BOOK REVIEWS - The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments - Review

Oct 3, 2026

Book reviews evaluate Walter C. Kaiser Jr.’s The Promise-Plan of God, highlighting how Old and New Testament promise themes and divine plans are unified through biblical theology drawn from Scripture. The review compares this work to Toward an Old Testament Theology, noting improvements such as removing early introductory material after critics complained of dryness. It also reviews structure, scope, and hermeneutical method, emphasizing chronological organization and the author’s breadth across archaeology, history, ethics, missions, preaching, and hermeneutics. Additional review coverage begins for Bruce K. Waltke’s An Old Testament Theology.

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Book Reviews

The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments

An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach

BOOK REVIEWS The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008, 419 pp. , $34.99. In Walter Kaiser’s Toward an Old Testament Theology, he convincingly showed how the OT is bridged together with consistency and continuity of theology in unfolding God’s promise throughout the complete OT work. In his thoroughly revised and expanded publication, The Promise-Plan of God, he shows how the unifying theme buildsin the NT epangelia (promise) and combines that with the plans of God in the OT. Toward an Old Testament Theology was foundational to this new publication as it presented a strong, evangelical biblical theology of the OT, Kaiser’s magnum opus. However, some reviewers suggested the ﬁrst seventy pages of this work were dry, heavy, and difﬁcult to work one’s way through. Kaiser ﬁrst presented the history behind other OT theologies and argued they fell short in many ways. He then went on to present his OT theology and a precise hermeneutical approach requiring the reader to respect the intended message of each author. This was an excellent introduction, but it sometimes read like endless genealogies, and the mind had a hard time concentrating on the passage and being able to take in the full meaning. However, this time, the author built onToward an Old Testament Theology and responded wisely to his critics in this new book by cutting out the ﬁrst seventy or so pages of introductory material from his earlier work. Many times OT scholars are so narrowly focused on their discipline that they are lost when they need to address a much broader subject matter. Kaiser’s well-established OT scholarship is equally supported by his wide breadth of expertise in producing books on archaeology, history, apologetics, biblical theology, ethics, missions, preaching, prophecy, and hermeneutics, as well as a sizeable number of commentaries. In addition, Kaiser allows his OT scholarship to be foundational for the understanding of the NT. Beginning in the preface, the author presents the reason for writing this book in our postmodern times. There is a need to approach the truth of God’s Word today through biblical theology unfolded from the text of Scripture itself (p. 13) Some attempts at biblical theology have been Christo-exclusivistic, seeing the promise of the coming Messiah as the central theme, but Kaiser’s approach is to develop a broader scope that uniﬁes the Bible and builds the case for God’s Promise-Plan as revealed throughout the Scriptures with different characteristics. Kaiser’s “Epangelical”proposal for doing biblical theology attempts to go beyond the reformed/dispensational debate, and he points to ﬁve different ways to relate Israel and the church, concluding with the “Epangelical” position as a renewed covenant to the seed of Israel. I sense a real kinship with Kaiser, who wrestles with different systematic theologies and wants to study the Scriptures afresh. In Part 1, Kaiser devotes eleven chapters to moving chronologically through the books of the OT, addressing (1) The Pre-Patriarchal Period; (2) The Patriarchal Era;(3) The Mosaic Era; (4) The Pre-Monarchial Era; (5) The Davidic Era; (6) The Wisdom Era; (7) Prophets of the Ninth Century bc; (8) Prophets of the Eighth Century bc;(9) Prophets of the Seventh Century bc; (10) Exilic Prophets; and (11) Postexilic Times. Kaiser places the book of Job in the Patriarchal Era as he assesses the language of this book in chapter 2 and brieﬂy addresses a theology of God and the Canaanite genocide in chapter 4. 122 journal of the evangelical theological society 52/1 Part 2, a Biblical Theology of the New Testament, is broken down into nine chapters that also build on a chronological listing of the NT books as follows: (12) The Law of God; (13) The Mission of the Church; (14) Paul’s Prison Epistles; (15) The Kingdom of God;(16) The Promise of the Holy Spirit; (17) The Purity of Life and Doctri

FAQs

What unifying idea is emphasized in The Promise-Plan of God?

The review stresses a unifying theme in which God’s promise-plan in the Old Testament is bridged into the New Testament epangelia (promise).

How does the book’s structure in Part 1 and Part 2 work?

Part 1 moves chronologically through the Old Testament, while Part 2 presents a chronological breakdown of New Testament content across nine chapters.

Why is the revised edition considered an improvement over Toward an Old Testament Theology?

The author responds to critics by cutting out roughly the first seventy pages of introductory material from the earlier work, making the book less heavy and more focused for readers.

Oct 3, 2026

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