Someone walked up to on Sunday and asked if I could recommend any resources in understanding how Christ/the New Testament relates to the Old Testament. I loved this question because most of our Bible is the Old Testament, which has a radical orientation to Christ and New Testament teachings. In the words of St. Augustine, “The New is in the Old contained, and the Old in the New explained.” Here are some great books to read that will unlock the Old Testament for you:
The Messiah in the Old Testament – This is a classic work on the topic. Kaiser does a great job of taking you through text after text to show where there is Christological fulfillment and where there isn’t.
The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament – This is a very accessible entry into this whole field of study. Clowney traces the redemptive story, paying attention to key narratives, showing how they point to Christ and push the whole biblical narrative along.
The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses – This book totally changed how I viewed the Old Testament Law. While, I don’t agree with everything in it, and Poythress probably over interprets some texts, its a marvelous paradigm shift for understanding the role of the law both now and then.
The Drama of Scripture – for a single volume summary of how the whole biblical story hangs together, I can’t think of a better one this book by Mike Goheen and Bartholomew.
*There many other more advanced books I love in this area, including the NSBT series, anything by N.T. Wright, and Beale’s corpus.
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I haven’t read it but I hear Jesus on Every Page is a really good entry level book on this topic.