Biblical and systematic theology are not foes, but friends, for they work together to form whole disciples of Christ, who by his Spirit follow him in every area of life. There has always been disciplined, systematic reflection on the history of redemption as it concerns God and his work in Christ. For example, the early church Trinitarian and Christological debates involved putting the whole canon together in light of salvation history as they sought to answer questions of who God is, what he has done in redemption, and how Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit were identified with God. Then, they sought to address the contemporary issues of their day, which, in one sense, is a department of systematic theology, as it involved constructive formation against destructive views. Yes, biblical and systematic theology have been friends from the beginning, so what God has joined together let no one separate.

What follows is a brief sketch of biblical (BT) and systematic theology (ST) in order to demonstrate how they differ but work together for our formative good.

Biblical Theology

Biblical theology works intertextually by tracking how Scripture develops on its own terms as it historically and redemptively unfolds in Christ from Genesis to Revelation. From this description, four convictions of biblical theology are worth noting.

First, biblical theology takes into account the unity of God’s revelation. Scripture is God’s Word written, which reveals his unified plan of redemption from beginning to end. However, God’s redemptive plan did not happen all at once, so his revelation did not come all at once. Rather, “God spoke to our fathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways” (Heb 1:1) as he guided them toward his final—and better—redemption in Christ. This framework presupposes that Scripture constitutes a unified text with a developing story. God’s Word reveals and interprets his redemptive acts that develop across time, from creation to consummation. Therefore, biblical theology must keep the redemptive-revelatory and redemptive-historical nature of Scripture in its focus. But not only is God’s revelation redemptive-historical, but it is also eschatological. That is, it has a divine goal. Michael Horton is correct when he says that when reading Scripture, “eschatology should be a lens and not merely a locus.”[1] For example, the promise of the offspring of the woman who would triumph over the serpent (Gen 3:15) unfolds in diverse and dramatic ways across Scripture until Christ fulfills it. This eschatological aspect of Scripture is rooted in a sovereign God who is moving history along to his appointed ends—to overcome sinful rebellion, to create, sustain, and perfect covenant fellowship with his people, and to reconcile and make new all things in Christ. As a result, biblical theology attends to the unity of God’s redemptive revelation and reads the parts in light of the whole.

Second, because God’s unified revelation came over time, biblical theology gives attention to Scripture’s diversity. This diversity is marked by different biblical authors, languages, genres, cultures, epochs, covenants, and Testaments. The diversity of Scripture displays the wonder of God’s beauty, but through Scripture’s rich diversity is an underlying unity that spans its pages from beginning to end.

Third, biblical theology reads Scripture on its own terms—that is, literately and literally its own terms, concepts, structures, and categories (e.g., creation, image, covenant, redemption, temple). It does not impose extra-biblical categories on the text but rather lets Scripture speak on its own terms and sets the agenda.

Finally, biblical theology is canonical and Christological. That is, all revelation points to and is fulfilled in Christ (Luke 24; Eph 1:10). God’s past dealings with his people serve as patterns, or types, for his future dealings with his people. Therefore, all Old Testament redemptive events, institutions, covenants, persons, and offices point to the final saving event, sacrifice, covenant, person, prophet, priest, and king. By God’s revelatory grace, the New Testament authors saw in the Lord Jesus Christ—in his person and work—the fulfillment Israel’s prophetic hopes.

In summary, biblical theology works intertextually to interpret Scripture on its own terms by tracking how it historically and redemptively unfolds from the beginning (creation in Gen 1) to end (new creation in Rev 21–22).

Systematic Theology

Systematic theology, in contrast, works from Scripture as it makes intrasystematic connections primarily in relation to its source—the Triune God—and secondarily to all things in relation to him. That is, systematic theology preserves the meaning of the terms, structures, and categories in biblical theology, but goes one step further by transforming and transposing those terms into a conceptual framework for people today. It puts all the conceptual “pieces” together to display the anatomy of their relations and proportions. Thus, it connects all reality to God and the works of God, for “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Rom 11:36).

