Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 15:45 (Aug 2011)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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JODT 15:45 (August 2011) p. 91

Book Reviews

Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God: A Theological Study on the Plurality and Tri-unity of God in the Hebrew Scriptures by John B. Metzger. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2010. 905 pp., cloth, $49.95.

In the view of some Christians today, the Old Testament is not as relevant to the Christian life as the New Testament is. As the thinking goes, the Old Testament contains some interesting stories about God and the Israelites and it contains some wonderful prophecies about the coming Messiah but it does not give much information about God as the New Testament does. Particularly, it does not tell much about the relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; it does not explain the Trinity. However, in the words of the author of Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God, "God did not present Messiah in a vacuum" (309).

John B. Metzger is a graduate of Washington Bible College and Lancaster Bible College. He has served as a pastor and director of the Indian Bible Institute. He has also worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship and currently serves with Ariel Ministries. Metzger gave his reasons for writing this book in the following paragraph:

Why is there a need for another book on the Trinity? There are so many books already published on that subject, so why do we need another one? The purpose of this book is twofold: first, all other books written today are written from a New Testament perspective; this one will be written from an Old Testament perspective exclusively. Secondly, in addressing the subject of the Trinity (tri-unity) we will interact with the Jewish belief that God is an absolute one and not a tri-unity. This book will show Christian and Jewish people alike that God did reveal Himself to mankind as a tri-unity, more accurately as a plural unity of one [p. xxiii].

Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God was written to explain the Trinity to a Jewish and Christian audience from an Old Testament perspective and the book achieves its goal. From discussing the Old Testament names for God to looking at theophanies in the Pentateuch to discussing all the implications for the Shema and the deity of the Messiah, Metzger examined his topic thoroughly.

The author's chapter on the Angel of the Lord (ch. 4) provides a good example of this thoroughness. The Angel of the Lord is considered by some scholars to be a messenger from the Lord who is highly esteemed but not divine. Metzger, however, proved otherwise. The Angel of the Lord is no less than the Second Person of the Trinity in His pre-incarnate form. In His conversation with Gideon in Judges 6, the Angel is called the Lord Himself (vv. 12, 14)....

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