Hafemann on Biblical Theology as a Response to the Bible
[B]iblical Theology is an abiding response demanded by the subject matter of the biblical text itself. At the descriptive level, biblical theology recognizes that authors and editors of the biblical texts understood themselves to be preserving and interpreting the significance of God’s redemptive acts in the history of Israel, Jesus and the church. At the prescriptive level, biblical theology will and must last as long as the Bible is held to be God’s Word about himself and his relationship to his creation. The Bible is not merely a witness to revelatory events or theological ideas but is itself an expression of theological activity and affirmation. To do biblical theology is to go where the Bible leads us, since the Scriptures are a record of historical events interpreted in terms of their theological significance. (Scott J. Hafemann, Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002, pg. 15-16)