According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

by Graeme Goldsworthy

The massive diversity and complexity of the Bible can make it a daunting project for anyone to tackle. Getting a grasp on the unity of the Bible, its central message from Genesis to Revelation, helps immensely in understanding the meaning of any one book or passage. That is the goal of this book by Graeme Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy answers these questions with an integrated theology of both Old and New Testaments that avoids unnecessary technicalities. Concise, pithy chapters featuring dozens of charts, highlighted summaries and study questions make According to Plan an enormously useful book for understanding how the Bible fits together as the unfolding story of God's plan for salvation.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Religion

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Graeme Goldsworthy is an Australian Anglican and Old Testament scholar. Now retired, Goldsworthy was formerly lecturer in Old Testament, biblical theology and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of "According to Plan" (IVP, 1991), "Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture" (Eerdmans, 2000) and "Proverbs: The Tree of Life" (CEP, 1993). Goldsworthy has an MA from Cambridge University and a ThM and PhD from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, succinct knitting together of the full story arc and themes of scripture. I’ve never read Goldsworthy before, and I was caught off guard by the sermonic tone and clarity of this book. So helpful.

[Jack McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductory study on biblical theology tracing the one message and plan of God throughout all of Scripture. Goldsworthy follows the narrative progression of Scripture from OT through NT in a very accessible way for a lay reader with easy-to-digest chapters focusing on the main themes, concepts, types, and shadows established throughout the OT that find their ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. The bulk of the book (ch. 8-25) flows smoothly as a bird's eye view of tracing God's faithfulness throughout all of Scripture. The building crescendo of the OT makes you keep reading to find out how Christ fulfills it all, making for a very quick read since you don't want to put it down.

(Would note that ch. 2-7 hold the theoretical concepts of how to do biblical theology. But, since those chapters are early in the book, the first 80 pages are mostly theoretical...if that could bog you down, I'd suggest reading ch. 1, then 8-25, then going back to 2-7.)

Overall, would highly recommend for those who want to understand the flow of the Bible better and why we as Christians need to know and study the Old Testament.


"Having this plan of Old Testament revelation in view, we are now in a position to discern many of the overtones that exist in the text of the New Testament. The New Testament unfolds the story of Jesus, the Christ, who has come to fulfill all the expectations of the Old Testament. Much of the terminology of the gospel is drawn directly from these preparatory shadows. While the gospel will reveal the final significance of all God's promises to Israel, the redemptive revelation in the Old Testament will deepen our appreciation of what it means for Jesus to be the Christ." p. 198

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful book from Graeme Goldsworthy to introduce those who've never been exposed to Bible Theology:

What I liked:
-Goldsworthy things very theologically so it may be helpful for someone new to theology or who is familiar with theology but has never seen it organized "around the Bible." It's especially helpful to think through the "episodes" of each chapter to consider how the larger Bible story fits together.
-Goldsworthy's emphasis on the Kingdom of God is helpful, especially to link the importance on the concept in the NT.
-His ethical discussions at the end are helpful to think through.
-He does a good job describing biblical theology at the beginning.

What I didn't like:
-While Goldsworthy things theologically, I felt that many of his theological points interspersed throughout the latter half of the book were randomly organized. It was like he took points from systematic theology and plugged them in (and to his credit, derived them from) biblical theology. Again, while this may be satisfying to someone new to theology or someone with a background in systematic but not biblical theology, it is rather unsatisfying to one familiar with more experience reading and studying biblical theology.
-Goldsworthy reads the OT with a very positive arc when a more sober reading of the OT shows that it actually rides along a very negative arc. While God's promises are wonderful and his mercy incredibly steadfast, Israel does a terrible job at being a faithful covenant people. For example, Goldsworthy subsumes Israel's abysmal history in Judges under the chapter "Into the Good Land" without much reflection on that awful time. He also views the kingships of David and Solomon as the high point of Israel's history, but Kings portrays Solomon and his descendants as idolaters. These views conflict.
-Perhaps Goldsworthy sees Christ in too many places in the OT.

