Die Notwendigkeit von Biblischer Theologie

Deutschland habe Biblische Theologie bitter notwendig, so die These von Matthias Lohmann, Vorsitzender des evangelikalen Netzwerkes Evangelium21, und Mike Clark, Dozent am Martin Bucer Seminar in München. In dem sehr lesenswerten Artikel auf der Website der Gospel Coalition veranschaulichen sie zuerst anhand eines eindrücklichen Vergleichs, wieso Biblische Theologie so wichtig ist:

Imagine, if you can, a training center for young doctors whose curriculum focused entirely on studying individual parts of the human body. One day students might investigate the elbow, which would arrive hermetically sealed and sterile. Next, attention would shift to the kidney or the eyeball and so on. Over time, each part of the body would become the subject of extensive analysis, being dissected and re-dissected into ever smaller units, which would themselves then become the focus of further scholarly inquiry. Yet at no point would students ever investigate the interaction between these parts and their relationship to the body as a whole. Indeed, though the existence of the body was widely recognized as „fact,“ the very idea of such an enquiry into its combined function was deemed „unscientific“ by the authorities and ruled out as a suitable topic for research.

[…]

The scenario is of course ludicrous in the extreme. No one in his or her right mind would ever dream of studying human biology in this way. And yet such an approach more or less describes how the Bible is being studied far too often.

Ihre Beobachtung der Auswirkungen auf deutsche (Frei-)Kirchen fällt ziemlich deutlich aus:

Even within so-called evangelical theological colleges, there seems to be little comprehension of how the whole Bible can be read as one unified book, leaving many contemporary church leaders with little clarity about what their message is or should be. As a result the evangel (gospel), which stands at the center of the Scriptures, is no longer preached in many Protestant German churches.

Wer mehr über das Thema biblische Theologie wissen will, sollte Anfang April die diesjährige Evangelium21 Konferenz in Hamburg besuchen – die Anmeldefrist läuft bald aus.

Das Buch eines der Hauptreferenten, „Gottes Plan – kein Zufall!“ hatten wir schon an anderer Stelle besprochen und möchten wir euch hiermit noch einmal wärmstens empfehlen.