BY CESAR S. UMALI JUNE 27, 2010 Disposition of Troy Welch: I am neither Calvinist nor Armenian, and neither am I comfortable with denominational tags. This course is entitled “Theology: Dispensational/Covenant”. The mix includes also New Covenant theology, progressive dispensational theology and reformed theology. It is our objective in this study to understand the distinctions between two general approaches: dispensational and covenant What is Covenant theology? It is a system of theology that understands God as having a people with which He has established an on going covenant relationship. When Israel rejected the Messiah, the Church was grafted in and Israel can only now be part of the promised blessings by being in the church. Another name for it is reformed theology triggered by the reformation movement. Their beliefs are: • Israel was the church in OT and church is Israel in NT. • The promises of land, multitude of descendants, and the blessing in the OT to Israel were converted to blessings for the church in NT. • Believe in two methods of salvation: works in OT, grace in NT. • No interpretation of prophecy in a normal sense. Prophecy should be taken literally, unless if using figurative language. What is Dispensationalist? It is a system of theology that has two primary distinctions: consistently literal in interpretation of scripture, especially bible prophecy and a distinction between Israel and the church in God’s program. Three major reasons for the accuracy of dispensationalist: • Philosophically – purpose of language is to communicate with man. • Biblically = all the prophecies in the bible were fulfilled literally. • Objectively = if not taken literally, all objectivity is lost, and would lead to many interpretations. Two distinct peoples of God = ISRAEL VIS A VIS CHURCH ISRAEL – promises to be fulfilled in Revelation 20, Romans 9-11. CHURCH – salvation by faith in God the Son, premellinial Christ’s second coming and a pre-tribulation rapture. BRIEF HISTORY OF COVENANT THEOLOGY a. Early fathers: present but undeveloped: • Stress the moral obligations of Christianity • Show God’s grace in including the Gentiles in abrahamic blessings • Deny that Israelites received the promises being descendants of Abraham • Demonstrate the unity of the divine economy of salvation • Explain discontinuity between old and new covenants in scripture The greatest of the early fathers was Augustine of Hippo (350 – 430 ad) b. Medieval Period – justification was obtained by cooperating with divine grace. The great Franciscan theologian (1285-1347) William of Ockham and later Gabriel Biel (1420 –95), similar to “God helps those who help themselves”, taught that God rewards sinners with a kind of merit when they do their best. Sins are overlooked as long as they kept the law. c. Covenant theology in the Reformation Though Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) disliked covenant theology, he did not abandon every part of it. Luther taught concept of original sin, absolute divine sovereignty in salvation (double predestination), imputation of sin to Christ and his righteousness imputed to us through faith, which is the only instrument of justification. He publicly repudiated the Franciscans’ covenant theology. Zwingli (1484-1531) taught covenant of works before the fall and covenant of grace after the fall. To Luther, Zwingli’s theology seemed to agree with the Franciscan Ockham. Another Protestant, Johannes Oecolampadius (1531) taught the covenant of redemption, of works, and of grace. He taught of the father’s covenant with the son, from which came the covenant of grace. The father promised a sinless humanity, Holy Spirit without measure, cooperation in the son’s work, authority to dispense the holy spirit and all authority on heaven and earth, with his most important work on Isaiah, saying that the covenant of grace is conditional, with Christians obligated as a response to grace to attend to the preaching of the gospel and administration of the sacraments. On the other hand, john Calvin (1509 –1564) taught federal theology, discussing the history of redemption from Adam to Christ and the continuity of the covenant of grace. For Calvin, the law (covenant of works) kills sinners and the gospel (covenant of grace) justifies and sanctifies them through faith alone. Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) taught the unity of God and his salvation, using the covenant of grace as a summary of biblical theology. COVENANT THEOLOGY IN REFORMED ORTHODOXY The two most important reformed covenant theologians in the 16th century, Caspar olevian (1536-1587) andzacharias ursinus (1534-1583) defined covenants in general in terms of covenant of works, since the gospel can only be understood against the background of the law. The sign of the covenant was the tree of life. But Adam did not fulfill the covenant; it was Christ, the representative of the elect, fulfilled the covenant with his active and passive obedience. Olevian however said it is the elect who are united to Christ by grace and through faith alone who receive the benefits of the covenant. He talked of the “double benefit”, i.e. justification and sanctification are appropriated to the elect. Why is this covenant not prominent in the Heidelberg Catechism? Because the committee that worked on the catechism wanted a more ecumenical tone, to be explained thru the classic reformed federal theology. MODERN DEVELOPMENTS In the US = Charles Hodge (1878), BB Warfield (1921) G Vox (1941) JG Machen (1937) and in the Netherlands = H. Bavinck (1921), followed the main lines of the covenant of redemption, of works (law), of grace (gospel). In Switzerland Karl Barth (1968) favored a theology of personal encounter with the word, rejected classic reformed covenant theology, maintained that grace overwhelmed the law. Abraham Kuyper (1920) taught the three-covenant view, identifying it with the covenant of grace, concluding that baptism is based on presumed regeneration than on command and promise. Dr. Klaus schidler (1952) rejected Kuyper, emphasizing the unity of a gracious covenant before and after the fall, and must be responsible to appropriate the benefits. In the process, covenant theology veered away from justification to election. At Westminster seminary, john Murray (1968) reformulated covenant theology, rejecting pactum salutis and covenant of works, and defined the covenant primarily in terms of grace. Conclusion The great consensus is that covenant theology became fragmented because of the influence of Barth, the waning of interest in reformed tradition but on fundamentalism, and third, the forgetting of the Protestant ABCs in favor of the doctrine of justification. THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY WITHIN BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM BY MATT COSTELL FUNDAMANTALISM is a doctrinal position, an attitude and a movement that changed millions of individuals and drawn them closer to God, as they diligently studied God’s word and faithfully obeyed God’s precepts regardless of cost. Dispensation is defined by Cyrus ingerson scofield as a “period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God”. with the following characteristics: a rigidly applied literalism in the interpretation of scripture, dichotomy between Israel and the church; a restricted view of the church, a Jewish concept of the kingdom, a postponement of the kingdom , a distinction between law and grace; a compartmentalization of scripture; a pretribulation rapture; purpose of the great tribulation; millennial reign of Christ; view of the eternal state, and the apostate nature of Christendom. DEVELOPMENT OF DISPENSATIONALISM IN AMERICA The French revolution impacted biblical prophecy and boosted the literal rather than figurative fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The scientific revolution also led to the acceptance of the literal interpretation of the bible based on fact and rationalism. People began to interpret scripture in a literal way, believing in a pre-millennial view just like William Miller in contrast to the postmillennial view taken by Jonathan Edwards. John Nelson Darby separating from the church of Ireland, and becoming the leader of the Plymouth brethren in the mid 1800s is credited as the founder of the modern dispensationalist theology. , Espousing the distinction between Israel and the church, distinguishing the exegesis for the church and that intended for Israel, where Christ’s work and covenant will resume after the rapture of the church. He believed in pre-millennial, pre-tribulation rapture of the church, but did not set a date like William miller did. He also taught of the increasing apostasy of the church. God Save the World, Inc.
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