What do we do when a luminary\u2019s light fades? We get to work<\/a>, even as the days are getting shorter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It takes work to understand what the Bible teaches about our labor, but by God\u2019s grace, we got a lot done. This past month we defined how our vocation includes more than just our job<\/a>, and we painted a picture of what faithfulness in our vocation looks like<\/a>\u2014which includes a rejection of Marxism<\/a> and a long obedience in an \u201cordinary\u201d labor<\/a>.<\/strong> We outlined the needed attributes of godly ambition<\/a> and risk-taking<\/a>, <\/strong>and considered practical wisdom on how to work harder<\/a>. Not everyone\u2019s job aspirations will look the same, and thus we addressed particular considerations for single women<\/a>, aspiring pastors<\/a>, and Christian businessman<\/a>. If you missed any of our articles or podcasts, you can find them below, with the longforms in bold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n We move on now from our labor on vocation to work on biblical theology. Biblical theology is \u201ca way of analyzing and synthesizing the Bible that makes organic, salvation-historical connections with the whole canon on its own terms, especially regarding how the Old and New Testaments integrate and climax in Christ.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Biblical theology is indispensable to understanding the Bible. It rightly presupposes that the Bible is a divinely-authored diverse-yet-unified book with a true and consistent narrative that spans all of history. Jesus Christ is the ultimate climax of this true story of history, and biblical theology seeks to relate each biblical text in textually-warranted ways to him. Thus, biblical theology employs a Christocentric interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does one do biblical theology? One primary aspect of biblical Theology is typology. \u201cTypology is the study of the Old Testament redemptive historical realities or \u201ctypes\u201d (persons, events, institutions) which God has specifically designed to correspond to, and predictively prefigure, their intensified antitypical fulfillment aspects (inaugurated, appropriated, and consummated) in New Testament redemptive history.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/sup> So, for example, Adam is a type that prefigures Jesus, who is the antitype, or fulfillment (Rom. 5:14). God\u2019s presence in Eden is a type that is fulfilled in God\u2019s presence through the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34\u201335), the temple (1 Kings 8:10\u201311), through God the Son (Col. 1:19), through the gathered church (Matt. 18:20), and ultimately in the new heavens and earth (Rev. 21:3). Types are rooted in history and in the text of the Bible and they are predictive; types also involve repetition of a person<\/a>, event<\/a>, location<\/a>, or institution<\/a>, they escalate in significance, and they are developed through the covenants.[3]<\/a><\/sup> Some aspect of typology is found on virtually every page of the Bible, as typology interweaves the major themes of the glory of God, creation, sin, covenant, law, temple, priest, sacrifice, exile and exodus, the kingdom of God, sonship, the city of God, prophets and prophecy, death and resurrection, people of God, wisdom, holiness, justice, wrath, love and grace, the gospel, worship, mission, shalom, the consummation.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus and the apostles understood the Old Testament in typological ways. They saw that God had written a true story that culminated in the Son\u2019s person and work. Jesus teaches in Luke 24:44 that \u201ceverything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/sup> Paul likewise teaches in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that \u201call the promises of God find their Yes in him [=Jesus],\u201d (and this includes Old Testament promises within the greater context of 2 Corinthians [see 7:1]).[6]<\/a><\/sup> If all of the three parts of the Old Testament (Law of Moses, Prophets, and Psalms) write about Christ, and if all the promises from the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Christ, then he must be the climax of the Old Testament.[7]<\/a><\/sup> Thus, if we don\u2019t read our Bibles in a biblical theological way, then we will not understand the scriptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many laypeople that have never heard of biblical theology, and especially those in non-reformed and non-denominational churches. But biblical theology, and especially Christocentric interpretation, has had a resurgence in the past couple decades. From the 2000s onward, there has been a great multiplication of resources advocating Christ-centered hermeneutics, which is an outworking of biblical theology. Graeme Goldsworthy\u2019s According to Plan (2002) and Christ-Centered Biblical Theology<\/em> (2012)[8]<\/a><\/sup> along with Dennis Johnson\u2019s Him We Proclaim<\/em> (2007)[9]<\/a><\/sup> provided additional hermeneutical support for Christocentrism. Sydney Greidanus has written many books helpfully applying this method to particular texts,[10]<\/a><\/sup> while Tim Keller\u2014for all his cultural missteps<\/a>\u2014has also popularized the method.