Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 30:3 (Sep 1987)
Article: The NT Use Of The OT: A Kerygmatic Approach
Author: Norman R. Ericson

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JETS 30:3 (September 1987) p. 337

The NT Use Of The OT: A Kerygmatic Approach

Norman R. Ericson*

The self-disclosure of God is one of the most amazing elements of Christian theology. Even in a world of satellites and video cassette recorders I am amazed that the transcendent God has chosen to communicate with us in ways that are comprehensible to human beings.

And as one follows the course of salvation history through the Biblical literature the amazement only increases. Not only does God speak to human beings, but he does so in such a manner that the very revelation of himself serves to heighten our awareness of his wisdom, majesty and power.

His communication with the patriarchs, with the monarchs, with the prophets has been exceeded only by the ultimate revelation of himself in the person of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the eschatological Spirit who inhabits the body of Christ and who inspired the Christian Scriptures.

It is in this attitude of amazement and worship that the current task has been assumed. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the autographs, effective in Christian ministry, and the means of discipline for mind and life. What I attempt to do here is a humble act of worship, an attempt to understand Scripture on its own terms, in the context in which it was delivered and on the basis of the evidence that it provides about itself

My study of the relationship between the Testaments has been largely textual. Under the overarching umbrella of evangelical theology the text itself has called into formulation the thesis being presented here. Many scholars and writings have contributed to this understanding, but the evidence of Scripture has remained primary.

What has impressed me most in my Biblical studies has been the dominance of the gospel. Most pronouncedly this appears in the NT with such intensity that at times it appears to diminish the OT and at other times to be entirely congruent with the OT. Yet what is striking about the NT is that it always talks about the gospel, in a third-person kind of reference. It is the gospel from which Paul wrote his letters. It is this same apostolic preaching that Mark converted to a new literary form, the written gospel. And it is the gospel that gives John’s Apocalypse its unique character among Jewish apocalypses.

So also, I propose, it is this gospel—the gospel that preceded the NT writings—by which we must understand the relationship between the Testaments. And that is why I have subtitled my paper “A Kerygmatic Approach.” There are other more particular ways to describe various instances of the NT uses of the OT, but none of them gives a naturally comprehensive understanding of larger and smaller expression...

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