‘Return To Me’: A Biblical Theology of Repentance (Mark J. Boda)

Description

Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you…’ (Zech. 1:3 ESV).

Repentance concerns the repair of a relationship with God disrupted by human sin. All the major phases of church history have seen diversity and controversy over the doctrine. The first of Luther’s famous ninety-five theses nailed to the church door in Wittenburg in 1517 stated that ‘the entire life of believers should be one of repentance’. In recent times, two divisive debates within evangelicalism – over ‘lordship salvation’ and ‘hypergrace’ – have had repentance at their core.

The theme of repentance is evident in almost every Old and New Testament corpus. However, it has received little sustained attention over the past half-century of scholarship, which has been largely restricted to word studies or focused on a particular text or genre. Studies of the overall theology of the Bible have typically given the theme only passing mention.

In response, Mark Boda offers a comprehensive overview of the theological witness of Scripture to the theme of repentance. The key to understanding is not simply to be found in word studies, but also in the broader meaning of texts as these communicate through a variety of words, images and stories. The importance of repentance in redemptive history is emphasized. It is fundamentally a return to intimate fellowship with the triune God, our Creator and Redeemer. This relational return arises from the human heart and impacts attitudes, words and actions.

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Endorsements

I have not found another book that sets out to treat repentance in quite the way that Mark Boda has: he patiently, thoroughly, and effectively works his way through Scripture to learn what repentance means and what it looks like in each canonical corpus, covering not only commonly used words, but also the fundamental concepts

– D A Carson

Table of Contents

Series preface

Author’s preface

Abbreviations

1   Introduction

2   Repentance in the Torah

3   Repentance in the Former Prophets

4   Repentance in the Latter Prophets: penitential process

5   Repentance in the Latter Prophets: Isaiah

6   Repentance in the Latter Prophets: Jeremiah and Ezekiel

7   Repentance in the Latter Prophets: the Twelve

8   Repentance in the Writings: wisdom and worship

9   Repentance in the Writings: exile and restoration

10 Repentance in the Writings: Chronicles

11 Repentance in Old Testament theology

12 Repentance in the New Testament

13 Repentance in New Testament theology

14 Theological implication of repentance

Bibliography

Index of authors

Index of Scripture references

Index of ancient sources

Product Details

Title:  ‘Return To Me’: A Biblical Theology of Repentance

Author: Mark J. Boda

Publisher: Apollos

Pages: 232

Binding: Paperback

Size: 21.7 x 14.0 x 2.0 cm

ISBN: 9781783592692