I think the prime benefit of this book is to introduce Biblical Theology to a layperson or beginning student, but that's only because I'm not aware of a book that does this better at more accessible reading level. It's likely out there, but I just don't know it.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the content was worthwhile, the writing style was so plodding and awkward the only reason I finished the book was because it was assigned reading by our pastor. (The other assigned book, Abraham's Four Seeds, was so fun that I couldn't wait to pick it back up between readings.) I absolutely had to soldier through the first two sections of this book. The third and fourth sections were significantly better, though they were still riddled with fragments and lost trains of thought. I think the book was intended to be a fly over of the whole Bible showing a technique for organizing all its contents, but it was so general as to not be much use to anybody but someone who has never read the Bible at all! Perhaps the problem was that a fine theologian was trying to simplifyy the content for lay readers and overshot himself? I only had Aspen and Tommy read a couple of portions. So, unless assigned, I would probably not pick up anything else by this author.

[Shannen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect introduction to what can otherwise be a relatively complex concept. I went into this with a desire to learn the key biblical theology (particularly how the Old Testament links to the Gospel) and I have come out the other side with that and much more.
If we liken the Bible to a puzzle, whereby each puzzle piece represents an individual scripture/verse, then many Christians are competent when it comes to analysis and study of individual pieces, with the more well-versed among them being adept at linking different pieces together using insightful "revelations" of the text. Yet, where many of us are left lacking is in the art of relating these puzzle pieces back unto the bigger picture, with respect to where they fit in, how they fit, and their importance in ensuring the entire puzzle comes together. This book provides the bird's-eye view necessary to begin the journey of developing such an art. Not only does it provide the objective progression of the revelation of God from Genesis to Revelation, but also lays down foundational frameworks that one should keep in mind whenever they study the Bible.

This isn't a book that you can ever really "finish". Even now, I plan to go back through this from the start and engage with the many study guides included within it, to put into practice what I am beginning to learn.

[Anna Grace Galkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written! I’ve come away with a renewed - and adjusted - appreciation for God’s grace and faithfulness at work in his dealings with his people. God’s faithfulness directs the course of history, from creating ex nihilo, to the choosing of a people, to the giving of the law, to breathing new life through the spirit.

I’m starting to see what authors like Goldsworthy here and Lewis in the Great Divorce have already found: a pattern of redemption in the form of division. Division throughout the canon signals both the need for and manner of redemption… as humanity is divorced from God, the only solution then divorces individuals from the world… and so another great divorce forms between the seed of the serpent and seed of the woman.

So, the path of redemption is much more like a forked road than spokes on a wheel. The differences between life and death, truth and falsehood become more apparent with time - they will not blur into one affirming center. It is wholly by God’s hand of grace we would ever find ourselves on his side of the fork.

[Ben Alain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reread of a book from first year of seminary. I remembered it being more helpful then than now. Terse, disjointed writing that made it tough to catch the larger point/movement of the author. Might be most helpful as a brief explainer for someone new to, or relatively unacquainted with, the Bible. Less helpful in showing and tracing the themes of Scripture from beginning to end. Better intro to biblical theology options can be found in The True Story of the Whole World by Goheen & Bartholomew and God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts.

[Nate Xing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic middle step between God’s Big Picture and Goldsworthy Trilogy. Some great insights and helpful applications for reading the old testament today. Highly recommended for anyone who has read the whole bible but hasn’t revisited biblical theology in a couple years.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was wonderful to revisit this book. If you've ever wondered how the Old Testament relates to the new or how to understand the big picture of what is happening across Scripture, this book gives you a guided tour by an excellent theologian.

[Steve Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Rohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for biblical theology, actually was easier to read than expected.
The summaries at the end of each chapter help too, and he really just wants to make clear that the bible is all about Jesus, and that redemption is revealed progressively.

[Becky Pliego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it even though we hold different eschatological views.

Just one question... why such an ugly cover for such a fine book?!

