WHAT IS BIBLICAL THEOLOGY?

A GUIDE TO THE BIBLE’S STORY,

SYMBOLISM, AND PATTERNS

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A Book Review

Presented to

Dr. Jim Hamilton

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for 20220

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by

Andrew Bryant Smith

Asmith555@students.sbts.edu

October 27, 2019

Hamilton, James M. What is Biblical Theology? A Guide to the Bible’s Story, Symbolism, and
Patterns. Wheaton: Crossway, 2014.

James Hamilton received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Southern Baptist

Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, where he currently serves as the Professor of Biblical

Theology. One of his primary topics of writing is biblical theology, which is the theme of his

book What is Biblical Theology? A Guide to the Bible’s Story, Symbolism, and Patterns.

Hamilton’s goal in this book is to give the reader an entry-level introduction to biblical theology,

that is an understanding of the Bible’s overarching story, leading patterns of thought, and

underlying message. The world is full of stories. One has only to open a book, turn on the

television, or listen to the radio to find them. All of these stories revolve around a greater story

by which each individual story is understood.

Many people have attempted to define the big story of the Bible as a way of

interpreting and understanding the Bible as a whole, only to get lost along the way in the many

patterns and symbols the Bible’s many authors use to tell that story. Hamilton strives to show us

in What is Biblical Theology? that this is not only an attainable goal, but also one of most

importance in order for believers to accurately interpret the Bible’s patterns and symbols in a

way that the original authors intended them to be understood and in order for the believer to see

how they relate to each other in the grand story of the Bible.

Summary
Hamilton begins in chapter one by giving the reader a glimpse into the importance of

biblical theology in understanding not only the Bible’s big story, but also how the reader should

relate to that story. According to the author, the Bible not only tells one cohesive story, but it also

tells the most important story. He moves on to chapter two by giving a definition of what biblical

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theology is not. Biblical theology is not saying “my theology is more biblical than yours” (chap.

2, “What Is Biblical Theology,” para. 10, Kindle). This is a common misunderstanding among

Christians when thinking about biblical theology. Biblical theology is also not a threat to the

systematized process of understanding doctrines presented in the Bible such as the sovereignty of

God, the inerrancy of scripture, and salvation. Instead, biblical theology seeks to help the

believer understand and emphasize the unity of the Bible as a whole and how to treat it: as one

unified story that informs each person on how he or she ought to live. Hamilton seeks to model

for others how they are to read the Bible in order to understand how they ought to interpret it.

Hamilton works this out for the reader in three main parts in the book: the Bible’s big story, the

symbolic universe and patterns of the Bible, and the church’s role in that story.

In part one Hamilton argues that the Bible tells one story. More importantly, it tells the

story of reality. Understanding the Bible’s storyline helps the reader understand how to live in his

or her story. Hamilton explains this section of the book using literary terms. He begins by

explaining the Bible’s narrative. According to Hamilton, a narrative must have a setting,

characterization, and a plot, and the Bible contains all of these elements.

Hamilton draws these elements out in chapter three by first defining the main

characters. He says that God is presented in the Bible as the protagonist and Satan as the

antagonist, and they are always in conflict with one another. As such, the author asserts that any
seed of Adam that sides with Satan is presented as being in direct conflict with God, and vice-

versa, anyone who trusts in Christ is on God’s side. The setting for the Bible’s story is the world,

and the plot is made up of what Hamilton calls “episodes and conflict” that communicate the

Bible’s major themes (chap. 4, “Plot: Conflict, Episodes, and Themes,” para. 6, Kindle).

Hamilton helpfully summarizes the Bible’s plot in four words: creation, fall,

redemption, and restoration. The author writes that God created the world (setting) as his temple.

Everything he created was made to reflect his glory, Hamilton states, and Eden was made to

house the presence of the Creator of the universe, but something went terribly wrong. Mankind

sinned against God after being tempted by Satan and tainted the perfection that God created. God

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then sent Christ to redeem the world by “crushing the head of the serpent” (Gen 3:15) and

thereby reversing the curse that God was forced to place on mankind. One day God will make all

things new and restore everything to the way it was in Eden at the beginning before the fall. He

will save his people. If this is the plot of the Bible, the author states, it is clear that the conflict

revolves around the war between Satan and God. Satan seems at many times to be winning in his

quest to squelch the plan of God, but God is always in control, even when his people continue to

fail.

This conflict throughout the story of Scripture creates what Hamilton calls “episodes.”

He draws out five major episodes for the reader that carry the Bible’s theme from creation to

consummation: the exile from Eden, the exodus from Egypt, the exile from the land, the cross,

and the promised return. It is here that Hamilton defines the overarching theme that he believes

the big story of the Bible tells its reader: God shows his glory by saving his people through

judgment. Hamilton argues that the Bible’s authors carry this theme from creation to

consummation by using connections and patterns that often show up in surprising or

“mysterious” ways (chap. 5, “The Mystery,” para. 1, Kindle).

This brings the reader to part two where Hamilton introduces the symbolic universe of

the Bible. Firstly, he defines what a symbol is: something that is used to stand for something else.

Hamilton argues that in the Bible believers can see symbols presented as images, types and
patterns. All of these symbols are used to communicate the main theme of the Bible to the reader.

According to Hamilton, they point to Christ where they find their fulfillment and carry the

connections that create a cohesive story along the way.

This brings the reader to Hamilton’s third and final part of his book: the church’s role

in the Bible’s story. Hamilton has already shown the reader that the Bible tells a story and he will

conclude his book now by showing him or her how the church relates to that story and how it is

connected to the larger patterns and symbols. Seeing and understanding the symbolism makes

the story of the Bible become very real and personal for the reader in this present age as he or she

awaits the return of their savior. In chapters ten through thirteen Hamilton will show the reader

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how the Bible’s rich imagery of the church helps every Christian understand his or her purpose

within the greater story of the Bible.

