Redemptive Kingdom Diversity

A Biblical Theology of the People of God

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Pub Date 28 Sep 2021 | Archive Date 28 Nov 2021

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Description

This book provides a comprehensive biblical and theological survey of the people of God in the Old and New Testaments, offering insights for today's transformed and ethnically diverse church.

Jarvis Williams explains that God's people have always been intended to be a diverse community. From Genesis to Revelation, God has intended to restore humanity's vertical relationship with God, humanity's horizontal relationship with one another, and the entire creation through Jesus. Through Jesus, both Jew and gentile are reconciled to God and together make up a transformed people.

Williams then applies his biblical and theological analysis to selected aspects of the current conversation about race, racism, and ethnicity, explaining what it means to be the church in today's multiethnic context. He argues that the church should demonstrate redemptive kingdom diversity, for it has been transformed into a new community that is filled with many diverse ethnic communities.

This book provides a comprehensive biblical and theological survey of the people of God in the Old and New Testaments, offering insights for today's transformed and ethnically diverse church.

Jarvis...


Advance Praise

“Williams reminds us once again that the kingdom of God is not just diverse today but has always been diverse. His book offers us a theology that does not dismiss the beautiful distinctions in our ethnicity but shows that we retain those distinctions under the banner of God’s larger church. This book will lead us into conversation about how we merge our multicultural reality into the oneness of the body of Christ. If you are up to the challenge of considering how we promote biblical unity over cultural unity, then allow this book to challenge you.”—George Yancey, professor of sociology, Baylor University

“With the Black Lives Matter movement and systemic racism dominating the headlines, many may wonder if the Judeo-Christian Scriptures are still relevant. The desperate fact is that a Band-Aid will never heal the gaping wound. The God of Jesus Christ matters far more. Dr. Jarvis Williams recaptures the Scriptures’ radical, transformative vision of God’s incredible love for each of us, a love intended to heal and to bring people together regardless of skin color, social hierarchies, walk of life, or ethnicity. In the face of such sacrificial love, how can we not embrace each other?”—A. Andrew Das, professor of religious studies and assistant dean of the faculty, Elmhurst University
“Developing a biblical theology of God’s people, this work is intended more as a foundation for racial justice and reconciliation than as a comprehensive theology of it. It provides a resource for discussing and preaching about Christian interracial unity, especially by exploring biblical questions regarding the identity of God’s people in Christ and the important implications this identity has for our unity in diversity.”—Craig S. Keener, F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary
Redemptive Kingdom Diversity revisits the multiethnic nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Scripture within the framework of God’s redemptive purpose throughout both testaments with clarity, sensitivity, and conviction. Its call to inclusion of all races in the church is most timely and urgent as the church continues to battle the age-old sin of racism.”—M. Sydney Park, associate professor of divinity, Beeson Divinity School

“Williams reminds us once again that the kingdom of God is not just diverse today but has always been diverse. His book offers us a theology that does not dismiss the beautiful distinctions in our...

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ISBN 9781540964625
PRICE US$24.99 (USD)
PAGES 208

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Featured Reviews

Redemptive Kingdom Diversity by Jarvis Williams is a book that outlines and surveys the theme of the people of God. Williams argues that God's choice to work through Abraham and Israel anticipate an ethnically diverse community that God has chosen to redeem through Jesus Christ. He suggests that God's chosen people in Christ are not the alternative people chosen to execute a failed plan that Israel was incapable of executing (contra dispensationalism), but that God's redemptive plan is fulfilled in his promises for both Jews and gentiles through Christ.

The first 2/3 of the book outlines nearly every book in the Bible in highlighting the premise that there is but one people of God. Williams shows through this outline that the idea that both Jews and gentiles are one in Christ is a message found not only in Galatians, but it is one found throughout all of scripture. Furthermore, Williams argues through this outline that the promises in the OT given to Israel are fulfilled in Christ and are for both Jew and gentile. This discussion has implications for dispensational thought as dispensationalists make the case that the promises in the OT for Israel are still for ethnic Israel. In the NT portion of the Biblical theology, Williams discusses passages like Galatians 6:16 that refer to believing Jews and gentiles as the "Israel of God." He also discusses Romans 11 and grafting of the Gentiles into the tree, which seems to suggest that there is one people of God.

Williams makes clear that this is not a book about race or racism per se, however, he acknowledges that the topics addressed in the book touch on those subjects. Williams also wants to communicate to readers that this is not a biblical theology work. Rather, Williams says that this is a book that proves an introduction to a biblical and theological survey of God's multiethnic and cosmic redemptive vision for the diverse people of God that are scattered throughout the world. Despite saying that this book is not about race, Williams nevertheless suggests that "the construction of race is based on lies."

The last 1/3 part of the book shifts from a biblical theology of the people of God to a discussion of orthopraxy. In this part, Williams makes the case that ethnic diversity and experiences should not be viewed with contempt in the church. He goes onto say that the multiethnic community in Christ should obey the gospel, be opposed to racism, and be in pursuit of multiethnic communities and churches. Williams repeats several times that race is a social construct and that the racial hierarchy is based on lies that certain racial groups are superior to others. Williams also has a very cursory look at a history of race in the United States, acknowledging that Christians have not always thought about race from a Biblical perspective.

At the end of the book, Williams has a section specifically devoted to the current increase in anti-Asian rhetoric and racism. He implores the church to stand against Asian racism because all people are image bearers and made in the imago dei.

My main critique of this work is that at times, Williams can be repetitive and wordy. There are a few instances where the same thing is said almost verbatim in different locations in the book (race and ethnicity are social constructs). These critiques would not prevent me from recommending this book to others. If you want a book that takes serious the issue of racism that is careful to exegete and outline scripture, I would recommend this book. Williams does a good job showing that a consistent biblical theology demonstrates that Christians should be opposed to racism and that Christians should long for redemptive kingdom diversity.

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