[Bradford Schiebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great framing of how to understand the biblical narrative!! Some concepts might be confusing, but it was great to see the life, death, and resurrection of Christ put into the canon of the Bible and how much the Old Testament actually lines up with the New Testament and God’s ultimate plan

[R.B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just read this in a sitting, mostly because the chapters are very short. This is an assigned text I have for D.A. Carson's class in the fall, so I am trying to read ahead. This is most definitely an intro to Biblical Theology, if you have already been exposed to good Biblical Theology this will not add anything new to you that you don't already know. The information is solid and concise, which makes it gloss over a lot and, like I said, it has short chapters. For me it was more of a demonstration of how to write on the layperson level and could be a good source for a small group. I would recommend Michael William's "As Far As the Curse is Found" as a better introduction to Biblical Theology. Williams demonstrates how to do biblical theology really well and has a lot of interesting insights and pulls out the importance of Resurrection and New Creation in Christianity more thoroughly(He also writes really well.)

[Dianne Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great biblical overview that covered well the lines of God's chosen people- and what we can learn from these OT stories. (election, grace found in the OT, foreshadowing of Christ). I felt it was a solid review and there were things that I previously did not 'get' or think through. I found it interesting that the Jews are not all of Israel, but only the line of Judah, which were in part of Israel. That there were saved and unsaved people within the chosen people, and the reasons for their seemingly constant disobedience. There is a lot to chew on here... I wish he had finished the last chapter with answers instead of just questions, such as is cremation ok for a Christian. I will have to seek out some of his other titles.

[Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Overall, this is an excellent volume that serves as a clear introduction to a difficult subject. Goldsworthy is a skilled writer who clearly knows this discipline forward and backward. If there is a criticism here, it’s that there is so much information presented so many ways—the busyness of the book can get a bit overwhelming."

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/schaeffe...

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, but it took me a while to figure out what the author was doing in it. After I figured it out I really liked it, but after I finished reading it I realized I didn't get that much out of it. Maybe if I read it again knowing from the beginning what he was doing I would get more out of it. All in all, I liked it, but it wasn't a life changing book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for a course. Enjoyed it but felt many of the chapters were randomly organised without a logical structure from start to finish. Certain ideas were mentioned but didn’t really tie into the points before or after etc. I wouldn’t want to study from it but it was a good overview.

[Scott Moonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, but the main value for me was that it reminded me of all the great stuff in Vos.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to Plan is an introduction to Biblical Theology. That little sentence is probably going to already turn a lot of people off. If it hasn't then I suppose the question is how good of an introduction to Biblical Theology is this? That is a question that is rather difficult to answer.

I find this book to fall into the pitfall of so many more academic works on Christianity. This one is perhaps worse because I think Goldsworthy is trying to write this for the everyday person in the church. I'm not sure that he accomplishes this very well, unless you are in a congregation very well acquainted with the vocabulary he's using, and using without a whole lot of explanation. The problem is that if you are familiar with this vocabulary, you're probably also familiar with a lot of what he's going to be saying here. So it really narrows down the people who will find this work useful in my opinion.

Now I'm someone with a seminary education at this point, and I can't say that I took too many new ideas from Goldsworthy worth adding to my thinking. I had either heard what he said before or disagreed with his approach. This is the kind of book that was made for undergraduate classes on the Bible, with very little use elsewhere.

That's not to say that I don't appreciate some of his thoughts. I think his overall presentation of creation, fall, and God's continued attempts to regenerate the world is a fairly solid way of presenting the big picture of the Bible. I also like how that steers his faith away from a heaven for the soul and for a creation remade and set right for physical people.

That said I also thought there were a number of negative things in the work. In general I found his work a bit too big picture without really connecting it to practical usage. If you're trying to write for the everyday person that has to be in your purview. How does it impact the church? Daily life? If you aren't spending any time there, you're not really writing for the everyday person.

I also didn't find his section on atheistic humanism, theistic humanism, and Biblical theism to be very helpful. It felt poorly constructed at best and mostly felt like a way to give people labels who didn't agree with you on things. This was particularly true between the theistic humanism and Biblical theism categories.

He also liked to insert the ideas of election and God's sovereignty in the picture a lot. Almost as if making them secondary themes to his big theme of creation, fall, and regeneration. While I do know the language of election and sovereignty are in the Bible, they're not my go to themes and I think using them too much can cause some issues. I also fully understand this is more to do with my own opinions and approach to the Bible, but it's still an issue.

