Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments

In the book Biblical Theology, Geerhardus Vos’ aim is no less than to provide an account of the unfolding of the mind of God in history, through the successive agents of his special revelation. Vos handles this under three main divisions: the Mosaic epoch of revelation, the prophetic epoch of revelation, and the New Testament.

Such an historical approach is not meant to supplant the work of the systematic theologian; nevertheless, the Christian gospel is inextricably bound up with history, and the biblical theologian thus seeks to highlight the uniqueness of each biblical document in that succession. The rich variety of Scripture is discovered anew as the progressive development of biblical themes is explicated.

To read these pages – the fruit of Vos’s 39 years of teaching biblical theology at Princeton – is to appreciate the late John Murray’s suggestion that Geerhardus Vos was the most incisive exegete in the English-speaking world of the twentieth century.

Contents

The Old Testament
PART ONE
THE MOSAIC EPOCH OF REVELATION

1. INTRODUCTION: THE NATURE AND METHOD OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
2. THE MAPPING OUT OF THE FIELD OF REDEMPTION
3. THE CONTENT OF PRE-REDEMPTIVE SPECIAL REVELATION
4. THE CONTENT OF THE FIRST REDEMPTIVE SPECIAL REVELATION
5. THE NOACHIAN REVELATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT LEADING UP TO IT
6. THE PERIOD BETWEEN NOAH AND THE GREAT PATRIARCHS
7. REVELATION IN THE PATRIARCHAL PERIOD
8. REVELATION IN THE PERIOD OF MOSES

PART TWO
THE PROPHETIC EPOCH OF REVELATION

1. THE PLACE OF PROPHETISM IN OLD TESTAMENT REVELATION
2. THE CONCEPTION OF A PROPHET: NAMES AND ETYMOLOGIES
3. THE HISTORY OF PROPHETISM: CRITICAL THEORIES
4. THE MODE OF RECEPTION OF THE PROPHETIC REVELATION
5. THE MODE OF COMMUNICATION OF THE PROPHECY
6. THE CONTENT OF THE PROPHETIC REVELATION

The New Testament

1. THE STRUCTURE OF NEW TESTAMENT REVELATION
2. REVELATION CONNECTED WITH THE NATIVITY
3. REVELATION CONNECTED WITH JOHN THE BAPTIST
4. REVELATION IN THE PROBATION OF JESUS
5. THE REVELATION OF JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY

INDEX: SUBJECTS AND NAMES
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES