Every once in a while a book comes along that meets such an important need that it makes you wonder, “Why hasn’t someone done this before?” Richard (Dick) Belcher, OT Professor and Academic Dean at RTS Charlotte, has written just such a book: Prophet, Priest and King: The Roles of Christ in the Bible and Our Roles Today (P&R, 2016).
Of course, in the Reformed world, the idea that the work of Christ can be divided into his three “offices” (prophet, priest, and king) has a long lineage. Although it appears in a number of places in the early fathers, the Reformers were the ones who expounded on it more fully. Examples include John Calvin, John Owen, John Flavel, Thomas Boston, and Thomas Goodwin. It is also discussed in the Heidelberg Catechism (31-32).
So, it is a wonder that more hasn’t been written on it (at least in a full-length work) until now.
