For such a short book, there's lots to think about here. This is a book that will put not only Revelation but all of Scripture - and history - in a neFor such a short book, there's lots to think about here. This is a book that will put not only Revelation but all of Scripture - and history - in a new light. Cannot recommend this highly enough.
Is exactly as the cover says: a biblical and theological introduction to the Old Testament (from a Reformed point of view, though it could pass for beIs exactly as the cover says: a biblical and theological introduction to the Old Testament (from a Reformed point of view, though it could pass for being generically evangelical). As the introduction explains, the focus of this book is on Christ as the theological center of the OT; the kingdom of God, especially as expressed in the covenant of Moses, as the thematic framework of the OT; and the traditional threefold division of Law, Prophets, and Writings as the structure of the OT. All of the essays in this book further unpack each of these key themes, and so the book as a whole seems fairly unified in presenting a coherent view of the OT. The only real drawback is that there's only enough room for a very cursory glance at each individual book of the OT (the worst of this is the Twelve Minor prophets, which is covered in 17 pages) - but that's to be expected. All in all, it provided several insights and a helpful framework to do more study from, so I'm satisfied. Now on to A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel Realized....more
Have you ever been reading Scripture and thought, what in the world is going on here? I certainly know I have. Heiser takes some of these hard-to-undeHave you ever been reading Scripture and thought, what in the world is going on here? I certainly know I have. Heiser takes some of these hard-to-understand passages and makes better sense of them by interpreting them through a supernatural framework (specifically, a divine council framework). He traces the biblical story from its beginning to its end, tracing the main supernatural thread throughout Scripture by bringing in specific texts that explain the greater whole. It's certainly an eye-opening read, and a very important one too, as we live Post-Enlightenment. For me personally most of the material wasn't a complete shock, if for no other reason I've read The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature, which touches on some of the same ideas (though from a historical, and not biblical, perspective).
That's not to say that I agreed with everything in the book. The chapter on free will seemed unnecessary, and Heiser's somewhat dismissive attitude towards theological systems in favor of interpreting the text in its ancient pagan context was kind of weird. That's not to say that historical context doesn't matter or can't be valuable, but uh, I would think that sound biblical theological systems have some weight as well? Oh well. I ignored both of these issues and enjoyed and learned from the book anyway....more
If I had known before that this only took me about three hours to read I would've read it a lot sooner. Short but very helpful.If I had known before that this only took me about three hours to read I would've read it a lot sooner. Short but very helpful....more
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