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A seminary student, who has put me through the ringer with some good questions, has reviewed Bible Matrix:
In many circles of theological education today, the prevailing notion is that unless you have four PhDs, mastery of 17 languages, and an obsession with every sort of criticism under the sun, there is no way to even begin to understand the Bible. In Bible Matrix, author Michael Bull lays this erroneous belief to rest once and for all.
Bull’s conviction is that the Bible speaks its own language. Hence, the reason we have such a hard time understanding it is not because we haven’t climbed enough academic or social ladders, but rather because we are too quick to impose our modern worldviews on it (p.15). In Bible Matrix, Bull helps us to unlearn the warped science of imposition by helping us taste and see the hermeneutic that Scripture itself lays forth. With an artist’s eye and a disciple’s heart, Bull demonstrates that the sevenfold pattern found in the Creation week (Creation-Division-Ascension-Testing-Maturity-Conquest-Glorification) is the key to unlocking the text of Holy Writ from Genesis to Revelation.
Bible Matrix is amazingly concise, traversing the entirety of Scripture in 221 succinct pages. The book begins with a brief introduction to typological/symbolic interpretation (don’t make the mistake of thinking that this opposes the historical), moves on to an overview of the pattern that Bull sees embedded in all of Scripture, and then enters into a more or less character-by-character (Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc.) examination of the entire Bible. He ends with a pithy reiteration of the big picture of the book, as well as a vision for worship and an exhortation.
If you aren’t familiar with Bull’s blog (or the work of James B. Jordan, Peter Leithart or Douglas Wilson), the book can be a bit of a challenge to work through. It’s not meant to be read for the sake of gathering more information. This book is a work of art, requiring the same sort of approach you’d take to admire a painting or sculpture. I found myself having to read, ponder, and reread in order to work my way into what was written. But like observing anything beautiful, the more time you spend in the book the more you will see. And not just see in Bull’s book, but see in Scripture itself. That’s part of the genius of Bull’s work: it doesn’t simply point you to the proper way to read Scripture. The form in which the book is written trains you to read rightly, as a lover who relishes beauty rather than a student looking for answers to an exam.
In sum, the book is brilliant. Buy it. Read it. Digest it. Pray through it. You won’t be disappointed.
Dan Isadore, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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