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Holy Week resources and reflections

Great Themes of the Bible, Vol. 1

Great Themes of the Bible, Vol. 1, by W. Eugene March. WJKP, 2007. ISBN 0-664-22918-2. Pb., 143 pp. $14.95.

 

I began each semester in seminary focused on organization.

The first day of class I would wait for the traditional handing out of the syllabus at which point my classmates and I would flip through its pages calculating the number of pages we would be required to read. With each new syllabus I became more anxious as I wondered how the work would get done. I consistently reassured myself that once I had it all organized, I would be fine. I spent time at the end of the first week writing everything in my calendar, pages I would soon read, papers I would soon write, midterms, finals, and eventually, this organizational process put me at ease.  

Then I began to read. The first few weeks I could stay on track, reading each page carefully, even the suggested readings, taking notes as I went. I entered class prepared to discuss the readings confident that even if I did not completely understand what I had read, I had at least done the reading! As the semester progressed, my preparation regressed. I read the big stuff but often skimmed or skipped a few pages here and there. I must confess, with apologies to my theology professors, that many pages of my copy of Calvin’s Institutes remain unsoiled by human hands. 

At the end of the semester, my classmates and I would gather in study groups, hoping that we had each read what the other had not, supplementing each other’s gaps. It was then that we focused on our own reading lists. We read Analysis of the Institutes of the Christian Religion of John Calvin by Ford Lewis Battles, which made sense of Calvin’s seventeen hundred pages, and Church History: An Essential Guide by Justo L. Gonzalez provided a wonderful last minute overview for the Church History exam.

While I am not advocating Cliff’s Notes, I am aware that most people (especially pastors!) do not have time to read as much as they would like. That is why I loved W. Eugene March’s book Great Themes of the Bible. In each of his thirteen clear and concise chapters, March offers an impressive introduction to a major theme of the Bible. The thirteen themes, which span nearly all of the Scriptures, include God, Covenant, Humanity, Sin, Law, Messiah, Spirit, Grace, Salvation, People of God, Worship, Service, and Reign of God.

In an amazingly short amount of space, March opens a unique door to the Bible, covering each theme thoroughly by employing a wonderful array of methodological tools, including historical context, the Hebrew and Greek languages, theology, and church history. March writes in that refreshing way that is both scholarly and not overwhelming, which makes this book appeal to readers with limited exposure to Scripture as well as those who have studied Scripture for years. A set of well-written questions at the end of each chapter will enable good group discussions as well as individual reflections.

March’s thematic analyses of the Scriptures are intellectually responsible and relevant. In his chapter on “Grace,” March attends to the diversity of scriptural perspectives and then writes, “Grace is not a commodity in God’s heavenly storehouse to be doled out. Rather, grace describes the way God relates to humankind.” Here March warns against misunderstanding grace as a commodity, a constant temptation in our culture of late capitalism. March’s focus throughout is as much on the Bible as it is on his readers.

A word of warning for people who will use this book to lead a class: be prepared to answer some difficult questions! For example, in his chapter on “Spirit” March writes, “Though Matthew (as did other New Testament writers) utilized a threefold pattern, his was not the technical Trinitarian language that would be developed some three hundred years later.” I can imagine many readers being interested in the absence of Trinitarian language in the Bible, the meaning of the Trinity, and the “three hundred years” it took to develop the “technical Trinitarian language.” Moments like these made me wish March’s book included a bibliography with resources for further study in each of the thirteen theme areas.

I am thankful for scholars like March whose writings provide us with a wonderful summary of what sometimes seems an insurmountable amount of material. Great Themes of the Bible enables readers (who have not had a chance to do all of their readings!) a great overview of themes that are the foundation of our Scriptures and is a wonderful tool for those who take on the task of teaching the Bible. 

 

Stephanie Coble is a minister of Word and Sacrament who serves as volunteer coordinator at Emmaus House, an inner city outreach center in Atlanta, Ga.

 

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