Thematic Bible Interpretation AJJ
Thematic Bible Interpretation AJJ The Framework theme that creates a Literary Structure for the whole Bible Dr Arthur Jones IS Introduction and Summary IS.1 Since the 1960s, I have been tracing particular Bible themes (such as Baptism, Communion, Creation, Law, Redemption) through the Scriptures. In the beginning I had no idea that I was following a particular method of Biblical interpretation – the thematic method (see McGrath & Manser, 1996) – that, in those days, was not commonly followed. Given the enormous number of Biblical themes and sub–themes – McGrath & Manser (1996) list over 2000 – I have recently considered if there is a unique Core theme, a theme, or story, which stands above all the others, and that provides the ultimate, or deepest context for the understanding of them all. A separate paper (Jones 2020) presents the evidence and arguments that there is indeed a core Bible theme, which I have entitled Enlarging the Family of God. It might be expected that this core theme would provide a literary structure for the whole Bible. However, from the late 1960s, I had recognised that there is another (closely related) theme, which actually provides the literary structure for the whole Bible. I have entitled this theme Born from Adam, begotten by Jesus Christ1 (hereafter shortened to the Begetting/Begotten theme) and have categorized it as a Framework theme. This theme is studied in detail in this paper. IS.2 The opening words of the New Testament “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah …” (Matthew 1:1 NIV 2011)2 have been seen as very disappointing – a genealogy of largely unfamiliar names hardly seems designed to invite engagement with the life and meaning of the greatest figure in human history! The reality is that most, if not all modern English versions seriously misunderstand and mistranslate this verse.
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