Flowing from this point, then, systematic theology is ordered around the Word and works of God, which is why most systematic theologies display this kind of logic in their table of contents.

To spell this out, God reveals (doctrine of revelation) who God is (doctrine of God’s attributes and Triune nature) and what he has created (doctrine of creation and humanity). And, though humanity has sinned against him (doctrine of sin), God the Father has provided a gracious solution by sending God the Son, who became incarnate, who was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh by becoming like us in every way yet without sin (doctrines of the person and work of Christ), for us and for our redemption (doctrine of salvation). As a result, God the Father and the Son sent God the Holy Spirit who indwells, fills, and gifts his people for service (doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the church) until the day when Christ returns to complete what he began by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension and usher in a new creation (doctrine of last things). As one can see, not only does ST give a conceptual structure to BT, but BT gives a canonical structure to ST.

A brief word on the why of ST is in order. Taking our cues from the early church, theologizing set out to protect the church against heresies, prepare new Christians for baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and disciple Christians to become mature in Christ. Theology, therefore, was—and should be—lived. It was not for the theoretical sake of crossing theological t’s and dotting doctrinal i’s; rather, it was a matter of life and death for the sake and spread of the gospel. As a result, there are important components in systematic theology.

First, not only does systematic theology attend to the whole of Scripture and relate it to our world, but it also gives attention to Scripture’s internal relations. That is, systematic theology not only develops what Scripture teaches about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or deity and humanity of Christ, or faith and works, by looking at how each develops across Scripture (which is closer to biblical theology), but it goes further by asking, “What is the relation(s) between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or deity and humanity of Christ in his (one) person, or faith and works?” As a result, the church has employed terms such as “nature,” “person,” “eternal relations of origin,” and “hypostatic union” to conceptually and faithfully summarize what Scripture teaches concerning the Trinity or the person of Christ, which has been handed down to us in the creed and confessions. Put simply, theology employs concepts and conceptual tools that provide systematic coherence to what Scripture teaches about doctrines such as God and Christ, for us and for our salvation.

Second, systematic theology gives its attention to Scripture’s proportions. That is, it distinguishes doctrines that are of “first importance” such as the gospel (1 Cor 15:3) or person of Christ (1 John 4:2–3), from other doctrines of secondary or tertiary importance (Matt 23:23; 1 Cor 1:14–17). Thus, theology seeks to reflect the Bible’s own emphases and priorities in its sanctified and disciplined attention to and presentation of biblical teaching. And finally, systematic theology takes into account and is informed by historical theology, for every person approaches the text with certain (confessional) commitments.

Conclusion

Biblical theology grounds systematic theology, and systematic theology guards biblical theology. That is, systematic theology builds on biblical theology in its theological formulations. When systematic theologians ground their theology in the Bible, they should do so in ways that honor both what it is and how God revealed it over time. In other words, they should be doing biblical theology. The narrative structure, the story of God’s relationship with his creation—from Adam to Christ—forms the regulative principle and interpretative key for systematic theology (as it does biblical theology!). In order to reach sound biblical and theological conclusions, theologians must give equal study to all texts, giving careful attention to the literary genres and rightly interpreting each passage within its respective contexts and overall place in redemptive history and the canon. Similarly, when biblical theologians draw theological conclusions from Scripture (which they should), they should do so respecting the complex set of philosophical, cultural, doctrinal and creedal issues that attends such conclusions. In other words, they should be doing systematic theology.

Biblical and systematic theology are not foes, but friends, for they are interdependent activities in the integrated task of knowing and living before God in his world. Biblical theology seeks to interpret the diverse canonical forms on their own terms, while systematic theology seeks to both preserve those canonical forms and transform them into a coherent, conceptual framework for today. In the end, the fixed redemptive-historical framework of Scripture (biblical theology) gives rise to a theological vision for all of life (systematic theology). As pilgrims on our way home, may we give attention to both biblical and systematic theology in pursuit of knowing God, for “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

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[1] Michael S. Horton, Covenant and Eschatology: The Divine Drama (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 5.