The term has been used in different ways, so it is important that the term should be understood within the context in which it is used. It is used, e.g., to describe the Biblical Theology Movement (for which see the link). Basically biblical theology is the attempt to understand what the Bible teaches about God, who He is and what it has done, and what it means for us (i.e., ), organized chronologically along the line of their historical development.
More frequently biblical theology describes a methodology, an approach to study the Bible with the goal to understand the theology assumed, espoused and reflected in each book of the Bible, the theology as circumscribed then by the historical circumstances at the time in which it was written.
For the most parts of the Church's history, theologians have largely been interested in dogmatic or systematic theoloy, which seeks to systematize what the Bible teaches, e.g., about God, sin, humans, etc. Systematic theology (though it uses the Bible) is more philosophical and thematic in its approach. In contrast, biblical theology seeks to understand the theology as it stands in each part of the Bible, and is more historical and organic in its approach. To see the difference more clearly, take this analogy from the study of plants.
Imagine a botanical garden. As you walk through the garden you see poppies, tulips, carmelias, yarrow, etc, neatly labeled and planted in its own dedicated sites. You can study the poppies, the different species of them, what they need to thrive best, etc, etc. This, we may say, is the equivalent of systematic theology. Now imagine a hill out in country. Here you find broadleaf dock, stinging nettle, bramble, clovers, etc. But they are not in neat patches; instead they grow crowded together with one another and lots of other plants. Here you can study the plants in their native state and understand how one species thrives, or does not thrive, when growing with another species, etc, etc. This is the equivalent of biblical theology. The gardener in the botanical garden has, properly speaking, to understand how plants thrive in the wild if she is to know how to site her many plants; putting two plants next to one another in the garden that do not naturally do well together is to court disaster.
Biblical theology begins with exegesis, i.e., understanding what the text meant to its original audiences, how they understand it and what it implied for their lives in the circumstances in which they lived. It then takes the study through the different books of the Bible and see how these concepts changed over time and how it impacted and influenced the other or later writers of the Bible. As in the analogy of the botanical garden, the systematic theologian has to begin with biblical theology to ensure that his systematic theology is to be sound and balanced. Some theologians like to describe this difference in approach as diachronic ("across time," i.e., following the course of its development over time, chronologically and historically) and synchronic ("a cross-section in time," i.e., without regards to, or—at least—without the focus on, its development over time).
This summary, however, is a caricature because the subject of what properly constitutes biblical theology, what is its proper function and goal, how it should be done, what is the relationship between the two testaments,etc., continues to be debated, and the discussion can get highly complicated.
Media Resources
Biblical Theology by Gerard Van Groningen. Covenant Theological Seminary. (26 lectures)
Audio N (Open on Phone)
Third Millenium Ministrys has developed this extremely helpful course on Biblical Theology. These lectures open in the SPanel.
Building Biblical Theology. Lesson 1. What is Biblical Theology? video 1:25:01 hr.
Building Biblical Theology. Lesson 2. Synchronic Synthesis of the Old Testament. video 1:27:58 hr.
Building Biblical Theology. Lesson 3. Diachronic Developments. video 1:34:15 hr.
Building Biblical Theology. Lesson 4. Contours of New Testament Biblical Theology video 1:33:12 hr.
Print Resources
J. Gordon McConville, "Biblical theology: canon and plain sense," Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 19.2 (Autumn 2001): 134-157.
PdfN 6-7 (Open on Phone)
©ALBERITH
191018lch