01.01.2026 / Volker Glissmann and Ruth Guinness
Metanarratives are single overarching interpretations of reality that provide individuals with a lens through which to evaluate their lives. A theological metanarrative offers a comprehensive yet focused retelling of the biblical story, emphasising the most important themes that connect God’s revealed plan from Genesis to Revelation. The metanarrative also helps individuals interpret biblical stories, experiences, and events in light of it to answer the question of how to live well within God’s plan. Metanarratives are not just used in theology; examples include the Enlightenment narrative of progress and the Marxist narrative of class struggle. These narratives provide a framework for interpreting individual stories and experiences.
The theological metanarrative is what recent books by theological thinkers put forward again as the centre of theology – the grand story of the Bible. Books, like The Drama of Scripture by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, New Testament and the People of God by N. T. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative by Christopher J. H. Wright, God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts and others. Throughout the centuries, the church used various painted or carved illustrations to summarise the biblical story, especially on Irish High Crosses, medieval Paupers’ Bibles, altar illustrations, and stained-glass windows, to help Christians better understand how biblical stories from the Old and New Testaments are thematically linked and find fulfilment in Christ. More recently, distinct but similar hermeneutical metanarrative approaches have been used, like the salvation history or the redemption historical approach or the idea of reading the Bible theologically. All of these are tools to help read the Bible as a collection of chronological books with a unifying story, in which later writers are influenced by early themes and develop them further.
“God so loved the world that he gave us stories.”
The Bible tells a great story, and all good stories are made of major and minor themes. Similarly, the Bible has major and minor storylines that weave in and out of the biblical story. A good way to understand the Bible is to view it as a tapestry of themes that run from Genesis to Revelation. Sometimes, these themes drive the main story; at other times, they serve as the background colour for other themes; and sometimes these themes disappear only to reappear later, adding vibrancy and an unexpected twist to the main story. A good way to appreciate the biblical Story of God is to follow and appreciate the different themes that weave in and out of passages and books. Still, all major themes – like in any good story – converge at the final climax of the story to resolve themselves. The biblical story moves from an idyllic beginning through a rebellion in Genesis 3 to a resolution in the final two chapters of Revelation.
All sports fans know that it doesn’t matter what the score is at halftime or near the end of play. Your team might be down, two goals at the end of the first, still at the end of the second half, but still scores three goals in overtime. What counts is the moment the referee blows the whistle. And only that moment determines how the game is remembered. The end of the game, and the end of a story, determines how we look at the whole story. That is why the end of the story is so vital in Christian theology. Christian hope is centred in faith on the end of the story when God’s full reign is restored.
You might recognise this scenario: in a typical month, a pastor might preach on a Sunday first from Matthew, then from the Psalms, then from one of Paul’s letters, and end the month with a story from Genesis. In that case, we should not be surprised if the listeners fail to connect how these different sermons fit together, or even to recognise a thematic connection among all four sermons. It is not just confusing for listeners; it also teaches them (through the hidden curriculum) that there is no centre in theology that holds all theology together. Even so, the quest for the centre of theology is what drives theological reflection. What we just described here equally applies to those attending formal theological education, where, traditionally (at least for the last two hundred years), biblical books are separated into different silos of study, usually without exploring the themes and ideas that connect them across the Bible. Not surprisingly, numerous biblical themes recur throughout the Bible, as well as themes that change with the circumstances of God’s people. A good way to look at the biblical corpus from Genesis to Revelation is to view it as a tapestry in which different threads occur, fade, recur, and merge with other threads to create a unique and colourful image.
A good way to appreciate the major themes that drive the biblical metanarrative is to study courses specifically designed around them, such as The Story of God and His World. The course breaks down the main story into easy-to-remember sections (Creation, Rebellion, God’s Promise, Christ, God’s Mission, and New Creation) and shows how the different threads weave in and out of the story. Re-imagining the whole Bible as a single story, what is called a metanarrative, helps Christians read and understand the story God tells through the Bible. God communicates through a story. A story that begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. God uses a story to tell the story.
Every story is made up of four essentials: the main character, the setting, the problem, and the solution. The Story of God and His World traces how God (the main character) places humanity in the Garden of Eden (the setting), only for a rebellion (the problem) against God’s good reign over all creation to occur. God provides a unique two-part solution that serves as the joint climax of the restoration through Jesus, the promised Christ (the solution). Jesus’ first coming led to Jesus’ victory on the cross to restore all relationships. Jesus’ second coming leads to the final victory over everything that opposes God’s good reign, when Jesus returns to earth victorious to restore all things in the new creation. In the meantime, the church participates in God’s Mission (through the Holy Spirit) to restore relationships until Jesus returns.
The course The Story of God and His World is a theological metanarrative that serves both as a tool for understanding the Biblical story and as a single, comprehensive, overarching retelling of the Biblical story, emphasising the most important themes that connect God’s revealed plan from Genesis to Revelation.
For more information about the free TEEnet course The Story of God and His World, please read the following course description.