For over fifty years the York Corn Maze has been a favourite of Yorkshire families and tourists looking for late summer fun. Every year an illustration is created in a field greater than the size of ten Wembley Stadium football pitches! For example, for the 50th anniversary sci-fi fans were happy to try to navigate a Dr. Who rendering. While small mazes can be fun, those that are large and complex can leave us quickly bewildered and longing for some perspective from above to help us navigate from start to finish! Something tells me the GPS lady would be just as confused.
The Bible can be just as intimidating when taken as a whole. How do we faithfully navigate its various styles of literature, narrative and proclamation to develop a faithful biblical theology? How does the Old Testament relate to the New, let alone 21st century culture and society? Canadian theologian Don Carson has written a book titled The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story to help Christians and non-Christians do just that.
Although the book developed from a series of lectures, the content is accessible and devoid of technical terms and academic jargon. It presumes no biblical or theological literacy. The book covers fourteen biblical themes. The first six chapters are based in the Old Testament whilst the final eight focus on the New Testament. Themes include creation, law and covenant, the incarnation, justification, and the end times. Carson gives an illustration which serves to highlight one purpose of the book: building a bridge between the experiences, philosophies and questions of modern society and God’s timeless answer through the gospel of Jesus Christ. He writes of a Muslim friend who understood the Gospel of John the first time he read it because he already had a foundation of ideas that the gospel writer presupposes. Carson says: “He understood about a God who has laws, who has standards, who brings terror, who sits in judgment over you, a God who is sovereign and holy and powerful. He understood all that.”[1] Believing these things, the gospel’s necessity and provision made sense to him.
Most people in Western culture do not have this kind of pre-understanding of God’s attributes. Therefore, Carson has mined directly from the biblical narrative the kinds of themes that are necessary for understanding the gospel, and yet communicates in a manner that is both easy to understand and deeply insightful with respect to today’s culture. If you are looking for a book to help you understand God’s story as told through his scriptures, or to help you help someone else, I highly commend this excellent work. A study guide is also available to help facilitate small group study.
Much love,
Pastor Gary
[1] Carson, The God Who is There, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010), pp217-219