Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 42:2 (NA 1991)
Article: The Structure Of Biblical Theology
Author: Charles H. H. Scobie

TynBul 42:2 (1991) p. 163

The Structure Of Biblical Theology

Charles H.H. Scobie

The phrase ‘Biblical Theology’, as H.H. Schmid has pointed out,1 is capable of being regarded either as a tautology or as a contradiction in terms. It may be regarded as a tautology in so far as every theology which claims to be Christian claims to be in agreement with the Bible. (This holds true for Roman Catholic just as much as for Protestant theology, though the relationship between Scripture and Church tradition may of course be differently defined). On the other hand, ‘Biblical Theology’ is regarded at least by some as a contradiction in terms on the grounds that the Bible, with its great variety of literary forms, actually contains very little ‘theology’. Everyone agrees that dogmatic theology must lay claim to some form of scriptural authority, but not everyone agrees on whether it is possible to construct a Biblical Theology separate from Dogmatics. The attempt in the late 18th and early l9th centuries to develop a purely historical and descriptive independent Biblical Theology soon split into separate Old Testament and New Testament Theologies which in turn were succeeded by studies of the religion of ancient Israel and the early Church.

In a previous article2 an attempt was made to establish a case for an ‘intermediate Biblical Theology’, which would be a bridge discipline, assuming and accepting the fruits of historical (and literary) study of the Bible but undertaking a synthesis of the biblical material which would mediate the results of specialized biblical studies to those engaged in dogmatic theology and related fields. Such a Biblical Theology would be ‘canonical’ in the sense that it would be concerned with both the Old Testament and New Testament together, would be based primarily on the final

TynBul 42:2 (1991) p. 164

canonical form of Scripture, and would deal with the full range of canonical materials. While this type of Biblical Theology might be engaged in as part of exegesis, or of the study of individual biblical books or themes, it is doubtful whether such fragmented study can be sustained without some undergirding framework or structure for understanding Biblical Theology as a whole. The question arises in fact as to whether it might again be possible to attempt the writing of ‘a Biblical Theology’ despite the violent objections which will undoubtedly be launched against any such project by many academic biblical scholars. However, recent attempts at writing a truly Biblical Theology, for example by the American scholar S. Terrien and the German scholar H. SeebassYou must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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