The Strengths of Goldsworthy's "According to Plan"
By Trevin Wax on May 7, 2009 in Book Reviews | 
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The strength of According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Instead, he seeks to provide his readers with an overall grasp of biblical theology. He focuses on the “big picture.”
To accomplish this task, Goldsworthy encourages readers to bypass some of the harder chapters and perhaps return to them later. The “How” section focuses on issues of epistemology. Goldsworthy realizes that some of these chapters will be tough sledding for newcomers to theology. But he is wise to include them, as our presuppositions regarding knowledge and truth have a direct impact on how we understand the Bible. So Goldsworthy’s book remains accessible, without abandoning the thoroughness necessary for the task at hand.
According to Plan remains accessible to laypeople, not because Goldsworthy avoids rich theological teaching, but because he utilizes helpful tools that break down his concepts into simple forms.
For example, summary paragraphs are found beneath each chapter heading. This practice helps readers understand where the author intends to take them in any given chapter.
The book also provides summaries, charts, diagrams, and key terms and phrases at the end of each chapter, making it very easy for readers to quickly access the foundational information of each section. Goldsworthy has succeeded marvelously in making key theological concepts accessible to the laypeople.
The second strength of According to Plan is its Christ-centeredness. Goldsworthy emphasizes again and again that Christ is the one to whom all the Scriptures testify. God reveals himself primarily in Jesus Christ, showing us what the promises of the Old Testament are about.
“God in fact reserves his greatest revelation until the point of fulfillment. Jesus does not simply fulfill the promises; rather, he is the final and fullest revelation of what the promises are really about. This means that the form and the content of the fulfillment exceeds by far the form and the content of the promises themselves. The very act of fulfilling the Old Testament promises is itself the most important revelation of all” (65).
This emphasis on Christ as the center of all Scripture is sadly lacking in many evangelical churches today.
Goldsworthy insists on a Christ-shaped reading of Scripture, as evidenced by his emphasis on the gospel itself as the entry point into studying Scripture rightly.
According to Plan also raises a few questions for me. Tomorrow, I will examine some of the questions that Goldsworthy’s proposal leaves unanswered.
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I certainly agree that all Scripture must be Christ-centered and that many churches today don’t seem to understand that. I personally take the view that 90% of my study of Scripture is in the New Testament and most of that is in the Gospels. It seems that many today spend too much time and efforts in the Old Testament. This is kind of like going to a US history class and spending most of the time studying British history. There are also many today who seem to want to jump from His birth to the cross and skip the 33 years he spent teaching us how to live. We all have some basic lessons we need to learn when studying theolgy.
RJ | May 8, 2009 | Reply
RJ,
It is impossible to study or teach the NT without constant reference to the OT at every step in the Life of Jesus and teaching of the Apostles!
Reformatus | May 8, 2009 | Reply
RJ, based on your comment above, you need to read this book by Goldsworthy because by Christ-centeredness, he does not mean you should spend 90% of your time in the NT. He rather means that all of Scripture (thus the OT) points to Christ. If you don’t know the OT well and deeply, you will never understand the NT that you are spending so much time in. Don’t neglect all of God’s revelatory Word of Christ.
andrew | May 18, 2009 | Reply