Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Matthew to John
Overview
How does the Old Testament differ from the New Testament? Does one carry more weight than the other? The third volume of Synopsis of the Books of the Bible includes introductions to the Gospels and overviews of the New Testament in which Darby answers these very questions. In the Old Testament, he says, God has spoken. But in the New Testament, God manifests himself on earth. Most notably, however, Darby asserts that the Holy Spirit makes God clearer through the events of the world, beginning with the life and death of Christ, and continuing into God’s renewed relationship with Israel and the coming events of the rapture and Christ’s second return.
Top Highlights
“It was Jesus who could impart this to them. He thus passes from the law,24 recognized as coming from God, to its fulfilment, when it shall be as it were absorbed in the will of Him who gave it, or accomplished in its purposes by Him who alone could do so in any sense whatever.” (Page 68)
“proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was at hand” (Page 36)
Darby left a lasting legacy for us today.
—Conservative Theological Journal
To see classical dispensationalist theology at its best, one must read Darby…
—Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Darby was a brilliant man…
—Moody Handbook of Theology
- Title: Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Matthew to John
- Author: John Darby
- Publisher: Loizeaux Brothers
- Publication Date: 1950
- Pages: 580
John Darby (1800–1882), an evangelist, was known as the father of dispensationalism. He attended Westminster School and Trinity College. Darby became a lawyer, but he practiced law for just one year because he thought it was incompatible with his religious beliefs. He was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England in 1825 and became a priest in 1826.
While a priest, Darby realized he disagreed with the Church of England’s rituals and ideas. He gathered like-minded individuals to form the movement later known as the Plymouth Brethren and left the Church of England in 1832. Darby influenced individuals such as C. I. Scofield and Charles Henry Mackintosh, whose writing contributed to the rise of fundamentalism in America.
Darby has authored several titles, including the 1890 Darby Bible, his Synopsis of the Books of the Bible (5 vols.), and several writings, letters, and notes included in The Collected Writings of John Nelson Darby collection.