Abstract
Craig Blomberg, an accomplished New Testament scholar and commentary writer, has now produced an engaging and splendid volume on New Testament Theology. Blomberg seeks to find a unifying theme to act as the focal point for his presentation of an overarching description of the theology of the New Testament. For Blomberg, after much careful thought, the unifying theme that he identifies within the New Testament and as the focal point for his analysis is that of ‘fulfilment’. Thus he states, ‘every NT book states (usually quite explicitly but once in a while only implicitly) that the age of fulfilment of these promises has arrived. The Messiah has come. Israel’s savior has appeared. Their spiritual exile can be over. The people of Israel are being reconstituted among Jesus’ followers’ (p. 11). Blomberg outlines various ways in which a New Testament theology might be arranged. His approach is to ‘determine with reasonable probability key teachings and claims of the historical Jesus and of the earliest church as a subset of what the Gospels and the first part of Acts highlight’ (p. 9).
After the introduction, the volume comprises eleven chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter, simply titled ‘Jesus’ (pp. 17–100), notes that the idea of fulfilment occurs on the lips of Jesus in his opening statement in the first written of the gospels: ‘the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near’ (Mk 1:15). According to Blomberg this theme of fulfilment recurs throughout Jesus’ ministry and passion so that ‘even Jesus’ passion and death do not diminish the fact that Scripture is fulfilled, the kingdom has arrived, and the king who also suffers on our behalf has come’ (p. 100). In chapter two the theology of the earliest church is discussed with reference to material in Acts and other sources that are deemed to provide insight into the earliest phase of Christian thought. Interestingly, the first specific texts that Blomberg considers in detail are the letters of James and Jude, which he considers to be early Jewish Christian letters. Blomberg is aware of the difficulties in dating these letters, but finds sufficient evidence to support such an early date. Next, he considers the theology of ten of the Pauline letters—the Pastorals are reserved for a later chapter. That is not because he considers them necessary to be by a different author, but since it is suggested that a different amanuensis (Luke) was used and that the letters were written at a later stage of Paul’s life (pp. 455–459). In regard to the ten Pauline letters of the earlier phase, as Blomberg characterise these writings, it is argued that ‘Paul’s christological monotheism’ leads to ‘the complete fulfilment of all God’s intentions for his creation’ (p. 304). Subsequent chapters follow on the gospels, with the synoptic gospels being dated to the 60s. The two letters of Peter and the Johannine literature are the subjects of the final two chapters.
By employing the focal theme of fulfilment, Blomberg successfully highlights aspects of New Testament theology that are frequently overlooked by other scholars. This fresh approach casts a different light on several key texts. The work is unashamedly ‘evangelical’ in its widest sense, and while there might be certain quibbles over critical issues, this does not lessen the strength of the volume as a whole. This is a fine treatment of the theology of the New Testament, and it will find a wide and appreciative readership.