by J. I. Packer Editor's Note: The following essay is excerpted
from the contents of the new ESV Study Bible To read the Bible
"theologically" means to read the Bible "with a focus on God":
his being, his character, his words and works, his purpose,
presence, power, promises, and precepts. The Bible can be read
from different standpoints and with different centers of
interest, but this article seeks to explain how to read it
theologically. The Bible: The Church's Instruction Book All 66
books of the Bible constitute the book of the Christian church.
And the church, both as a whole and in the life of its members,
must always be seen to be the people of the book. This glorifies
God, its primary author. God has chosen to restore his sin-
spoiled world through a long and varied historical process,
central to which is the creating--by redemptive and sanctifying
grace--of what is literally a new human race. This unfinished
process has so far extended over four millennia. It began with
Abraham; it centers on the firs