Biblical Theology: The Common Grace Covenants

by Jeffrey J. Niehaus

Overview

The first of two volumes, this study explores the two common grace covenants: the Adamic and Noahic. The second volume will examine the special grace covenants: the Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and New covenants. The volumes present the covenant as an expression of the nature of God, and show a paradigm of activity by which God works in covenantal relations, first to create the world and then, through a redemptive program after the fall, to redeem what was lost.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989167154
Publisher:	Weaver Book Company
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jeffrey J. Niehaus is professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary where he has taught since 1982. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including God at Sinai: Covenant and Theophany in the Bible and Ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology, and commentaries on Amos and Obadiah. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Biblical Literature, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Tyndale Bulletin, and Vetus Testamentum. In addition to being a biblical scholar, Niehaus is a poet who earned his Ph.D. in English literature from Harvard University, and he is the author of Preludes: An Autobiography in Verse and Sonnets Subtropical and Existential.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations xv

Prolegomena 1

Excursus: A Note on Biblical Historiography 4

Excursus: Irenaeus on Spirit, Word, and Creation 12

1 The Creation Covenant 35

Excursus: Genesis 1:1 and 2:1 in Light of Nehemiah 9:6 43

Excursus: OT Appearances of God 54

2 The Creation Covenant Unfolds 65

Excursus: The Holy Spirit and OT Believers 70

Excursus: A Brief Look Ahead-Christ and the Church 87

3 The Creation Covenant Is Threatened 95

4 The Sin and Heritage of Cain 125

Excursus: How Could Cain Build a City? 138

5 Noah and the Reason for the Flood 161

Excursus: "Sons of God" as a Terminus Technicus 177

Excursus: Noalis Sacrifice and What It Is Not 180

6 The Flood and the Noahic Covenant 185

Excursus: Looking Ahead-Wright and Justification 187

Excursus: Death Penalty under the Mosaic Covenant 205

Excursus: What Pollutes the Earth? 213

7 Life under Two Covenants 223

Excursus: Exposure of Nakedness under the Mosaic Covenant 226

Appendix A God's Imagination and Creativity 247

Appendix B Kline on Time 251

Appendix C Between Genesis 1:27b and 1:27c. 257

Appendix D The Term "Glory" in the Gospels 261

Bibliography 265

Scripture Index 329

Subject Index 345

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The first volume of Niehaus’s Biblical Theology focuses on the common grace covenants of the Bible (the Adamic and Noahic) and what he offers his readers is a culmination of a lifetime of reflection and study. This work must be taken into account in all future thinking about the important theme of covenant. All students of the Bible and theology will benefit from Niehaus’s insights that build on and advance previous research on the topic.”

—Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

“This first volume of Niehaus’s Old Testament theology is a fresh and refreshing study of covenantal theology, which engages ancient near eastern parallels informatively and corroboratively. His interpretive work with the text hardly leaves a stone unturned, and he does theology with an awareness that this testament is only one of two. The reader will be challenged to re-think earlier paradigms as the covenants unfold with new insights into God’s master plan of grace.”

—C. Hassell Bullock, Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus,

Wheaton College; pastor, Warren Park Presbyterian Church, Cicero, IL

“Niehaus brings to culmination his lifelong study of ancient near eastern covenants and their importance for understanding biblical covenant as the foundation to biblical theology. He contends that Scripture in its entirety and God’s relationship with human life from creation are covenantal in nature. By showing a pattern in God’s covenantal designs, he demonstrates the cohesive message of the Bible. Every scholar and pastor will benefit from this refreshingly new and lively written approach.”

—Kenneth Matthews, professor of divinity, Old Testament, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University