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Whole Counsel of God #1
The Whole Counsel of God: God’s Mighty Acts in the Old Testament
Richard Gamble offers a comprehensive theology attuned to the methodological advantages of biblical theology combined with the strengths of historical and systematic theology. Drawing on the best work in these disciplines throughout church history, he leads us in an integrated pursuit of the whole counsel of God.
This volume, the first of three, recounts God's mighty acts in the Old Testament. It discloses the theology of the Old Testament within the organic, progressive, historical development of the Bible. Gamble blends a survey of the entire Old Testament with discussions of topics as diverse as the canon, days of creation, faith and reason, covenants, the Ten Commandments, Old Testament ecclesiology, the nature of God, justification, and Old Testament apologetics.
This volume, the first of three, recounts God's mighty acts in the Old Testament. It discloses the theology of the Old Testament within the organic, progressive, historical development of the Bible. Gamble blends a survey of the entire Old Testament with discussions of topics as diverse as the canon, days of creation, faith and reason, covenants, the Ten Commandments, Old Testament ecclesiology, the nature of God, justification, and Old Testament apologetics.
- GenresTheology
752 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2021
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December 27, 2022
The Whole Counsel of God: Volume 3 God’s People in the Western World by Richard Gamble is published by P & R Publishing. Volumes 1 & 2 of this series are also published by P & R.
Huge, lengthy (1181 pages), and heavy, the greatest weight of this book is the contents. All three volumes set out to cover huge ranges of material. Volume 1 is an in-depth study of the Old Testament and volume 2 carries that study over to the New Testament. And the whole set has the aesthetic value of being in hardback with matching covers.
Volume 3 is an extensive survey of history, theology, and philosophy from the Ancient Greeks through the two millennia plus years that followed and goes up to the present. This book builds upon and reinforces previous studies one might have done on Western Civilization, along with historical introductions to philosophical people and movements and the same for theologians and developments in theological studies.
As such a wide-ranging book, this work could be used for reference. I can also think of how great it would be as a college textbook (hopefully for a two-semester class). The sheer number of people, books, ideas, theological and philosophical concerns, and events is overwhelming. I say that as a teacher who has tried to race through many a survey course and study in Western history and thought.
I am ranking this book as one of the best reads I experienced in 2022. It was also the most challenging. On the one hand, the book covers lots of information that I, as a history and Bible teacher, am familiar with. As such, it was a good review and summation of events or ideas or people. At the same time, the book also introduced or reacquainted me with many events, ideas, and people that I was either less familiar with or not aware of.
As expected, I was often wanting more to be said about some points while I was not as interested in other portions. But the benefit of the disciplined study of this book is that one has to plod on through regardless of whether the topic at hand is satisfying or not.
A plus for this book in my opinion is that it is written from a thoroughly Reformed perspective. This comes up not only in the text, but also in the sources cited. This is not to imply that the book is harsh toward non-Reformed people or dismissive of other positions. I was happy to see some “old friends,” theologically speaking, quoted in the book. I am thinking in particular of Francis Nigel Lee. And for those of us who love Cornelius Van Til, the book is heavily indebted to him and his thinking. Also, John Frame and his History of Western Philosophy shows up often.
How should one use this book?
1. The fact that it works for weightlifting is true, but not overly relevant for this post. And I refrain from posting my weightlifting pictures featuring this book and W. G. T. Shedd’s Dogmatic Theology., another P&R heavyweight winner.
2. I would hope that there are upper-level college courses, graduate courses, and seminary courses that use this book. It would be a race to work through it in one semester. It seems like it would be a better source for a two-semester study with additional readings. Dr. Gamble ends each chapter with several suggested readings. Those suggestions, along with some of the sources cited, and some reading of the primary accounts would make for a good study.
3. My own life experience has been that of a teacher, pastor, and student whose studies have been self-directed. (My undergraduate and graduate level course work has been in secular institutions that often don’t even know that Reformed thinking exists.)
