Faithful Christians have always recognized the importance of the progress of biblical history, especially as it relates to humanity’s fall into sin and to God’s redemptive work. The discipline of biblical theology arose as a means to study this progress in responsible ways. Much like systematic theology, biblical theology organizes theological ideas in ways that increase our understanding of Scripture. But whereas systematic theology organizes its ideas according to topics, biblical theology organizes its findings in historical periods or epochs. Used rightly, biblical theology is a powerful and helpful tool for interpreting and applying the Bible.