Joshua’s historical purpose is to document the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership. As such, Joshua joins the eleven out of seventeen historical books that carry on the geographical and chronological story of Israel from the time of Abraham to Malachi. The other ten are: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Judges, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The remaining six—Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Ruth, First and Second Chronicles, and Esther—are supplementary in nature. Out of the list of eleven, only Joshua does not record a massive failure by Israel or its leadership (the sin in chapter 7 was quickly remedied).

Theologically, Joshua teaches that victory and blessing come through obedience and trust in God. Active faith leads to obedience which in turn brings blessing. God required the people to attempt the impossible in submission to His directions before He made it possible for them to succeed. The book emphasizes God’s covenant faithfulness to His promises regarding a land for Israel, and God’s holiness in bringing judgment upon the immoral Canaanites.

Ruth is a beautiful “interlude of love” set in the period of the judges in Israel—an era marked by immorality, idolatry, and war. This heartwarming story of devotion and faithfulness records the life of Ruth, a Moabite widow who leaves her homeland to leave with her widowed Jewish mother-in-law in Bethlehem. God honors her commitment by guiding her to the field of Boaz (a near kinsman) where she gathers grain and eventually finds a husband! The book closes with a brief genealogy in which Boaz’s name is prominent as the great-grandfather of King David, through whom would come the Christ.

Chapters 17–21 form an appendix to the Book of Judges, offering two illustrations of unrighteousness during the time of the judges. Ruth serves as a third illustration of life during this time, but it is an illustration of godliness. It is a positive picture of real faith and obedience (1:16–17; 3:10) that leads to blessing (4:13, 17). Ruth also teaches that Gentiles could believe in the true God (three out of the four women mentioned in Christ’s genealogy in Matthew 1 were Gentiles—Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth). Ruth explains how a gentile woman could become a member of the royal lineage of David and shows the divine origin of the Davidic dynasty (4:18–22).

The theme of Ruth is redemption, especially as it relates to the Kinsman-Redeemer. It reveals Yahweh’s gracious character and sovereign care for His people (2:12). It stresses God’s providential rewards for faithfulness. Not all was lost during this chaotic period—there was always a faithful Remnant of those who did what was right in the sight of the Lord.

Samuel, the last judge and first great prophet in Israel, anoints the first king. Though Saul’s physical credentials are impressive, his indifferent heart attitude toward God results in the kingdom being taken away from his family. In his place Samuel anoints young David as the king-elect. David becomes a growing threat to the insanely jealous Saul, eventually fleeing to the wilderness for his very life. But God’s hand of protection is clearly upon David, even as God’s hand of judgment is being felt by Saul and his family. Foolishly consulting a medium at En Dor, Saul hears his own doom pronounced. True to the prophet’s word, Saul and his sons are killed the next day in combat.

The books of Samuel give a prophetically oriented history of Israel’s early monarchy. The First of these books picks up the story of Israel left off in Judges 16:31. Samuel followed Samson, and he too had to deal with the Philistines since Samson did not accomplish a permanent victory. First Samuel traces the transition of leadership in Israel from judges to kings, from a theocracy to a monarchy. The monarchy brought greater stability because the people found it easier to follow an earthly king. Samuel was the kingmaker who anointed the first two rulers of the united kingdom. Saul quickly disobeyed God and became a tyrant. David became the first real theocratic king—he allowed God to rule through him.

In their actions during the period of the judges, the people rejected Yahweh as their King. The clamor for an earthly king in First Samuel was the natural outcome of this practical rejection (8:7). God had intended to give Israel a king (see Gen. 49:10; Deut. 17:14–20), but the people insisted on the king of their choice instead of waiting for God’s king. Nevertheless, this book teaches the sovereign control of Yahweh who establishes and removes kings. Saul was rejected by the Lord because he failed to learn the truth that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (15:22). He became characterized by mental imbalance, raging jealousy, foolishness, and immorality. David illustrated the principle that “the LORD does not see as man sees” (16:7). The Lord established the Davidic dynasty because of David’s obedience, wisdom, and dependence on God.

Samuel also reveals the critical role of the prophets in their divinely commissioned exhortations to the kings and the people of Israel.

