Totus Christus: A Biblical Theology of the Whole Christ, by Michael Bull
Despite being a dense book, almost 800 pages of nearly unreadable symbolic language, organized into a huge and rigid chiastic structure, the book fails to meet up to the impossible challenge of its title. Part of this failure is due to genuine errors (such as a Trinitarian antinomian worldview that muddles the force of his considerable insight concerning the symbolic and typological meaning of the Holy Days). Part of the error, though, is due to the fact that the book reads like a gnostic initiation rite into an obscure cult of amillenialist preterists posing as postmillenial optimists. I do not make this statement lightly–the obscurity of the text and its density of meanings, its lack of explanation (despite nearly 800 pages, over 100 pages of it is taken up in 30 largely speculative appendices), and the self-confidence of the author demonstrate both sincerity and intentional obscurity. Clearly this author is speaking to the initiated, not wishing to convert the unconverted.
That said, despite the fact that the book has some very serious flaws, the book has genuine worth if one sees it as providing one genuine layer of very intense meaning in scripture rather than being the end-all-and-be-all about Christ that it claims in its ponderous Latin title. The book makes a classic “Greek” mistake in viewing only one level of truth (in the fulfillment of various prophecies in 70 AD) and not seeing the “Hebrew” truth of multiple layers of meaning. This failure is ironic because the author claims to be seeking the deeper layer of multiple fulfillment but misses the boat because of a rigid and wooden adherence to a narrowly specific preterist prophetic stance which denies any future prophetic fulfillment of all but the last two chapters of Revelation.
This is not the only, or even the most significant, ironic failure of the book, however. The book is organized around a symbolic scheme that states that the seven Holy Days mentioned in Leviticus 23 (the Sabbath, the Passover, the Wave-sheaf offering (which he calls “First Fruits”, the Feast of Weeks (which he calls Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (also known in English as the Feast of Tabernacles) are an organizing principle throughout the whole Bible, under the names of: Creation, Division, Ascension, Testing, Maturity, Conquest, and Glorification. This means that the author correctly notes the existence of a plan of God throughout the entirety of scripture, a rare and vitally important insight that is nonetheless largely blunted by his foolish (and incorrect) position that the Sabbath and the Holy Days are no longer to be kept by Christians, despite providing one of the best arguments for its continuing validity due to its presence within the very deepest structural levels of the Bible.
The only explanation I have for this failure is in the hostile anti-Semitic tone that this book makes over and over again, acting insultingly towards God’s law even as he revels in the judgments that have historically come upon the people of God (ancient Israel, the Jews of Christ’s time, the church) for disobedience. He seems to falsely believe a number of things–that there were no “genuine” Jews after 70 AD, that most of the Jews were Khazar Turks (a historical lie he picked up from Arthur Koestler’s The Thirteenth Tribe)–largely due to the fact that he considers himself exempt from judgment for disobedience despite his own refusal to support the biblical system of law consistently or apply the Sabbaths symbolically mentioned throughout the Bible to his own worship behavior. For this failure, he condemns himself with his own (weighty) book.
Nonetheless, his failure is a noble one insofar as those with a correct view of the continued validity of God’s law are able to cite from this work in defense of the law of God and the continuing validity of God’s Sabbaths, as they are symbolically mentioned over and over and over again within the very structure of the biblical narrative. For this work we ought to show appreciation to Mr. Bull, even as we “plunder the heathen” by using his work conceived in error for the purpose of defending the truths of God. The fact that this author focuses mainly on piety, worship, prayer, local community involvement, the institutions of the congregation and family, and eschews the attempt by those who consider themselves godly to take over society by politics or to appeal for the restoration of corrupted and obsolete human traditions (positions of his that I wholeheartedly support) means there is a lot of very excellent truth to be found here, along with a little error.
That said, this work is a worthwhile read, despite its difficulty, and ought to furnish genuine Bible believers with encouragement as well as warning, even as we can plunder the insights provided about scripture while rejecting the heretical baggage of his errors. Despite the failure of the book to live up to its title, the book is a noble and worthwhile failure, a better failure than many baser and less ambitious successes.
Edge Induced Cohesion 
Hi Nathan
Thanks for the review.
