New book on Biblical Theology

My Amazon Review of a new book on Biblical Theology by Klink III, Edward W., and Darian R. Lockett. Understanding Biblical Theology: A Comparison of Theory and Practice. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

Big thanks to Klink and Lockett for giving us much to think about and for helping to clarify and nuance the discipline of Biblical Theology (BT) as practiced today. They have rightly identified the problem that biblical theologians with their respective biblical theologies seem to be talking past rather than to one another, with the result that BT might run the danger of becoming "a nose of wax, so pliant it loses any sense of its own boundaries or form" (kindle loc. 3629). To that end, they layout a taxonomy of 5 classifications of BT as practiced today, ranging from the more historical to the more theological in their outlook. For each type, Klink and Lockett helpfully provide an example of a major proponent of that particular approach. The discussions for each type of BT are nuanced and carefully argued, and enough details and specificity are flashed out without the reader feeling overwhelmed. This could serve as a crucial textbook for courses on BT as it would give a helpful and crucial overview of BT as practiced and understood today. My only letdown is that while Klink and Lockett admit the purpose of the book is not to decide and arbitrate between the different types of BT or come up with the definitive understanding of BT, it would have been more satisfying if they had offered some form of consensus on the different types of BT or draw out what actually unites these different types of BT which led to them being classified as "BT" in the first place. In other words, the book is strong on description, but perhaps some modest form of prescription would have been useful as well. The other comment is that more needs to be said about the relationship between Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS) and BT, rather than limiting to just Type 5 (BT as theological construction). Some of the BTs proposed (Type 3 onwards) share more similarities with TIS than what is presented. Not withstanding these two comments, Understanding BT is definitely a helpful book and one which would aid us as we continue to chart towards greater clarity in understanding this elusive but yet much needed discipline.