By Sidney Greidanus
Eerdmans
ISBN 0 8028 4449 9
There has been a need for a book like this for a long time. Most preachers and teachers are aware of the importance of centring their sermons and lessons around Jesus Christ and the flow of 'salvation or redemptive history' in the Old Testament, but the question is - how do you do it?'
Greidanus has given us some excellent groundwork for knowing where to start. Many churches proclaim that they 'preach Christ crucified', but what does it really mean to do this? Greidanus defines this for us in chapter one, and goes on to give reasons why this is so important today. Chapter two is really foundational biblical theology, covering the importance of the Old Testament, its relation to the New Testament, and its witness to Christ. Chapters three and four are on the history of preaching Christ from the Old Testament. There is good discussion here on the difference between allegorical and typological interpretation using historical church schools and figures to define the distinction. There is also an overview of the fourfold method of the Middle Ages. Interestingly Greidanus is cautious about typology (p.97), indicating rightly that it can easily slip into allegorising.