[11]<\/a><\/sup> Beyond these resources, many institutions have advanced this hermeneutic, including Westminster Seminary, the Charles Simeon Trust, ReachGlobal (the missions arm of the Evangelical Free Church in America), The Gospel Coalition, and 9Marks, to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are others who have moved on from biblical theology, and who no longer see it as relevant to the interpretive enterprise. Some of these voices confuse the discussion by conflating typology with allegory<\/a> (which is not right<\/a>!). And some are more warm towards the medieval fourfold method of interpreting scripture\u2014literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical. The problem with this four-fold method is that there are few textual controls; who is to say that my allegory of the Good Samaritan is more valid than your different allegory of it? In this context where competing interpretations exist, a magisterium\u2014a type of \u201cSupreme Court\u201d to authoritatively rule on what is valid\u2014is needed to adjudicate between different options. And thus, the four-fold method ultimately leads to a Wild West<\/a> where each free-floating and subjective interpretation vies against others, or it leads to Roman Catholicism and its magisterium.[12]<\/a><\/sup> But there\u2019s a better way, and it\u2019s found in a close reading of scripture that does typology by means of close verbal and textual connections within the biblical canon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month we have a lot in store. We plan to write on what biblical theology is, how it relates to the theological interpretation of Scripture (also known as TIS), and give an overview of the current state of biblical Theology. We plan to remember the pioneers and popularizers of modern biblical theology, and to unpack some of the concepts and interpretive methods. Finally, we hope to show what biblical theology looks like in action through examples. All in all, we hope to prove that biblical theology is essential to proper biblical interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We just recently celebrated our three year birthday in September 2025. We are grateful to God for all of those who generously gave so that we might continue our mission of helping the church to see the Christ\u2019s lordship is over everything. By God\u2019s grace, we will steward these funds well and<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of you have been asking for this in the past years, and it is now here<\/a>. For those looking to get Christ Over All <\/em>shirts, mugs, hoodies, stickers, and hats, our apparel store is up and running<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for those who have asked for print-friendly versions of our articles, we have been working on putting all of our monthly themes into a beautiful and downloadable pdf file that can be purchased for a small fee. Lord willing, we plan to launch this by the end of October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We receive submissions from faithful Christians who have thought deeply about our topics. If you have expertise in one of the following topics in bold and are interested in writing for us (in line with our doctrinal distinctives<\/a>), feel free to shoot us an e-mail to tell us what you are thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday, October 27th, Steve Wellum and Trent Hunter will be speaking in Mauldin, South Carolina at the Pastors Encouraging Pastors Conference<\/a>. This conference is hosted by Christ Over All <\/em>author Brad Baugham at Emmanuel Bible Church, and will focus on how the Bible fits together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, David Schrock will be hosting a Simeon Trust Preaching Workshop<\/a> in Woodbridge, Virginia at Occoquan Bible Church on October 14\u201316<\/a>. If you are a pastor, preacher, or aspiring minister of the gospel, this hands-on workshop is well worth the time. Come and study the book of Zechariah with David Schrock, Mike Bullmore, and Erik Raymond. Or, if October doesn\u2019t work, you can join Trent Hunter, David Helm, and Ryan Kelly in Greenville, SC, from January 28\u201330, 2006, for a Simeon Trust Workshop on Leviticus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From November 18\u201320, 2025, all the Christ Over All<\/em> editors will be at the Evangelical Theological Society<\/a> in Boston. If you are there, please let us know, and keep an eye out for a late night meetup on Tuesday, November 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2026, we will be visiting Southwest Florida to join the Founders National Conference<\/a> in Fort Myers on January 22\u201324. That week David Schrock will be one of the speakers, and we will have a booth. Sign up here<\/a> to join us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all for now. Until next time, let\u2019s remember that Christ is over all, so in all things we ought exalt him!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Join us as we transition from the doctrine of vocation to the theme of biblical theology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"September Intermission: From Biblical Vocation to Biblical Theology","_seopress_titles_desc":"Join us as we transition from the doctrine of vocation to the theme of biblical theology.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[]","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,12,1976,1975,38],"tags":[217,102,185,284,1857,122,694,2315,758],"scripture-reference":[],"post_folder":[],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":["post-24349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-concise","category-october-2025","category-september-2025","category-theme","tag-biblical-theology","tag-gospel","tag-jesus-christ","tag-progressive-covenantalism","tag-redemptive-history","tag-theology","tag-typology","tag-vocation","tag-work"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Curtains-Grand-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-13 11:18:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kevin-mcclure","display_name":"Kevin McClure","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/kevin-mcclure.