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Preaching the whole Bible as Christian
Scripture
Graeme Goldworthy, Eerdmans, 2000 pb. 272pp
Review by Rev. John Westendorp
Sydney Anglican, Graeme Goldworthy has written some good stuff to help
us understand God’s Word. Most pastors and many elders will have read
his book Gospel and Kingdom. This present book, at first glance, seems
to be only for preachers. Not so... and for two reasons.
First, in Reformed churches the elders have the oversight of the
preaching of the Word. The elder’s handshake with the preacher before
and after the service is still a powerful symbol of that oversight. To
take that responsibility seriously elder do well to inform themselves as
to what makes for sound Biblical preaching. Goldsworthy has written this
book very much out of concern for sound Biblical preaching. “It is
grossly irresponsible for a preacher to moralise on isolated texts and
to convey the notion that the real issue is finding self-esteem,
happiness, health, self-fulfilment, or any other desirable quality in
life, as if these were valuable in themselves. All these good qualities
need to be put in perspective through the gospel and its framework of
salvation history.” (p.80)
Secondly, the previous quote highlights Goldsworthy’s dominant note –
that to preach properly we need a good grasp of the framework of
salvation history. Such a grasp of the Biblical framework is not only
essential for preachers, it is also helpful for elders and Bible study
leaders. Yes, this book is focused specifically on how to preach
Biblically – from all of Scripture in a Christ-centred way. That is the
main thrust. The point I make though, is that it will be rewarding for
others too (who don’t mind doing a bit of solid reading) to take the
trouble to read this book.
Briefly, a couple of other plusses.
There is a great section on the uniqueness of Christ in the chapter
‘What is the Bible’. The author argues that in our relativistic age we
need to understand the framework of salvation history. “Biblical
theology should assist us in avoiding the worst kinds of ecumenical and
interfaith relativism.” (p.17)
There are some helpful diagrams that will go well on an OHP in Bible
study or during preaching, to help people put a text into salvation
history perspective.
In college homiletics classes one lecturer advised us to read at least
one book a year to help us with our preaching. I haven’t always managed
to do that but, for preachers who try to make that their aim, let me
encourage you to make this helpful offering from Eerdmans your ‘read for
the year’.
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