The Drama of Scripture by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen

29 November 2005
The Drama of Scripture

“The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story” by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen was written as a primer for first year collage students as an introduction to the concept of Biblical Theology. The central thought that Bartholomew and Goheen hoped to convey to a student is that scripture must be understood within the context of the whole story of God. Indeed an appropriate understanding of Scripture cannot be apprehended without that context. Certainly one of the most helpful concepts that I have ever been exposed to is biblical theology.
The Drama of Scripture is a wonderful read. The writing style is engaging and the presentation of the “metanarrative” (pg. 18) is as clear and effective as I have yet heard and it is very accessible. The book is for that reason alone an important work. I loved the discussion in the introduction of the book on the value of story and the inherent danger in focusing on only a part of the story. Biblical theology is the concept of understanding scripture as the comprehensive story of God and the concept of allowing scripture to speak for itself without the added burden of cultural lenses.
In my early years as a Christian (the late 60’s and early 70’s) I learned to read the bible as the “religious flea market” (pg. 196) that the authors describe. Later in my walk I learned to read with a sense of continuity from the Pentecostals that I was exposed to in the 90’s. They seemed to have a more holistic view of scripture. The shortcoming in their approach was that they approached all of scripture with a very well defined set of presuppositions that colored their interpretation of the scriptures.
The presentation of the story of God by Bartholomew and Goheen in the form of a six-act play is very helpful and will be useful in disciple making. Apparently five of the acts were borrowed from Tom Wright who first coined the metaphor. As a young believer It was difficult for me to have faith in much of the gospel story as it was presented to me because there had been no foundation prepared for me by my teachers that I might build faith on. Had I been given a foundation for my faith like the authors build in this book I should have progressed in my faith much more steadily and with more clarity of purpose. The web site that they reference in the book, www.biblicaltheology.ca is full of additional resources for disciple making.
I find very little theologically to question in this work. For those whom this read is not thier first exposure to biblical theology will find themselves in agreement with most of what they read here. There is little to criticize and much to be excited about. The book is full of wonderful turns of phrases and means of presenting the metanarrative that will be very helpful to many students of the scriptures as they engage converts in the story of God. There is a wealth of preaching material here.
There were for a me a few insightful surprises that I did not previously know in the “Interlude, A kingdom Story Waiting for an Ending: the Intertestamental Period.” I had understood previously that nothing much happened during this period in Israel’s history. Somehow, it had missed me completely that the Maccabean revolt had been successful in returning sovereignty to Israel. Israel was delivered from the oppression of the Seleucid empire. It was three years after the Antiochus desecration of the temple that Judah Maccabee delivered Jerusalem. It would be after another 20 years of guerilla warfare that Israel was completely free of the Seleucids in 142 BC. The independence was of course short lived. After only 80 years the Hasmonean kings who were more interested in maintaining their power base and in their love of pagan and Hellenistic culture than they were in independence succumbed to the pressures of imperial Rome and became merely puppet leaders under the strict control of Rome.
The importance of these events to the Jews in the context of Jesus announcing that the kingdom of God had arrived was that they were very aware that what God had done before in delivering Israel He was able to do again. Israel was quite ready for the conquering Messiah to show up and deliver Israel from the oppression of Rome.
Another delightful surprise in this read is the holistic understanding of the authors regarding the nature of the church and the work of the gospel in the world through the priesthood of all believers. This discussion takes place in “Act 5, Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church.” The work of the advance of the kingdom of God in the world is the whole people of God. The authors are careful to point to stories of the people of God advancing the gospel with distinct callings as everything from CEO’s to Birdwatchers. (pgs. 202-206) One of my passions is to see the ministry of the gospel returned to the priesthood of all believers. Bartholomew and Goheen say it well, “Witness (to God’s kingdom) will mean embodying God’s renewing power in politics and citizenship, economics (a passion of mine) and business, education and scholarship, family and neighborhood, media and art (another passion of mine), leisure and play.” (pg. 201)
“The Drama of Scripture” provides a wonderful outline and then fills in the blanks in answer to the question of; what is a Christian worldview? In the Western Christian culture of which we are a part this question has become the question that is begging an answer from many believers and would be disciples who have lost the sure knowledge of who they are in Christ. According to Barna’s research only 9% of Christians in America have a Christian worldview. Sadly (again according to Barna) only 60% of pastors in this country do. Bartholomew and Goheen answer this pressing question concisely and beautifully.



Works Cited
Bartholomew, Craig G. and Goheen, Michael W. The Drama of Scripture. City: Grand Rapids. Baker Academic, 2004.