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/kevin-mcclure.jpg"},"author_category":"1","job_title":"","church_city_state":"","last_name":"McClure","first_name":"Kevin","church_site":"","user_url":"","description":"Kevin McClure<\/b> is the Managing Editor of Christ Over All<\/em>. He is a PhD candidate (ABD) in New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/a> in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from Bethlehem College & Seminary<\/a> (M.Div, ThM), he served as an Associate Pastor at Geist Community Church<\/a> in Indianapolis, where he oversaw pastoral training and discipleship. Kevin was an adjunct professor and board secretary for Indianapolis Theological Seminary<\/a>, and founded Plant Indy<\/a>. He is a member of Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church<\/a> where he serves as a small group leader."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24349"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24450,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24349\/revisions\/24450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24349"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-reference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-reference?post=24349"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=24349"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=24349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/coa-theme-37-300x300.png\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n1. Andrew David Naselli, How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology<\/em> (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), 235. Or another way to describe it, biblical theology \u201cproceeds with historical and literary sensitivity and seeks to analyze and synthesize the Bible\u2019s teaching about God and his relations to the world on its own terms, maintaining sight of the Bible\u2019s overarching narrative and Christocentric focus.\u201d (Brian S. Rosner, \u201cBiblical Theology,\u201d in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology<\/em>, ed. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000], 10.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Typology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. See Richard Davidson, Typology in Scripture: A Study of Hermeneutical TUPOS Structures<\/em> (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University, 1981), 397\u2013408.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
3. Stephen J. Wellum, \u201cHow to Interpret the Covenants and the Nature of Typology: A Companion Article<\/a>,\u201d Christ Over All<\/em>, September 6, 2023. <\/h6>\n\n\n\n
4. The NIV Zondervan Study Bible<\/em> lists articles on these twenty-five non-exhaustive albeit major biblical theological themes; see D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Zondervan Study Bible <\/em>(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
5. Further proof texts for this view include Luke 24:27; Ephesians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 2:2; Colossians 1:28.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
6. Jason S. DeRouchie, \u201cLifting the Veil: Reading and Preaching Jesus\u2019 Bible through Christ and for Christ<\/a>,\u201d SBJT<\/em> 22, no. 3 (Fall 2018): 165.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
7. See Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012), 96\u201397.<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Resurgence and Reception<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8. Graeme Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles <\/em>(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 76\u201399.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
9. Dennis E. Johnson, Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures<\/em>, 1st ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Pub, 2007).<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
10. See the many books by Sidney Greidanus published through Eerdmans: Preaching Christ from the Old Testament<\/em> (1999); Preaching Christ from Genesis<\/em> (2007); Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes<\/em> (2010); Preaching Christ from Daniel<\/em> (2012); Preaching Christ from Leviticus<\/em> (2021); see also his \u201cPreaching Christ from the Cain and Abel Narrative,\u201d Bibliotheca Sacra<\/em> 161 (December 2004): 387\u201397; <\/h6>\n\n\n\n
11. Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism<\/em> (New York, NY: Viking, 2015), 70\u201390.<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
12. Knox Brown, \u201cThe Wild Wild West, The Sirens of Rome, and the Hermeneutics of Christian Platonism<\/a>,\u201d Christ Over All<\/em>, August 7, 2024.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
News and Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First, September Was Our Birthday Month!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Second, the Christ Over All<\/em> Swag Store Is Here<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Third, Be Aware of Our Upcoming Months.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Fourth, We\u2019d Love To See You Face to Face in the Next Few Months.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n