Biblical and Systematic Theology in Dialogue

What is the task and focus of Christian theology? What are the distinctive contributions of biblical theology and systematic theology? In this issue of Themelios, a distinguished systematic theologian (Gerald Bray) and biblical theologian (Thomas Schreiner) address these and other questions. Schreiner reviews Bray’s God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology (Crossway, 2012), with a response by the author. Then Bray reviews Schreiner’s The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Baker, 2013), followed by a response from Schreiner. This dialogue began with papers presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Baltimore (November 2013), and Schreiner and Bray have revised and expanded their papers for publication. Our hope is that this careful, charitable exchange will stimulate students, pastors, and scholars to further reflection within and across theological disciplines, leading to more penetrating insight into Scripture.

Update on the Themelios Editorial Board

We acknowledge and thank four retiring members of the Themelios editorial board: Drs. Oliver Crisp, William Kynes, Michael Thate, and Garry Williams. They have each served with distinction, and we wish them God’s richest blessing as they step away from board responsibilities and invest their energy elsewhere.

We also welcome four new members to our editorial board. Dr. Lee Gatiss is Director of Church Society and Adjunct Lecturer in Church History at Wales Evangelical School of Theology and served recently as senior editor of The NIV Proclamation Bible. Dr. Paul Helseth is Associate Professor of Christian Thought at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul and author of Right Reason and the Princeton Mind: An Unorthodox Proposal. Dr. Paul House is Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, past president of the Evangelical Theological Society, and author of many articles and books on OT and biblical theology, including Old Testament Theology. Dr. Robert Yarbrough is Professor of New Testament at Covenant Seminary, president of the Evangelical Theological Society, and author of many publications, including “Should Evangelicals Embrace Historical Criticism? The Hays-Ansberry Proposal” in this issue of Themelios.

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