Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God’s Saving Promises

A biblical scholar identifies the covenant as an overarching theme among diverse biblical texts

While the canonical scriptures were produced over many centuries and represent a diverse library of texts, they are unified by stories of divine covenants and their implications for God's people. In this deeply researched and thoughtful book, Scott Hahn shows how covenant, as an overarching theme, makes possible a coherent reading of the diverse traditions found within the canonical scriptures.

Biblical covenants, though varied in form and content, all serve the purpose of extending sacred bonds of kinship, Hahn explains. Specifically, divine covenants form and shape a father-son bond between God and the chosen people. Biblical narratives turn on that fact, and biblical theology depends upon it. With meticulous attention to detail, the author demonstrates how divine sonship represents a covenant relationship with God that has been consistent throughout salvation history. A canonical reading of this divine plan reveals an illuminating pattern of promise and fulfillment in both the Old and New Testaments. God's saving mercies are based upon his sworn commitments, which he keeps even when his people break the covenant.

Scott W. Hahn holds the Fr. Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Author or editor of over forty books, he is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and editor-in-chief of Emmaus Academic Publishing.