Far as the Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption [Paperback]

Michael D. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2005

The Christian religion is not an otherworldly, eternal doctrine about the nature of deity or a polite philosophical discussion about the relation of spirit to matter. Instead, it is the historical unfolding of God’'s covenantal involvement in this world, the culmination of which is God’'s coming into this world in the person of Jesus Christ.

Far as the Curse if Found is a retelling of the biblical story of God’'s unfolding covenant from creation to new creation. Readers are led to wonder anew at the redemptive work of God in our own history, in our own human flesh. Pastors, students, and those interested in biblical theology are among the many that will gain fresh insight into the biblical story of redemption.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Will help readers understand the Bible's covenantal structure and character, glory in God's covenant faithfulness, and see in Jesus the fullness of God's covenant now and forever. Drawing from a wide range of Reformed and evangelical scholarship, and rooted firmly in the Scriptures, Williams's account is unique in its approach, thorough in its development, compelling in its argument, and timely in its arrival." T. M. Moore



"Combines four emphases in a remarkably fresh way: exegetical faithfulness, biblical-theological wisdom, awareness of contributions already made, and evangelistic and pastoral fire. I am not aware of anything quite like it. What a wonderful book!" William Edgar



"When I used a prepublication copy to teach seminary students, they found the book to be reader-friendly and the story of the intimate connection between creation and redemption easy to follow. They were deeply moved by the power of the Bible's own covenant narrative. Some were surprised to be opened to new ways of looking at God, his world, salvation, and themselves. The book is clear, thoughtful, and faithful to Scripture."Robert A. Peterson



"Must reading for pastors and lay people alike. If you want to get the big picture of the whole Bible, take a look at this work." --Richard L. Pratt Jr.

About the Author

Michael Williams (PhD, University of Toronto) is professor of systematic theology at Covenant Theological Seminary. The author was a youth pastor for three years in the 1970’s and is a teaching elder in the PCA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: P & R Publishing (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875525105
• ISBN-13: 978-0875525105
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written introduction to the Biblical-Theological understanding of Scripture October 5, 2005

By Nevada L. De Lapp

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished reading this book and must say that I am quite pleased with it. Michael Williams has done an admirable job of making a Biblical Theological model of understanding the Scriptures (i.e. redemptive-historical, in the line of Geerhardus Vos) accessible to a broad audience. I read a lot of this genre of literature, and most of it is fairly technical (i.e. a knowledge of Greek and/or Hebrew a must); however, Williams' book manages to retain both readability and an appropriate scholarly depth. The average reader will be able to pick it up without any problems.

Regarding the contents of the book: I was happy to see that Williams structures his book around the story of redemption. He draws the reader nicely through creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. In doing so he explores the richness of the Biblical narrative.

Overall, this is a fine introduction to the Covenant Story of Redemption. I think that it would make an excellent text book for a college Theology class.

Note: this book is not intended as an exhaustive scholarly treatise. So for those of you who have read a good deal of Dutch Neo-Calvinists or followers/sympathizers of Reformational thinking, you may find it to be repeating many things that you've heard before.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars God's Promise To Reverse The Curse April 12, 2008

By Jacques Schoeman

Format:Paperback

We have had a lot of time to reflect on the drama of redemption and comment on the work and Person of Christ, the lead role in this amazing true life story. 'Outside of God's gracious redemption, we will not read aright His revelation in His creation.' p 21 And yet many have failed to give due attention to the nature of God's verbal word, His promises deployed throughout the drama, and the measures God took to ratify His covenants with various biblical characters - as a commitment of His faithfulness to His word, and as a display to the vast array of His divine attributes. In this book is revealed the plot of that story line that has been the glue of covenant theology. It secures for us the knowledge that this story has One divine author, and one progressive story line, one time-space context, one redeeming purpose and one future grand finale - all culminating in glory, as the Bible reveals to us how God acts in our world, and on our behalf.

Professor Williams connects the three relational offices, within the time frame of the Edenic covenant as: that of created man to Creator God, man to creation, and man to other humans. He furthers: 'The image of God does not make man unique from the created order, but rather unique within the created order. Man bears God's image for the sake of his calling to rule over and steward creation. Should we miss man's calling, we will miss the purpose of his being in the image of God...for the sake of the whole earth. That God has placed us here in this world and called us in service both to Himself and to His creation means that we can be comfortable with our creaturely status, our undeniable links with the creaturely. Man is made for earth. This world is our home.' pp. 60-61

Williams presents yet another catena of Israelite history by looking at the theocracy, and especially the initial 200 year-period of the judges after Joshua's conquest of the promised land is filled with insights into Israel's dismal failure to keep covenant with her God, as 'this cycle of sin-servitude-supplication-and-salvation' repeats itself. 'Upon entering the land, Israel begins to worship other gods, especially fertility deities of its neighbors. Israel had known many generations of slavery and then one as a nomadic people. Now Israel is becoming an agrarian people.' p 173 How Israel forsakes the sovereign Yahweh thinking that He is impotent to provide agriculturally, and turns to Baal repetitively, is their single greatest failure in fulfilling the 1st commandment.

As the kingship is introduced, the prophet retains the mediatorship between God and the people, and 'The prophet retains the right to censure the king on God's behalf, should that be needed.' p 180 The king therefore does not act as a spokesman for God, yet 'Although the history of Israel will show that the monarchy will always be at best a mixed blessing, it will be through the monarchy that God works in Israel. His obedience or disobedience will have enormous consequences for the national life as a leader and barometer of the national covenant life.' p 181 God's future hope of the messianic rule comes to expression in the Davidic covenant, wherein God promises to him 'your throne will be established forever.' Under David a kingdom and king arrives and God gives David rest from his enemies. 'But more pointedly, David's reign symbolizes the reign of Israel's heavenly King. It is in Christ that God establishes the throne of David's kingdom forever.' p 185 The apostle Peter spoke of the fulfillment in Acts 2:30 as Christ's reign following on His resurrection and, in fact, authorized by the Old Testament expectation: 'He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne.'

'The covenant is not contingent upon human response. The covenant can never depend on man. From this point forwards, God covenants with man not just as image bearer but also as sinner. For a creature in revolt against the divine rule, all overtures of grace are in spite of his fallen nature. God preserves His creation in spite of man. And He redeems in spite of sin.' p 95

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What stood out about the first year of seminary? August 25, 2005

By CovSem Pup

Format:Paperback

Why did the first year at Covenant Theological Seminary turn my theology on its ear? There is not a more concise means of capturing many of the conceptual "take-aways" from year one of Covenant. This is essentially a synopsis of the Covenant Theology course that most first year MDiv students take. About the book, Dr. William Edgar's statement (on the back cover) is that it "combines four emphases in a remarkably fresh way: exegetical faithfulness, biblical-theological wisdom, awareness of contributions already made, and evangelistic and pastoral fire." Not surprisingly, the evaluation is an apt summary of Dr. Williams' stimulating approach to systematic theology. The book is no substitute for the experience of the course. But, it will serve as a handy compendium. As Dr. Richard Pratt suggests (also on the back cover): "If you want to get the big picture of the whole Bible, take a look at this work."