My reading this year is not the best model to follow. It consisted of too many starts and stops. (I will refrain from citing my excuses.) But it was at its best when I was devoted to working toward short-term goals; that is, I would seek to read “a book within the book.” A chapter, a section, a chunk of a couple of hundred pages finally brought me to the point where I could press on to the end.
I think pastors need to be reading books like this. Much of the reading will not be filling in the sought for bullet points for the upcoming sermon. This book is the abs and biceps labors in the spiritual gym.
4. Group study of a book like this would be outstanding. I rarely find groups that consistently take on a project like this and complete it. For the sake of not falling apart, I would suggest that the group not initially attempt the whole book, but take on a large section.
5. A serious disciplined approach of using this book alongside of a more in-depth survey of philosophy and a textbook on Western Civilization would be ideal. I dream of being such a disciplined student, but my approach is too often much more hit and miss. This year, I am teaching British literature, American history, Bible, and Logic to high school students, so much of my more focused study is on those immediate concerns.
At any rate, this book needs to be on your shelf, your pastor’s shelf, and the shelves of serious students of history, Bible, and philosophy. I hope that I can soon experience Dr. Gamble’s previous labors in the first two volumes that cover the Bible.
I notice lots of books that get lots of attention and hype from the Christian readers I know through personal experience and social media. Sadly, this book has not gotten as much attention. I hope, as an overly slow reader and reviewer, to see that change.
Huge, lengthy (1181 pages), and heavy, the greatest weight of this book is the contents. All three volumes set out to cover huge ranges of material. Volume 1 is an in-depth study of the Old Testament and volume 2 carries that study over to the New Testament. And the whole set has the aesthetic value of being in hardback with matching covers.
Volume 3 is an extensive survey of history, theology, and philosophy from the Ancient Greeks through the two millennia plus years that followed and goes up to the present. This book builds upon and reinforces previous studies one might have done on Western Civilization, along with historical introductions to philosophical people and movements and the same for theologians and developments in theological studies.
As such a wide-ranging book, this work could be used for reference. I can also think of how great it would be as a college textbook (hopefully for a two-semester class). The sheer number of people, books, ideas, theological and philosophical concerns, and events is overwhelming. I say that as a teacher who has tried to race through many a survey course and study in Western history and thought.
I am ranking this book as one of the best reads I experienced in 2022. It was also the most challenging. On the one hand, the book covers lots of information that I, as a history and Bible teacher, am familiar with. As such, it was a good review and summation of events or ideas or people. At the same time, the book also introduced or reacquainted me with many events, ideas, and people that I was either less familiar with or not aware of.
As expected, I was often wanting more to be said about some points while I was not as interested in other portions. But the benefit of the disciplined study of this book is that one has to plod on through regardless of whether the topic at hand is satisfying or not.
A plus for this book in my opinion is that it is written from a thoroughly Reformed perspective. This comes up not only in the text, but also in the sources cited. This is not to imply that the book is harsh toward non-Reformed people or dismissive of other positions. I was happy to see some “old friends,” theologically speaking, quoted in the book. I am thinking in particular of Francis Nigel Lee. And for those of us who love Cornelius Van Til, the book is heavily indebted to him and his thinking. Also, John Frame and his History of Western Philosophy shows up often.
How should one use this book?
1. The fact that it works for weightlifting is true, but not overly relevant for this post. And I refrain from posting my weightlifting pictures featuring this book and W. G. T. Shedd’s Dogmatic Theology., another P&R heavyweight winner.
2. I would hope that there are upper-level college courses, graduate courses, and seminary courses that use this book. It would be a race to work through it in one semester. It seems like it would be a better source for a two-semester study with additional readings. Dr. Gamble ends each chapter with several suggested readings. Those suggestions, along with some of the sources cited, and some reading of the primary accounts would make for a good study.
3. My own life experience has been that of a teacher, pastor, and student whose studies have been self-directed. (My undergraduate and graduate level course work has been in secular institutions that often don’t even know that Reformed thinking exists.)