Hamilton concludes his book with an exhortation for every Christian to read the Bible

in large chunks while reading a book on biblical theology. He rightly argues that the only way to

see and think like the biblical authors do, one must read the Bible. He helpfully includes a short

list of other helpful titles for further study in biblical theology.

Critical Evaluation
Firstly, in this section I would like to say that this book was immensely helpful for me

as an introduction to the topic of biblical theology. Hamilton is a gifted writer, and his style

captivates and helps to bring such an important topic to life for the reader. He not only tells the

reader of the importance of understanding the Bible as a story, but also demonstrates it by

showing us what that looks like. Hamilton walks the reader through how to break down

symbolism and typology in order to understand how they play into the grand story of the Bible.

In this way, his book is not just like a map for the traveler interested in beginning his journey into

understanding biblical theology, but more like a do-it-yourself video that shows how it is done.

Any Christian will find this method of explaining biblical theology extremely helpful on the

outset of their journey.

Hamilton takes what may seem like an extremely academic exercise and breaks it down

into a very concise and easy-to-read explanation of what biblical theology is, making it

accessible to every believer. At the same time, Hamilton masterfully tackles some difficulties the

reader might find in doing biblical theology. For example, the author mentions that many become

disheartened when trying to connect the Bible’s theme through less cohesive texts such as the

wisdom books. Hamilton explains that, even in these books where the Bible’s theme is less

clearly presented by the respective authors, the reader finds what he calls “gold coins” which are

God’s promises scattered upon the pathway of the Bible’s storyline (chap. 5, “The Mystery,”

para. 1, Kindle). Hamilton asserts that these more difficult texts present mystery but do not

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compromise the cohesiveness of the overarching story. It is plain to see that Hamilton is well

versed in his topic and has already seen the grandeur of the Bible’s theme and is ready to break it

down for the reader to understand.

That being said, it would have been helpful for Hamilton to not only give a concise

and simple explanation of what biblical theology is but to expound a little more on some of the

problems that some of the developed themes of biblical theology face. For example, Hamilton

briefly identifies that his theme for the story of the Bible is “God shows his glory by saving his

people through judgment” (chap. 4, “Plot: Conflict, Episodes, and Theme,” para. 19, Kindle), but

he does not give any guidance as to why the Bible has this as opposed to additional themes that

have been developed by other theologians. Hamilton rightly guides the reader at the end of his

book to a list of 13 books for further study on the topic. However, since he does not introduce the

reader to other possible themes for biblical theology, he or she may be confused and tempted to

give up on their journey when faced with conflicting themes in other good books written on the

topic.

Hamilton masterfully guides the reader on how to “do” biblical theology by

understanding that the Bible has an over-arching story without giving sufficient evidence for his

theme of that story. If the reader were to read Hamilton’s God’s Glory in Salvation Through

Judgement, he or she would find that he adequately defends his thesis and theme of the Bible as
well as introduces why other proposed themes are insufficient. However, the reader should not

have to read further books to find this. If Hamilton simply expounded a little further to include a

short defense for why his theme is better for understanding the Bible’s story, as well as some

problems with other proposed themes, the reader would be that much farther ahead in

understanding the grand story of the Bible and how its writers intended it to be understood.

One way that Hamilton could do this for the reader is present another viable theme for

the storyline of the Bible, such as the theme of God’s glory. In demonstrating for the reader how

this theme interacts with the symbolism in the Bible, the reader would see that it is a good theme,

yet insufficient in holding up the overarching story. In much the same way that Hamilton briefly

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asserts evidence in the Bible’s story for his theme, the reader needs to see how other themes do

not suffice. In this way, Hamilton could have shown his reader not only how to develop a strong

theme for biblical theology, but also why it is extremely important for that theme to firmly carry

the symbolism and patterns of the Bible’s authors from creation all the way to consummation.

Hamilton exhorts his readers in the beginning of his book when he says, “I hope that

you will adopt the perspective of the biblical authors and that you will read the world from the

Bible’s perspective, rather than reading the Bible from the world’s” (23). If the student of biblical

theology is to be thoroughly equipped for this task, he or she must begin with a strong

confidence in the theme of the Bible. It seems to me that understanding why other themes are

insufficient in holding together the cohesiveness of the Bible’s story would immensely help any

Christian who is being introduced to the topic of biblical theology. However, Hamilton’s

omittance of additional themes may be intentional in order to give readers the responsibility to

further study the topic for themselves.

Conclusion
In conclusion, any reader of Hamilton’s book What is Biblical Theology: A Guide to

the Bible’s Story, Symbolism, and Patterns will come away being prepared to see the Bible in a

whole new light. When the reader understands the overarching narrative of Scripture, he or she

will feel as though they are reading the Bible for the first time. This book is a must-read for

every Christian who is serious about understanding the Bible’s story and how they are to live in

theirs. While Hamilton does not address other proposed themes for the overarching story of the

Bible, his introduction into this very important topic will thoroughly prepare the student of

biblical theology to begin diving into the deeper waters of the topic on his or her own. This is in

fact Hamilton’s goal as he leaves the reader with an exhortation to read the Bible alongside other

books to grow further in understanding biblical theology.

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*Honor Code: I have written this paper exclusively for 20220. If I received any editing or

proofreading advice, I have made all such corrections myself. I have also documented each

paraphrase, direct quotation, and borrowed idea in compliance with the Turabian and SBTS style

manuals