Soon after the death of Saul, David the king-elect becomes monarch first over Judah (where he reigns with Hebron as his capital for seven and one-half years) and finally over all Israel (where he makes Jerusalem his capital and reigns for thirty-three years). Thus, Second Samuel chronicles the forty-year reign of the man who lived at the halfway point between Abraham and Christ—about 1000 B.C. David’s triumphs bring the nation to the very zenith of its power. But his dual sins of adultery and murder bring personal and national chastening from the Lord. Throughout his life, David seeks God zealously and confesses his sins promptly—actions befitting the one called by God “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22).

There is no real break in the narrative between First Samuel 31:13 and Second Samuel 1:1. The two books of Samuel were originally one book written to provide a divine perspective on the establishment of the united kingdom under Saul and its expansion under David. These books repeatedly illustrate the hostility between the ten northern and two southern tribes and the difficulty of keeping them united. The final split between Israel and Judah that occurred after the death of Solomon in 931 B.C. comes as no surprise in light of First and Second Samuel.

The Book of Second Samuel offers a very candid portrait of the strengths and weaknesses of David’s forty-year reign. God is no respecter of persons, and the heroes of the Bible like David are not glorified to the neglect of their sin. This balanced presentation of the life of Israel’s greatest king reveals the origin of a perpetual dynasty (7:16).

Several spiritual truths are reinforced and illustrated in the life of David. The most obvious of these is the cause and effect principle stressed in every book since Genesis: obedience (1–7) brings God’s blessings (8–10), and disobedience (11) leads to God’s judgment (12–24). The consequences of sin cannot be avoided; “sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15), in this case, many.

Systematic theology is distinguished from other classifications of theology. The other classifications can be differentiated as follows.

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

Biblical theology is a narrower focus of study, emphasizing the study of a particular era or writer (e.g., the prophetic era or Johannine [John’s] theology).

HISTORICAL THEOLOGY

Historical theology is the study of the historical development and unfolding of theology. For example, historical theology observes the development of Christology in the early centuries of the Christian church, when the church councils formulated their position on a great many doctrines (such as the two natures of Jesus Christ).

DOGMATIC THEOLOGY

Dogmatic theology is sometimes confused with systematic theology, and some outstanding theology works have been entitled, “dogmatic theology” (cf. W. G. T. Shedd). Dogmatic theology is normally understood to denote the study of a creedal system as developed by a denomination or a theological movement.

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Christian theology is another categorization that is sometimes used synonymously with systematic theology. The most recent work by Millard J. Erickson is so designated. Theological books by Emery H. Bancroft and H. Orton Wiley are other examples. While also systematizing theology, this designation emphasizes that it is written from a decidedly Christian perspective (but not suggesting that works designated systematic theology are not).

THEOLOGY PROPER

Theology proper is a category of study within systematic theology; it denotes the study of the nature and existence of God. To distinguish the study of God specifically (in contrast to the study of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, etc.), the term proper is used to distinguish the study of God from theology in general.

The doctrine of God is the horizon of all Christian theology. It’s built into the very name “theology”: it’s “logos about theos“—that is, “speech about God.” That’s why people sometimes call the doctrine of God “theology proper,” meaning that theology is actually talking about the doctrine of who God is in his essence, in his existence, in his attributes, and in his eternal being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

All men have some knowledge of God. That is, they have the conviction that there is a Being on whom they are dependent, and to whom they are responsible. What is the source of this conviction? In other words, what is the origin of the idea of God? To this question three answers have been given. First, that it is innate. Second, that is a deduction of reason; a conclusion arrived at by a process of generalization. Third, that it is to be referred to a supernatural revelation, preserved by tradition.

• Theology Proper: The study of the being, attributes, and works of God

INSPIRATION AND INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE

No adequate theology is possible without a belief in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. If this doctrine is abandoned, reason becomes the source of authority and reason sits in judgment upon the text of Scripture.

E. J. Young provides a suitable definition of inerrancy: “By this word we mean that the Scriptures possess the quality of freedom from error. They are exempt from the liability to mistake, incapable of error. In all their teachings they are in perfect accord with the truth”30 Ryrie provides a syllogism for logically concluding the biblical teaching of inerrancy: “God is true (Rom. 3:4); the Scriptures were breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16); therefore, the Scriptures are true (since they came from the breath of God who is true).”31

In defining inerrancy it is also important to state what it does not mean. It does not demand rigidity of style and verbatim quotations from the Old Testament. “The inerrancy of the Bible means simply that the Bible tells the truth. Truth can and does include approximations, free quotations, language of appearances, and different accounts of the same event as long as those do not contradict.”32 At the Chicago meeting in October 1978, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy issued the following statement on inerrancy: “Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.”33