My reading this year is not the best model to follow. It consisted of too many starts and stops. (I will refrain from citing my excuses.) But it was at its best when I was devoted to working toward short-term goals; that is, I would seek to read “a book within the book.” A chapter, a section, a chunk of a couple of hundred pages finally brought me to the point where I could press on to the end.
I think pastors need to be reading books like this. Much of the reading will not be filling in the sought for bullet points for the upcoming sermon. This book is the abs and biceps labors in the spiritual gym.
4. Group study of a book like this would be outstanding. I rarely find groups that consistently take on a project like this and complete it. For the sake of not falling apart, I would suggest that the group not initially attempt the whole book, but take on a large section.
5. A serious disciplined approach of using this book alongside of a more in-depth survey of philosophy and a textbook on Western Civilization would be ideal. I dream of being such a disciplined student, but my approach is too often much more hit and miss. This year, I am teaching British literature, American history, Bible, and Logic to high school students, so much of my more focused study is on those immediate concerns.
At any rate, this book needs to be on your shelf, your pastor’s shelf, and the shelves of serious students of history, Bible, and philosophy. I hope that I can soon experience Dr. Gamble’s previous labors in the first two volumes that cover the Bible.
I notice lots of books that get lots of attention and hype from the Christian readers I know through personal experience and social media. Sadly, this book has not gotten as much attention. I hope, as an overly slow reader and reviewer, to see that change.
August 26, 2017
This book has so many points where he sets something up, but never explains or finishes the thought. It is inconsistent in format, and the best written parts are quotes. The idea and outline has a lot of potential, but needed a good editor. My theology study group felt like it was essentially his lecture notes in book form, we needed edits and a more robust working of the ideas presented. And the contestant reference to future volumes left many parts hanging unnecessarily. The most benefit came from his treatment of topics that we thankfully had already read about in Frame or Grudem and others, you certainly need much reformed background to understand the book.
December 24, 2019
This is the book form of Gamble's "Systematic Theology IV: Ecclesiology and Sacraments" class that I took at RTS (DC/Baltimore campus), and which made me want to change from "special student" status at the seminary into a committed Masters candidate. It remains my favorite class from my time at RTS. The book loses something from the class presentation - perhaps Gamble's passion for the material comes through better verbally than in written form - but I loved being reminded of the class while reading this volume, and I look forward to continuing with Vol. II in the new year.
Read
September 9, 2024Gamble is so helpful. I enjoyed it a great deal.
Read
October 5, 2018Used it as a reference for studies in:
-Contending Views on Creations Days
-Ecclesiology in the Pentateuch
-Eschatology of the Psalms
-Faith and Justification in the Old Testament
-Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch
-Music in Old Testament Worship
-Theology and Ecclesiology in the Historical Books
-Theology of the Book of Leviticus
-Contending Views on Creations Days
-Ecclesiology in the Pentateuch
-Eschatology of the Psalms
-Faith and Justification in the Old Testament
-Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch
-Music in Old Testament Worship
-Theology and Ecclesiology in the Historical Books
-Theology of the Book of Leviticus
March 28, 2010
If I had to ask for a combined Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology in the Reformed tradition, I could not have imagined anything half as good as this work. I am salivating as I wait for the next volumes.
August 12, 2016
It was interesting but left us kind of hanging. It was neither a systematic theology nor a biblical or historical theology and overall left me feeling like it was particularly suited to Dr Gamble's classroom structure and perhaps not much else.
partially-read
April 6, 2017This book is the first volume in an ambitious undertaking: to produce a comprehensive biblical theology in line with modern neo-Reformed covenant theology. It is very attentive to debates within a very small community, that is, English-speaking, confessionally Reformed, conservative evangelical scholarship.
It's hard to know what to make of a work that powerfully executes its conception but whose premises render it applicable only to a very small group.
It's hard to know what to make of a work that powerfully executes its conception but whose premises render it applicable only to a very small group.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews