My pastor recently gave me a copy of a book by Meredith Kline, Kingdom Prologue. It discusses the book of Genesis, unpacking much of the covenant imagery replete throughout this book, as well as the rest of Scripture. Here are my (slightly edited) thoughts I sent to him regarding the book. I thought they might make for an interesting blog post:
To start off, I was really struck by the depth in which Kline is able to
capture covenant imagery, and help convey the deeper meanings behind
Genesis. So often, I've read through Genesis with barely a cursory
glance to certain phrases such as, "in that time people began to call
upon the name of the Lord." These words don't have near as much impact
until you have someone with the historical background and training to
unpack the meaning which, in the context written, would have been better
understood.
His imagery of the Holy Spirit and His work conveying God's Presence and
accompanying the Angel of the Lord was also pretty striking. As I've
been reading through Isaiah, I'm struck more and more by the times I've
read the images of the pillars of fire and cloud, and how they directly
link to the presence of the Holy Spirit. I've read before that the Holy
Spirit and His work is often overlooked by the church, and given my
non-pentecostal, evangelical upbringing, I think this is certainly true
in the Christian circles where I was raised. The poignant way Kline is
able to center creation as a whole around the Triune God is really quite
refreshing, and brings very exciting context to the book of Genesis.
It also brings together the presence of fire and cloud which is replete
throughout the history of the Church in a way I hadn't appreciated.
Those insights which further unify Scripture into a cohesive whole
revolving around the work of the Triune God are really quite excellent.
There were also insights into the nature of the fall which seemed very
reminiscent of Calvin's commentaries on Genesis. One thing I've really
appreciated from reading Calvin is his strict adherence to the text and
his ability to unpack certain details so they better make sense. His
exposition of the circumstances in Jacob's mixed household was very
helpful when my wife and I were reading Genesis 2 years ago (as you've said
before, it's so easy to gloss over the truly terrible circumstances
brought about by our sinful spiritual forefathers). Kline's
descriptions of Adam and Eve's sin, and the consequences therein had a
similar feel, I think.
(On a brief side note, I also appreciated his flexibility in the Genesis
timeline, while still remaining faithful to the historic text. A few
of my favorite Christian think-tanks can't quite seem to do this, and
tend to associate any deviation from the 6,000 year old, scientific
interpretation of Genesis 1 as not taking the creation account
seriously. It's a terrible (and sometimes intentional, I think)
misunderstanding, and I think Kline handles the situation with some
delicacy.)
There were a few things which I struggled to fully wrap my mind around,
and I know a few more readings (after Vanhoozer, of course) will help.
One was his use of the words "Megapolis" and "Metapolis."
Unfortunately, both of the prefixes have connotations in my techie-brain
which make it hard to context-switch. Meta- (in my world) typically
refers to a type of concept abstracted from another concept. This is
commonly found in words like "metadata" or "metacharacters" come up.
Metadata is, literally, "data about data." Metapolis doesn't quite feel
like an abstracted concept, per se, since it refers to the final
culmination of the City of God, fully recreated and consummated by His
perfect work. Of course Kline points out that the final goal for the
first Adam was this very achievement, and thus it is only by the Second
Adam that it will be brought about. I think the wording is perhaps
difficult for a techie-geek like myself :)
The imagery regarding the Holy Spirit, particularly the Glory-Cloud as
the Glory-Spirit and his exposition proceeding from it will take a few
more reads as well. I really liked, however, that Kline helps explain
the concept of being created in God's image. So many teachers are
distorting this idea by either implying or directly stating that we have
"seeds of the divine" seated within our human selves. Kline's
explanation seems to fit more cohesively with Scripture, and avoids the
panentheistic overtones.
The last major theme I really appreciated was that of creation and
re-creation, of Eden produced and reproduced (albeit in a redemptive
motif). It's amazing to me that I could spend 30 years of my life in
church and never been shown some of the connections between the Garden,
Canaan, and Christ. To have the Garden scenario laid out so clearly,
and then linked consistently to the introduction of God's people into a
"land flowing with milk and honey" is pretty amazing. It's incredible
to see the parallels between them: God's provision of a "paradise" which
would be His Kingdom-Temple. God's introduction of a Holy people into
said paradise -- a people of prophets, priests, and kings, to bear His
Word and protect the Temple from evil (even cast it out). Of the terms
imposed by a just and sovereign God: obey and be blessed, disobey and be
cursed. The people's self-subjugation to the Serpent and the resulting
diaspora from God's presence. And THEN, to see this played out again
by Christ, our Second Adam, our perfect Prophet/Priest/King Who IS God's
Holy Temple, and to see the story finally go the way it should, because
God's own Son has descended from His glory to redeem His lost
Bride...man! What an exciting redemptive history God has wrought!
This book has helped connect many dots which were left over from my time reading Berkhof, Vos, and Horton
