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What does salvation in the New Testament look like? According to Berenda Colijn, 'The New Testament does not develop a systematic doctrine of salvation'. 'Instead', she argues, it presents us with a variety of pictures taken from multiple perspectives.
From one angle, the human predicament is rebellion against God. Salvation looks like living under God's universal reign. From another angle, the human predicament is bondage to both internal and external forces. Salvation looks like freedom from those forces. From yet a third angle, the human predicament looks like alienation from God, from other people, from creation and even from one's own best self. Salvation looks like the restoration of those relationships.'
Colijn, who holds degrees in English literature as well as theology, embraces a critical-realist methodology that incorporates New Testament theology, literary criticism and theological interpretation. She advocates listening to the individual authors of Scripture in their own social-cultural and historical settings, while looking for how the texts work both individually and collectively at a literary level and then come together theologically.
Students of the New Testament and of theology will find their vision broadened and their understanding deepened by this rich, informative study. As the author seeks to understand the Images of Salvation in the New Testament she illuminates implications for people of faith, and uncovers how New Testament images provide the building blocks for the master narrative of redemption.
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