Starting in mid-May the PRV family is going to start a series on the grand metanarrative of the Bible.
- How the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation speaks of God’s rule and reign (i.e. the Kingdom of God).
- How we are to enter into His story versus trying to live our own (or buying into other ‘stories’ like the American Dream).
In preparation for this series, I read Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen’s book “The Drama of Scripture.” Drawing from N.T. Wright’s model of the five-act structure, these two Redeemer University College professors lay out an easy-to-read view of the Kingdom of God throughout the Bible.
- Act 1: God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation
- Act 2: Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall
- Act 3: The King Choose Israel: Redemption Initiated
- Interlude: A Kingdom Story Waiting for an Ending: The Intertestamental Period
- Act 4: The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished
- Act 5: Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church
- Act 6: The Return of the King: Redemption Completed
Written in a prose format for first-year college students, this book reads like a story – giving the read a good foundation of the entire Bible.
One of the best parts of the book is the “Interlude” chapter as it helps tie the Old Testament together with the New Testament. This period is one of the most over-looked periods in history as a lot of Protestant Christians forget that God was at work during the four-hundred year gap between Malachi and Matthew. (I say “Protestant Christians” because our Catholic and Eastern Orthodox family include the Maccabees and other intertestamental books in their Bibles.)