Yes, the book is a difficult read, so you did really well to get through it. Many ventured in with a packed lunch and didn’t make it out the other side.
The other problems you have with it are dealt with in the appendices by Jordan, Leithart, etc. which is why they were included. For instance, Jordan makes a good case from the Old Testament that being Jewish was a Covenant office, an office which no longer exists. Not only is this not speculative, it does make the Khazar Turk argument pretty much irrelevant. And it is no more anti-Semitic than Paul was. It is not an argument against a race of people, but against Covenant breakers. This was made quite obvious.
And his article “The Dominion Trap” explains why he is a “post reconstructionist,” not an antinomian, amillennial preterist posing as a postmillennial optimist.
Also, the preterist interprets Revelation (or most of it) as fulfilled. This doesn’t stop me from making applications of the book. Fulfilment of Ezekiel doesn’t stop me from applying it, either. For instance, we can see the same process that occurred in AD70 occurring again in the Reformation. When the formers condemned the papacy as Antichrist, their interpretation was off-target, but their application was a bullseye.
Finally, the title of the book refers to the fact that the “head and body” pattern is found repeatedly throughout the Bible. Not sure what you were expecting, but the intent was to show that the “whole Christ” is predicted in every part of the Old Testament, both explicitly and implicitly.
I have begun unpacking this material in simpler forms. The first book is available on amazon.com : Bible Matrix, and the second will be out in a month or so, showing how the 5 fold structure of the Covenants is what lies behind the 7 fold structure of the literature. You have sharp eyes, so if you are willing to look over this new one critically for me before publishing, I’d appreciate the feedback.
Blessings brother,
Mike Bull
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If the Khazar Turkish argument is irrelevant, there is no need to include information that is both historically false and intentionally insulting. Concerning the “Dominion Trap,” there is a distinction to be made between seeking to seize political power in the name of enforcing God’s law prematurely (the Dominion Trap) and in having a consistent biblical worldview that one applies to yourself and your own conduct, which would be obeying the Dominion Covenant. Anyone who claims to be following the biblical patterns (which your book covers in vivid and extensive detail) and then seeks to claim that obedience to the Holy Days that serve as the backbone of that symbolism and that denies a literal millennial period of righteousness and instead proclaims a vague “Church era” where evil is hindered but where God’s law is not widely and openly believed within society as the law for that society is an amillennialist and antinominan poser by definition. If the shoe fits, wear it.
Let us also note that Paul in Romans (and, it should be noted Jeremiah as well) posits that Jews (and northern tribes of Israel) will repent and be given a heart to obey. Romans says that the Jews will be grated back on to the olive tree from which they were taken off due to disobedience. Just as physical Israel was commanded to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6), so Christians today are given that same office (1 Peter 2:9-10). We haven’t done better than the Jews have, so there is no reason for us to be smug about the removal of the Jews, temporarily, until repentance, as His chosen people–lest our own lampstand be removed.
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Hi Nathan
Thanks for the reply.
The Khazar argument is not irrelevant, but Jordan’s point stands firm even without it. Being a Jew as a Covenant office. That office was decommissioned in AD70 (this is what Revelation is about). To question someone’s physical pedigree is not an insult if the Bible says it no longer matters.
Preterist postmillennialism sees a gradual transformation of the world, not a sudden golden age. Jesus Himself used the images of leaven and tree to describe the kingdom. It is not antinomian at all – it is a recognition that keep the law is not enough. It simply prepares an Altar for the Spirit to conquer the world.
Finally, Jeremiah’s prophecy concerned Israel and Judah. They were reunited as Jews through a national “death and resurrection” in Babylon. Hebrews simply alludes to this to describe the process of uniting Jew and Gentile in the first century. Romans 9-11 was fulfilled, which is exactly Jordan’s point. The temporary blindness of the Jews is first century stuff.
That said, every country has a Christian future. The gospel will be victorious in history. This includes the Jews, but it has nothing to do with Romans 9-11. Since AD70 the knowledge of God has spread all over the world. The claim that the Church of Christ hasn’t done any better than Judaism doesn’t make much sense:
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/02/christian-number-crunching
Kind regards,
Mike
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