I also found the book to be rather poorly formatted. Goldsworthy has a lot of little charts and summaries in the book. To start with I didn't even find these charts super helpful, but then the inclusion of these charts would also do funny things to the end of chapters. The charts would sometimes interrupt a paragraph and require you to turn a page to continue the initial paragraph. It was just very awkward and not at all helpful.

Overall, I found According to Plan to be an okay introduction to Biblical Theology. I do however say that this isn't all that good as a layperson's guide to Biblical Theology unless you've got a rather highly educated congregation (then it may be too simple of one depending). He doesn't do a great job of connecting his material to real life in the church or home a lot of language that most church people aren't going to be familiar enough with to really connect with this book.

[Braxton Schieler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two things can be true at once: on the one hand, any Christian who takes the time to peruse this book and really understand and apply Goldsworthy's argument will be better at studying their Bible and will love Jesus more as a result of it. On the other hand, I don't like Goldsworthy's writing one bit and I think the book could have been written to be far more accessible.

On the positive side, this work does an excellent job of outlining what Biblical theology is and how it shapes the way that we read the Bible. The major themes of the Bible: God's progressive revelation, his commitment to completing his original purpose in creation and the way that this redemptive narrative works out over time, the connection between the testaments, the already-not-yet realities of being saved and the coming kingdom--all of this is really well explained. The application and check for understanding questions are challenging and require the reader to parse scripture and understand Goldsworthy's ideas well enough to explain them to someone else. I particularly felt that the chapters on the Old Testament were excellent; they gave a picture of the purpose of the law and the narrative of the patriarchs, prophets, and kings that was thoroughly God-centered and grew my wonder at who God is. I do genuinely think that this book will have a lasting impact on how I read my Bible.

On the other hand, Goldsworthy's writing leaves so much to be desired. The book is framed as an introductory take on Biblical theology; in terms of the intellectual complexity of the ideas he discusses, this is probably fair. In terms of readability, though, it is difficult, and I would argue needlessly difficult. If it were me, I would think that the occasional joke or bit of any writing style or voice whatsoever would be a good idea, but these things I am more wiling to forgive. My particular gripe is the flowing between ideas with very little transition or explanation of what is coming where and how it connects to other sections. The reader is often left to make connections between paragraphs on their own; I found myself rereading and rereading to get my head around things. Again, I found this frustrating because the level of density wasn't necessary to explicate the ideas discussed.

In summary, I do recommend this book; but it's the sort of book that should be read slowly, over many weeks, maybe most ideally as a companion guide to someone's Bible reading plan. Commit to invest in Goldsworthy's writing or don't bother picking it up at all.

[Eric Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion the best introductory book to biblical theology. I always thought Goldsworthy, since coming from Moore, would be closer to British evangelical/Syndey Anglican types of (more grammatical-historical) BT, but what I found in this book was more akin to Vos' redemptive-historical style of BT, perhaps because Goldsworthy did his MDiv in a Presbyterian seminary in the States (there are recommended reading at the end of each chapter, and Vos' BT, OPR's Christ and Covenant Theology comes up prevalently). Unlike usual introductory BT books that treat little systematic theology, he begins his book just doing that contrary, explaining the doctrine of revelation, doctrine of Scripture, progressive revelation, redemptive-historical hermeneutic, epistemology and worldview and all the various intersections with Christology and so on. Most introductory BT would also begin to narrate redemptive history from creation, fall and so on, but Goldsworthy begins with the gospel and Christ as the Alpha and Omega, which is an extension of his close alignment of ST and BT methodology. Each chapter and epoch of redemptive history is also coupled with NT references that demonstrate Christ as the anti-type of that specific chapter (for example, for the chapter on Wisdom literature, 1 Corinthians 1:30 is referenced), which reveals a decisively Christological reading of BT and redemptive history. Also treats succinctly various locus of ST along the way, like the doctrine of election or the Imago Dei. The chapters are short and pacey (27 chapters in 240 pages), so it makes for a really fast and easy read without bogging the readers down on narrative detail.

