redemptivehistorical

Redemptive-historical is a mode of biblical interpretation that views the Bible as a unified narrative of God’s redemptive work in history, culminating in Jesus Christ. In this approach, the events, persons, and institutions of Scripture are interpreted as components of one overarching drama rather than as isolated doctrinal units.

Key features include a Christ-centered reading of both Old and New Testaments, the continuity of God’s promises across covenants, and the belief that the events of the Old Testament prefigure or anticipate the coming of Christ. Proponents emphasize the arc from creation, through the fall, the calling of Israel, the giving of the law, the prophets, and the ingathering of Gentiles, to the coming, death, and resurrection of Christ and the consummation of all things. The approach often treats the covenants—noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic—as stages in one plan of redemption and sees typology and fulfillment as normal: shadows in the Old Testament find their substance in the New Testament.

Historically associated with the Reformed tradition, Geerhardus Vos is frequently cited as a foundational voice, with later biblical theologies by figures such as Graeme Goldsworthy and O. Palmer Robertson expanding the method. It is often contrasted with dispensational hermeneutics, which tends to impose a sharper discontinuity between Israel and the church.

Critics argue that redemptive-historical readings can risk over-teleologizing or reading modern Christological meaning into earlier texts if not carefully grounded in historical context. Despite debates, the approach remains influential in biblical theology and sermon planning for emphasizing the unity of Scripture’s redemptive purpose.