Monergism Books

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Description: Him We Proclaim advocates the Christ-centered, redemptive-historical, missiologically-communicated, grace-grounded method of Bible interpretation that the apostles learned from Jesus and practiced in their Gospel proclamation. Moving beyond theory, it shows how apostolic preaching opens up various biblical texts: history, law, wisdom, psalm, prophecy, parable, doctrine, exhortation, and apocalyptic vision.

As the twenty-first century dawns, the global church needs a rebirth of Holy Spirit-illumined, apostolic proclamation of Jesus Christ from every text of Scripture. The weakening church in the West finds itself marginalized by a culture that increasingly manifests indifferent pluralism and hostile paganism strikingly similar to what the apostles encountered in the Greco-Roman world two millennia ago. Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere the church's rapid numerical growth frequently is accompanied by converts' superficial grasp of Scripture and fragile connection to the faith, giving little evidence of the gospel's power to create communities of disciples distinguished by purity, integrity, compassion, and hope.

Him We Proclaim argues that today, twenty centuries after the good news of Jesus the Messiah first burst like lightning across the ancient world's global cultures, pastors and evangelists must rediscover the Christ-centered way of reading and preaching the Bible that the apostles learned from Jesus and practice the apostolic hermeneutic that God's Spirit used to capture the hearts of ancient peoples by the world-shaking power of divine grace.

Building on the work of Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos, Edmund Clowney, Sidney Greidanus, Graeme Goldsworthy, Bryan Chapell, and others, Him We Proclaim enlists exegetical, theological, and historical evidence to build its case that ministers of the Word may—and must—proclaim every passage of Scripture in light of the entire Bible's redemptive-historical structure, its Christocentric focus, its life-transforming purpose, and its missiological mode of communication. Although the New Testament's interpretation of the Old has been rejected by much historical critical scholarship and has evoked misgivings among evangelicals, Johnson addresses both the objections and the misgivings, offering twenty-first century preachers a persuasive theological and pastoral rationale for reading and preaching Christ from all the Scriptures, as Peter and Paul did.

It is one thing, however, to be persuaded that preaching Christ from all the Scriptures is legitimate, even essential. It is another to know how to interpret with integrity the spectrum of biblical texts that span vast eras and embody various genres so that each passage articulates its unique witness to Jesus the Messiah. Therefore, Him We Proclaim

Moving from theory to practice, Him We Proclaim guides readers along the hermeneutical- homiletical path "from text to sermon"—from grasping the text's meaning to conveying it, clearly and vividly, along with the response it elicits by grace. A representative sampling of Old Testament texts (historical narrative, law, wisdom, psalm, prophecy) and New Testa- ment texts (gospel narrative, parable, doctrinal discourse, ethical directive, wisdom, prophetic vision) are explored in depth, and two complete sermon manuscripts illustrate how the author has preached Christ to contemporary American congregations from Old and New Testament Scriptures.

Developed over the author's decades of experience in church ministry and seminary teaching (both New Testament interpretation and homiletics), Him We Proclaim blends exegetical insight and pastoral wisdom with a passion to see Christ glorified and the peoples of the world drawn to him by the Spirit's invincible grace. moves from "why?" to "how?" It explores the pervasive twin biblical motifs of new creation and new covenant—the theological substructure that shapes the contours of the New Testament's typological proclamation of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament events, institutions, and individuals by which God rescued and sustained Israel, stirring his people's longing for the final redemption, now achieved by the long-awaited mediator of the new covenant, Jesus.

Dennis Johnson has written a magnificent book that magnifies Christ in all of scripture. Every preacher and teacher of the Scriptures should read this gem of the book. Johnson convincingly explains and defends the thesis that Christ should be proclaimed from all of Scripture. But he also illustrates with specific examples what it looks like to proclaim Christ in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This book is exegetically faithful, theologically profound, and practically helpful. I wish I had read a book like this when I started my theological education thirty years ago. 
-- Thomas R. Schreiner