Book Review: 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:35PM 
by Thomas R. Schreiner.
This is another book in the excellent 40 Question Series edited by Benjamin Merkle and published by Kregel Academic & Professional. (See my previous review of another book in this series, 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible.) This time round, the subject is biblical law, a tricky subject, if you ask me.
According to Tom Schreiner, it’s also an important one, because the way we put the whole Bible together depends on our understanding of the law. What’s more—and relatedly—those who study the law can better evaluate the theological systems. In addition, the law relates to justification. How we understand the law affects how we understand salvation. And last, those who want to please God need to understand how the law relates to them as believers.
To work through these issues Schreiner answers questions about
- The Law in the Old Testament
- The Law in Paul (This section makes up over half the book, because “Paul’s theology of the law is the most crucial in determining one’s view of the law canonically….”)
- The Law in the Gospels and Acts
- The Law in the General Epistles
- The Law and Contemporary Issues
When it comes to his view of the law, Schreiner is not a typical Covenant Theologian. He argues that while the categories of civil, ceremonial and moral law may be useful in some ways, the scripture doesn’t divide the law this way, and sometimes exact distinctions are difficult to make. He disagrees with the common view that the ceremonial and civil law have been done away with in Christ while the moral law remains binding, teaching instead that the whole Mosaic law is no longer in force since the coming of Christ.
A new era has dawned in which the Mosaic covenant has passed away. This reading is confirmed by Ephesians 2:15. Jews and Gentiles in Christ are now one new man, for Christ has “[abolished] the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.” In other words, one reason Jews and Gentiles are unified is that the requirements of the Mosaic covenant, which separated Jews from Gentiles, have become passé.
Some of you will probably disagree with Schreiner on these points, but you’ll still want to read his careful scriptural reasoning and consider it. He’s spent a long time building a theology of the law and it shows.
While it’s true that, as the preface says, this is not a technical book, it’s not exactly an easy read either. Difficult subjects take work and it took work for me to make my way through 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law. Unlike 40 Questions About Interpreting Scripture which I recommended for almost any believer including teens with questions, this book was written with “pastors, students, and laypeople who have an interest in biblical theology and the Scriptures” in mind.
You’ll find all of the questions answered in 40 Questions in this PDF of the table of contents and first chapter from Westminster Bookstore. Below I’ve also linked the quotes from the book that I’ve posted here during the past few months so you can see even more for yourself.
Reader Comments (4)
I need to get this book. This is something my husband has been studying for a while now, and he has come to similar conclusions. I think he would enjoy this.
Oh no .... another one that sounds good! I just started reading the 40 Questions About interpretation. I enjoyed your posts about it, and bought it. Finally got around to it. This one does sound good.
Mr. Schreiner seems to ascribe to what some call "New Covenant Theology". Are you familiar with the term and do you think this is the direction he is going? It's interesting that he's Baptist as well. Most Baptists don't typically hold to Covenant Theology to begin with but do kind of pick and choose stuff like the Sabbath and Tithing from the OT Law to hold on to while rejecting other things.
In any case, sounds like an interesting book. I just might have to pick it up. :)
When I was reading, I kept thinking that this sounds like New Covenant Theology, but from what I've read, Tom Schreiner does not consider himself to hold to New Covenant Theology.