Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing by Vern Sheridan Poythress
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
First of all let me say this book is PACKED with information and detail. I went in thinking I had a grasp on theophanies and was I surprised. Poythress has described and explained theophanies from Genesis to Revelation, most of which I never considered.
Admittedly the book started slow for me and I was having trouble tracking but I stuck with it and it was worth the effort. I would encourage you to stick with it specially through part 1 The Biblical Theme of God Appearing. Poythress gives a broad picture of theophany through Scripture as well as its importance.
Poythress defines a theophany as “represents an intensive form of the presence of God.” He notes that not all theophanies involve a physical manifestation of Gods presence but can be contained in words, images and other manifestations. Poythress then reviews different types of theophanies. These can include thunderstorms, clouds, fire, courtrooms scenes and warrior theophanies. Even unbelievers can experience a theophany as pointed out in Genesis 40 and 41 and Daniel 4
Poythress does point out that “in all theophanies, a clear distinction is in place between God the creator and the phenomena of creation. In other words God is in the cloud or burning bush but He is NOT the cloud or burning bush.
In this section Poythress notes that theophanies cover covenant, kingdom and promise. While I followed this progress I did have a lot of trouble following the many charts in this section and they did not aid me in my understanding. That may also be part of my learning style. This may have been better if I were sitting in a class setting
Next Poythress covers the mystery of theophanies. He states that “each form does reveal him and does communicate things about who He is and what He does.” In this section he expands his definition of theophany to state “an intense expression of the broader theme of God’s presence”.
Here we can have events where God Himself may not appear but a reflection of Gods presence in another person or event.
I do admit that at times, especially in the Psalms I question is this a theophany or a literary description of the Psalmists prayer
The next two sections survey each section of Scripture and at times book by book expounding on theophanies through Scripture. This served as an unpacking of section 1.
In the end this is a great reference book, especially for the student looking to go deeper into the revelation of God and His character through Scripture as well as the common theme of God revealing Himself to us in Scripture.
As Poythress concludes. “All of these passages function simultaneously in three ways. First, they reveal who God is. The manifest his character and his glory. Second, they reinforce the biblical teaching that God in His kindness and grace draws near to his people – he is “God” with us (Matt 1:23). Third, they stir up the expectation for that final coming and appearance of God, which will take place in the second coming of Christ and the consummate victory that his coming will bring.”
Publisher provided a review copy at no charge.
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