Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God's Saving Promises
Overview
While the canonical scriptures were produced over many centuries and represent a diverse library of texts, they are unified by stories of divine covenants and their implications for God’s people. In this deeply researched and thoughtful book, Scott Hahn shows how covenant, as an overarching theme, makes possible a coherent reading of the diverse traditions found within the canonical scriptures.
Biblical covenants, though varied in form and content, all serve the purpose of extending sacred bonds of kinship, Hahn explains. Specifically, divine covenants form and shape a father-son bond between God and the chosen people. Biblical narratives turn on that fact, and biblical theology depends upon it. With meticulous attention to detail, the author demonstrates how divine sonship represents a covenant relationship with God that has been consistent throughout salvation history. A canonical reading of this divine plan reveals an illuminating pattern of promise and fulfillment in both the Old and New Testaments. God’s saving mercies are based upon his sworn commitments, which he keeps even when his people break the covenant.
Key Features
- Lays out a thorough study of covenant relationships in the Old and New Testaments
- Builds up a biblical theology of covenant from the text of scripture
- Concludes with thoughtful and practical theological reflections
Contents
- Introduction
- Part One: Covenant in the Old Testament
- The Kinship Covenant in the Old Testament
- The Treaty-Type Covenant in the Old Testament
- The Grant-Type Covenant in the Old Testament
- The Abrahamic Grant-Type Covenant
- The Levitical Grant-Type Covenant
- The Davidic Grant-Type Covenant
- Part Two. Covenant in the New Testament
- Davidic Covenant Fulfillment in Luke–Acts
- Covenant, Oath, and Divine Sonship in Galatians 3–4
- Hebrews 1–9: Covenant, Oath, and Royal Priestly Primogeniture
- Concluding Theological Reflections
Praise for the Print Edition
Both well-written and exhaustive, this impressive work will fascinate readers with New Testament truths about God's unyielding covenant with his chosen, fallible people.
—David Noel Freedman
This book is the fruit of an immense amount of research in the contemporary study of the Biblical covenant. No one who takes up the challenge to study it, whether scholar or not, will come away from reading it without being more astute in matters human and divine. The thesis of the book is masterly in its basic insight: life lived under Biblical covenant cannot be separated from life lived in relationships dictated by familial terms and ties. It is the family which is central to the Bible’s view of life for the simple reason that the family is central to life itself.
—James Swetnam, S. J., Pontifical Biblical Institute
Scott Hahn opens new vistas, chases down old haunts, and leads us to a fuller, deeper, and more penetrating understanding of covenant. Until we get 'covenant' right, we simply don't understand the Bible. When I think of the word 'covenant,' I think of Kinship by Covenant. When I have any questions about 'covenant,' this is the first book I will turn to for ever and a day
—Scot McKnight, North Park University
Product Details
- Title: Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfilment of God’s Saving Promises
- Author: Scott Hahn
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication Date: 2009
- Pages: 608
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Biblical Theology
Abut Scott Hahn
Scott Hahn (born October 28, 1957) is a contemporary author, theologian, and Catholic apologist. His works include Rome Sweet Home and The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. He currently teaches at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic university in the United States.