TGC Reviews

Thomas R. Schreiner. Magnifying God in Christ: A Summary of New Testament Theology. Baker Academic, 2010. 272 pages.

I have a simple rule of thumb when it comes to Thomas Schreiner: If he writes it, I read it. I have been sharpened by his commentaries on Romans and 1&2 Peter. His book on the doctrine of the saint’s perseverance, The Race Set Before Us is a wonderful synthesis of sound exegesis and exhortation. Believer’s Baptism is the best defense of credo-baptism I have read. I remember being excited when his massive New Testament Theology was released. It was well worth the time and attention required to read it. However, I remember thinking along the way that a condensed and more accessible version would be a coup for thoughtful lay persons. Thus, I welcomed the publication of Magnifying God in Christ with enthusiasm. I was even more enthused as I realized that this may well be the most helpful summary of the theology of the New Testament I had yet to read.

Thomas Schreiner is both a Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a teaching pastor in a local congregation. I point this out because it is clear that, for Schreiner, careful attention to matters of interpretation and doctrine are not to be confined to the academy but have devotional and doxological implications. In short, this is biblical scholarship in service to the church which is what all biblical scholarship ought to be.

Schreiner’s desire is to introduce something fresh while avoiding the trap of novelty. I like that. The reader is thus saved from the sometimes excruciating pain of being drug along by a writer’s often self-indulgent flights of fancy. “My goal in this book is not to argue a novel thesis but to attempt to discover inductively what was most important to NT writers … The thesis advanced in this book is that NT theology is God-focused, Christ-centered, and Spirit saturated, but the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit must be understood along a salvation-historical timeline; that is, God’s promises are already fulfilled but not yet consumated in Christ Jesus” (17, 19).

According to Schreiner, “one of the striking themes in the NT” is the already/not yet tension (16). He will, I am sure, be relieved to know that I agree. The opening chapter of the book is devoted to helping the reader understand the importance of this interpretive motif. “Understanding the tension between the inauguration and consumation of God’s promises is indispensable for grasping the message of the NT” (17). As a pastor I am thankful for Schreiner’s attention to this principle. I am frequently confronted with questions and outright confusion about certain promises and exhortations in Scripture that flow from not understanding the already/not yet.

How often are those we serve dismayed by the bitter realities of living in a fallen world? How great is the pain of sinners who live among other sinners? Unfortunately, many believers have been taught to expect to have now what God has promised only for the new heavens and earth. They wonder why their child died after years of faithful service to the church. They wonder why their spouse abandoned them when Jesus promised life abundantly. These are no small matters and those of us in pastoral ministry face them every week. It is in those moments when the ones we serve do not need more false promises or motivating anecdotes but robust and faithful biblical doctrine.

This is the importance of an approach to Scripture which takes seriously the tension of the already/not yet. This is the importance of undertanding the God-centeredness (contra me-centeredness) of Scripture. This is the imprtance of knowing that the Scriptures contain far better promises than deliverance from temporal loss. “Christians live in, so to speak, the twilight zone, for they have experienced the saving power of the age to come, and yet they still reside in the present evil age…[The] presence of the Spirit indicates that the new age has dawned, but believers have not yet abandoned all that God has promised”(29, 30).

Schreiner calls the centrality of God in Christ “the foundational theme for the narrative unfolded in the NT” (39). He is aware of the temptation to say, “Of course God is the main theme of the NT” without understanding the proper implications of such a theme. “We may think that nothing further needs to be said about ‘God’ in a theology of the NT because it is obvious and assumed that our theology is about God. But if we ignore what is obvious and assumed, we may overlook one of the most important themes in NT theology. We may gaze past what looms massively in front of us simply because we are accustomed to the scenery” (39). I wish I had written that line!

From God’s centrality in the NT Schreiner moves on to that of Christ which he properly maintains does not diminish the former but rather enhances it (40). Further, we are reminded that the sending of the Spirit is the vindication of the Son’s redemptive work. “In the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit our focus is directed to the God of the promise and to God’s saving work in fulfilling the promises” (40). Schreiner addresses the distinct but wholly complementary work of Father, Son, and Spirit revealed in each of the NT books. In this way we are given a deeply Trinitarian New Testament theology.

The second half of the book focuses on doctrines that have direct connection to humanity: Sin, Faith and Obedience, the Law, and the Church. Helpfully, Schreiner tackles each doctrine beginning with the Synoptics and moving through the NT witness. Throughout he is concerned to place these doctrines in the controlling theme of God’s glory in His redemptive work in Christ.

In his final chapter Schreiner deals with the consumation of the ages and the eschatalogical fulfillment of God’s promises. He addresses, in turn, the second coming of Jesus, judgment, and reward. “Those who have a proper understanding of the future live most effectively in the present, for they understand that in all things the goal of believers is always to honor God in Christ” (245).

One of the many things I appreciate about Magnifying God in Christ is the inclusion of a brief “Pastoral Reflection” at the conclusion of each chapter. This is certainly a book for pastors. It will serve as a wonderful companion to those preparing sermons from NT texts. But it is also a book for Sunday School teachers, students, and interested lay persons who want to deepen their knowledge of God and His saving work in Christ revealed in the New Testament.