[Felicity Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay for the most part. It’s intended to be an introductory book, but I think it’s one of those occasions where what the author writes only makes sense if you already know what he’s talking about.
I feel like this happens often in books by really smart people. So he’ll use obscure theological vocab without explaining it, but then feel like he needs to explain in detail certain Bible stories. So it feels like it’s written for someone familiar with theology but not familiar with the Biblical narrative, which seems reverse of what it was intended to be. Also he randomly would go on tangents about the election of Israel which would only really make sense if he were trying to prove a point to people who already had an opinion on election (again, someone familiar with theology). I did appreciate the short chapters though which made it easier to read through.

[Jonathan Brooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another re-read from back in my college days, but I'm glad that I did! Though it's written specifically as a starter book to biblical theology it's not a terribly easy read due to the author's writing style. However, it is introductory in its size and scope and it does a wonderful job in that of bringing the reader to an essential perspective of seeing the Bible as one large story rather than a variety of miscellaneous pieces and stories. It's systematically laid out to offer not only the explanation and reason for the biblical theology but then to walk through the Bible demonstrating how this helps one to best interpret the Scriptures.

This easily gets put on the shelf of books that any person seeking to teach the Bible must read.

[Patrick Lacson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a classic in the redemptive-historical tradition of biblical theology and hermeneutics. Being late to the game, I finally read this classic book.

I appreciate the connections made by Goldsworthy and his use of the well-received paradigm which he calls "The Pattern of the Kingdom" that is divided into four movements: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. I appreciate his definition of Biblical Theology as "the study of the unity of the message of the Bible."

I understand there are many ways of defining Biblical Theology (BT) and Goldsworthy is perhaps the most popular definition. Some define BT by looking for a thematic approach, some define it by employing typology, some employ a larger meta-narrative. Goldsworthy employes the central theme of BT to be...

[Josh Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best and most practical book I’ve ever read when it comes to how to view all of scripture through the gospel as a lens. The best way to read this book is to let it set the expectations for you and look at how it answers those expectations.

This book is entry level, written for people who have a basic knowledge of the Bible but somewhat new to the faith. You don’t have to be a scholar to read this book. He offers further reading to help you if interested.

The best thing about book is showing you how to see the Bible as a whole that points to Jesus. Then, in the third part of the book, he takes you through the Bible to show you how it’s one whole story.

You won’t be disappointed.

[Brandon Current · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't Read. The aim of the book is needed and the content of the book is spot-on. Goldsworthy set out to make a lay-level summary of the themes that tie the Bible together as a single message from a Divine Author. However, he wanders from that audience. At times he side-steps into issues of minutia or debate that distract from the goal. At times his writing is casual and conversational and at other times technical. This makes it unsuitable as a general guide for all the church. Yet it is too elementary in its concepts for anyone who is familiar with the Bible's message. His charts organize information poorly. On the positive side, the summary paragraphs at the beginning and close of each chapter are helpful.

[Troy Solava · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the theology in this book. It taught me to be a better "biblical theologian" and interpreter of the Old Testament. However, I gave it 3 stars for it seems to me to be hard to follow. Though the main part of the book is chronological, he seems to skip around themes rather than immerse himself in the select few. Though I loved his comments on regeneration in a cosmic sense, the rest seemed to be random tidbits of theological themes. Also, it is highly repetitive and could be shorter. I am interested in reading his other works but couldn't seem to get into this one too much.

[Greg Reimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Plan is a great aid for understanding the over-arching narrative of the Bible. It is written in short chapters that cover the themes and progression of each section of the Bible. I found I didn't agree with all the conclusions of the introductory chapters (particularly when it came to how truth is known), but I understand that Graeme was laying a needed foundation for the chapters that followed. This book was an encouragement to me and helped me understand the Bible as a cohesive book.

[benandren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to biblical theology

This book would be a good read for anyone new to the Bible. It does an excellent job of weaving together the major themes in the Bible, presenting Scripture as telling a single story. The themes of creation, re-creation and kingdom are particularly prominent. It avoids technicalities and defines teens when it needs to. It is not the most exciting or engaging read, but the short chapters with summaries at the end of each helped break it up into digestible pieces.