God Draws Near

“In a large number of prior publications, Collin Cornell has distinguished himself as among the most-gifted biblical scholars of the next generation. Here he trains his fecund brain, ravenous reading habits, and vivacious pen to a biblical theology of mission. He upsets—rightly, in my view—the heretofore dominant approach that has centered on repair, which has some real merits but also unavoidable and rather profound demerits. I say ‘heretofore’ because in this book Cornell dismantles the repair approach definitively, offering us something far better in its place: a paradigm centered on communion with a superior understanding of the entire (geometric!) Bible as support. Read this book to be educated. Read this book to have your mind changed. Read this book to be inspired. Most of all, just read this book. God draws near, indeed. Thanks be to God!”

“Collin Cornell eloquently and prudently warns us of the dangers of theologies of mission that exclusively focus on the dramatic-narrative nature of the canonical framework of scripture. A personal danger is the threat of obsolescence within a narrative obsessed with just ‘getting the job done for God.’ A hermeneutical danger is that we may lose sight of the gloriously multiplex nature of the texts themselves and the ‘geometric’ way the Bible can draw and redraw its lines and angles in all kinds of intersecting and recurring directions. Complementary to those who portray the Bible as the grand narrative of God’s mission from creation to new creation, Cornell rightly highlights and insists that God’s ultimate desire is restored in intimate communion with his people, a ‘vertical’ goal that not only is the consummation of the whole redemptive story (God dwelling with us) but is anticipated at many points along the way—physically, for example, in the Tabernacle/temple, textually in the Song of Songs, and supremely, of course, in the heaven-and-earth union of the Incarnation. For this thoroughly biblical reminder, the book is a welcome contribution to the ongoing discipline of missional hermeneutics.”

“Biblical theology of mission has been a staple at Fuller Seminary since the days of Arthur Glasser. In this book, Collin Cornell steps into that discourse and uses his more recent biblical scholarship to reinvigorate the field. With great clarity he moves the reader beyond a focus on the diachronic narrative of God’s mission of repairing the world and toward a multilayered interpretation of scripture and a mission of communion. This affirms the calling of Israel and makes space for varied synchronic readings in world Christianity.”

“In this well-written and well-argued book, Cornell returns to a classic question of medieval theology: Is there a good to the Incarnation greater than that of repairing the damage of original sin? In the Song of Songs and the story of the building of the Tabernacle Cornell finds his answer: the desire of God to draw the human person near to himself. This desire is logically and temporally prior to the task of repairing the damage done by the Fall.”

“Collin Cornell has written a wonderful piece of critical and constructive theology that can positively transform how we understand what the Bible is all about. He shows how a scripturally dubious instrumentalism has obscured important dynamics in the biblical text, and he helps us reimagine the Bible’s unity in a way that focuses on the God who draws near. This is an impressively learned and original work by one of our most promising younger theologians.”

“In this daring and creative book, Collin Cornell calls into question the standard reading of the biblical narrative in missional theology. He shows how this reading leads to severe theological problems for our understanding of both God’s relationship with Israel and the difference the Incarnation makes. His bold proposal offers a fresh way to support the church’s witness to a new missional era. Theologians, missiologists, and practitioners should sit with Cornell’s argument.”