THE MESSAGE OF THE WORD OF GOD
By Tim Meadowcroft
IVP. 281 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 844 745 517
In his introduction to this book the author refers to the difficulty in finding an appropriate approach to this theme in the Bible Speaks Today series. He has chosen to make the basic theme the fact that God speaks, and tackles it in four parts, each of which addresses some aspect of this (e.g. God speaks in Christ, God speaks today). Within each part there are five chapters which expound a particular biblical passage in relation to the heading of that part. So, in the section entitled ‘God speaks’, he looks at Psalm 19, Isaiah 55, etc.
By this method one finds that the passages one would expect to contribute to this theme are dealt with, and a good awareness of the exegetical issues is demonstrated. However, I am not convinced that through this a coherent outline of the theme of God speaking really emerges. Somehow the expositions do not go into enough detail to be entirely satisfying (for example, in Psalm 19 one would expect a bigger focus on the word revealing human sin).
I wonder why the author explicitly turned his back on the more traditional approach of setting out what the Bible says about the Bible (p.23)? If he sees that as problematic, then surely one can still address the theme in terms of what the Bible claims about itself, and then relate that to the wider picture of a God who speaks. There is good material to be found in these expository chapters, which are well written and relevant, but it is not a book I would really recommend for anyone who is seeking an overall picture of the key role that God intends the Bible to have in our lives. For that I think I would rather turn to those who take the more traditional approach, perhaps starting with the way the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles handled Scripture.
Mark Burkill,
vicar of Christ Church, Leyton (near the Olympics site)
