Warren A. Gage Biblical Theology Collection (9 vols.)

According to the apostles, Christ fills and fulfills all things. Theological Poetics explores the biblical theology of the “pleroma” doctrine of the fullness of Christ. The approach of traditional biblical theologies has generally been historical in nature. This new approach focuses on the person and work of Christ, and demonstrates that all things in nature and Scripture—God and man, life and death, time and space, male and female, and more—find their fullness in him.

Essays in Biblical Theology explores the method set forth in Theological Poetics as developed through particular biblical characters. Following guidelines for a biblical, responsible method of typological interpretation of Scripture, this book examines the accounts of Moses, Joshua, David, Samson, and other biblical figures, showing how the depth and richness of these redemptive giants prefigure Christ, anticipating both his suffering and glory. Essays in Biblical Theology concludes with a pioneering study of the relationship between the narrative of Elijah typology and Mark’s Gospel—which unexpectedly provides an argument for the originality of the longer ending of Mark.

The Heavenly Banquet provides a biblical theology of the New Testament in the form of an imagined dialogue in heaven. It is loosely conceived as a sequel to Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. In it, Christian enters the Celestial City and has a celebratory supper with the seven principal authors of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Apollos (Hebrews), and Peter. Each of them relates the argument of their individual theologies, focusing on the love of Jesus as they each uniquely understood it.

Does the Old Testament clearly teach the resurrection? Every time Jesus speaks of his coming resurrection, he claims that the Scriptures teach that it must happen on “the third day” (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; John 2:19). Paul, likewise, teaches that the Scriptures require Christ’s resurrection to be on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4). Milestones to Emmaus explores 40 explicit references to “the third day” or “three days” in the Old Testament. Gage applies the “suffering followed by glory” template that Jesus taught (Luke 24:26) to each reference. Approaching each of these as gospel texts in the Hebrew Bible, Gage “reverse engineers” his way back to an understanding of Jesus’ resurrection hermeneutics.

The New Testament figures of speech for resurrection include

• Birth from barrenness
• Awakening from sleep
• Revival from thirst or hunger
• Deliverance through baptismal waters of judgment
• Release from imprisonment
• Return from exile
• Death decree and release
• The raising up of a fallen tabernacle

Return from Emmaus explores these figures of speech in the Old Testament to see how the evangelists and apostles would have identified the gospel of resurrection in numerous Hebrew passages.

The Gospel of Genesis: Studies in Protology and Eschatology argues that there is an underlying eschatology in Genesis that foresees the sweep of redemptive history and the end of all things as, after the pattern of the beginning, a new creation. Gage examines the structure of, and literary parallels in, the historical records, identifying five major theological themes with a Genesis 1–7 basis. He traces these themes through Scripture, showing that the Bible’s eschatology is intimately bound up with the protology of the early chapters of Genesis. This second edition includes a new introduction.

John’s Gospel begins with a war between light and darkness (John 1:5), but this war is not consummated until darkness is vanquished at the end of John’s Revelation (Rev. 21:25). John’s Gospel begins with the claim that the divine Word is tabernacled among us in Jesus (John 1:14) while John’s Revelation ends by claiming that the tabernacle of God will be among men forever (Rev. 21:3). Jesus comes down from heaven as a bridegroom in the Gospel (John 1:14; 3:29), but there is no bride coming down from heaven until the end of Revelation (Rev. 21:2).

John’s Gospel: A Neglected Key to Revelation? explores the literary and thematic patterns—both consecutive and chiastic—that tie the fourth Gospel and Revelation together. When read as a literary diptych, the two books create a pattern of interlocking typologies. Warren Gage suggests that they were composed to interpret each other. An appendix further supports that thesis by demonstrating that the same consecutive, literary and thematic patterns are discernible in the Gospel of Luke and Acts—books generally recognized as penned by the same hand.

The Story of Joseph and Judah takes one of the most beautiful stories in all of Scripture and walks readers through an enhanced method of inductive Bible study. It shows the value of both scientific analysis and literary sensitivity in Bible study and introduces the student to chiastic structure and typological focus. The volume demonstrates that while the Joseph account is a wonderful story of a good and godly man, it is really an account of Judah’s redemption—the son of Jacob who was to receive the scepter in Israel. It demonstrates how the story is a foretelling of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This volume is designed for individual or group study.

This teaching supplement is designed for preachers and teachers as they unfold the Joseph and Judah narrative to congregations and Bible study groups. This volume supplements and enhances the background to Genesis 37–50. It takes readers on a deeper journey into the closing narrative of Genesis, exploring more thoroughly how each episode of Joseph and Judah’s story is artistically composed and pieced together in a story flow. Besides containing material that will enrich the use of The Story of Joseph and Judah in Bible study settings, it is written in a way that will allow pastors and teachers to use it directly for teaching on this important narrative.