Peterson challenges the common assumption that the New Testament views sanctification as primarily a process. He argues that its emphasis falls upon sanctification as a definitive event, "God's way of taking possession of us in Christ, setting us apart to belong to him and to fulfill his purpose for us." Simply to identify sanctification with growth and holiness, he contends, obscures the emphasis and balance of New Testament teaching and creates unrealistic expectations. Throughout this study Peterson builds his case on the careful exegesis of relevant passages, with a keen eye for the pastoral implications of his findings. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

Wilf Hildebrandt carefully explores the meaning of "the Spirit" in the Old Testament. He examines the role of God's Spirit in creation, in the establishment and preservation of God's people, in prophecy, and in Israel's leadership. He unveils the central role that the Spirit plays in creatively bringing about the directives of God. Through the Spirit, God brings order out of chaos, ushers the invisible into reality, makes a separation between the sacred and the profane, enables specific people to meet particular needs, and supersedes natural laws. This work sheds light on the Spirit of God in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In this comprehensive exposition, a leading New Testament scholar explores the unfolding theological unity of the entire Bible from the vantage point of the New Testament. G. K. Beale, coeditor of the award-winning Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, examines how the New Testament storyline relates to and develops the Old Testament storyline. Beale argues that every major concept of the New Testament is a development of a concept from the Old and is to be understood as a facet of the inauguration of the latter-day new creation and kingdom. Offering extensive interaction between the two testaments, this volume helps readers see the unifying conceptual threads of the Old Testament and how those threads are woven together in Christ. This major work will be valued by students of the New Testament and pastors alike.

Thomas Schreiner's substantial New Testament Theology examined the unifying themes that emerge from a detailed reading of the New Testament canon. This student-level digest of Schreiner's massive work explores the key themes and teachings of the New Testament in a more accessible and concise way. The book summarizes the findings of Schreiner's larger work and provides answers to the "so what?" question of New Testament theology. Comprehensive and up to date, this survey is arranged thematically and includes careful exegesis of key passages. It offers students, pastors, and lay readers a big picture view of what the New Testament is all about.

Craig Blomberg has now crowned his distinguished career to date as a careful reader and interpreter of the New Testament by tackling the largest and most difficult of challenges--that of writing a New Testament theology. Blomberg's text draws upon his proven ability to read ancient texts in historical context, his deep knowledge of the various textual traditions that comprise the New Testament, and a sympathetic competency to see the New Testament as a lived text. A New Testament Theology is a major achievement by a seasoned scholar and one that will serve teachers and students alike. Blomberg presents the task as twofold: chronological and synthetic. Blomberg thus plots actors, authors, and books of the New Testament in a reconstructed chronological order, highlighting both the dominant and distinctive themes for each. Examinations of Jesus and the early church come first, followed by those of the early Jewish Christian writings of James and Jude, and then the missionary letters of Paul (treated together). Blomberg then unpacks the contributions of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, followed by the Pastorals (treated as an extension of Lukan thought even though originating in Paul), Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, and the Johannine corpus of gospel, epistles, and Revelation. As Jesus' ministry begins with the proclamation that "the time has come," the recurring, unifying, and synthetic theme of the entire New Testament is, according to Blomberg, the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises, both directly and typologically, explicitly and implicitly. Blomberg's careful inductive reading demonstrates the Bible's remarkable cohesion and foundational importance for the contemporary church. While the grand finale of God's cosmic redemption is still in the future, the determinative events for human well-being have already taken place in Christ. This is the conviction that drives Christian life from generation to generation: the ages have turned, God's victory is assured, even though there is still much work to be done.