Although relatively few in number, the New Testament's explicit summaries of the Old Testament story of Israel give readers direct access to the way the earliest Christians told this story -- which is to say, to the way they did biblical theology. These curiously overlooked summaries are the subject of this stimulating study.

Bruno, Compton and McFadden examine the passages in the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters and Hebrews that recount the characters, events, and institutions of Israel's story in chronological order and at substantial length. They demonstrate just how valuable a lens these summaries provide for a clearer vision of the earliest Christians' practice of biblical theology.

The authors' ultimate goal is to move beyond the descriptive to the prescriptive, to show how contemporary readers can and should follow the apostles' example.