As previously noted, I was asked to represent Traditional Dispensationalism for a set of interviews conducted by Lindsay Kennedy. Two far more noteworthy contributors; Darrell Bock (Progressive Dispensationalism), and James Hamilton (Historic Premillennialism), were also interviewed. After the interviews were completed, each man was given the opportunity to ask one of the others a question. Darrell Bock asked me about Acts 2 and the Throne of David. I drew Jim Hamilton and promptly snuck-in two questions. The second was deliberately …
Category: Hermeneutics
Recently I was interviewed by an Australian brother ministering in England, where I’m from. Lindsay Kennedy, who teaches at the Calvary Chapel College in York, asked me some questions as part of a series he is running on differing perspectives within Premillennialism. I tried to represent Traditional Dispensationalism; Darrell Bock was interviewed about Progressive Dispensationalism, and James Hamilton was asked to write on Historic Premillennialism. As you will see, my answers were longer than those given by the other …
Part Four In the first part of this series I referenced some things to which I should now like to return. Even before getting into what is meant when the two words “progressive revelation” are brought together, I said that we needed to settle on what revelation is. At bottom revelation is communication from God to man. The next question up is, how accessible a communication is it? Is it both constant and consistent? That is to say, does the …
Reformed scholars often tend to give unaided reason the final say when it comes to the Bible and prophecy. They use the same sorts of arguments to argue against another biblical teaching many of them don’t like: the literal six day creation. John Byl has written a delightful response to Scott Clark’s scholarly snubbing of the words of Genesis 1. Byl is himself Reformed and a young-earth creationist (as were the Westminster Divines). His article (as most always), is worth …
Part Three Revelation Cannot Be Divorced From the Character of the Revealer Plain-speaking is usually thought to be a virtue. One should say what one means. On the other hand, it is not a virtue to use words which one knows beforehand may lead another person to conclude we mean one thing, when, in actuality, we mean something more obscure and inscrutable, or even utterly different. To show how impactful this truth is, I’ll pick an example from another sphere. …
This is a response to comments left for me in the combox at this post about Sam Storms’s views on eschatology. I appreciate the brother bringing them to my attention. I am responding mainly to this: Thanks for the post. I am not sure the last section really represents Sam’s view. He would say that Paul and Peter leave no room for a milennium since Paul has the last enemy death defeated at the parousia in 1Cor 15:24ff, 50 therefore …
Part One G. There are some noteworthy discussions of passages in the book. Probably the most intriguing part of Gentry’s contribution is his promotion of a pre-fall “Creation covenant.” Gentry’s exposition of this covenant is found in Chapters 5 and 6. While pursuing an exchange with Paul Williamson, Gentry traces out the difference between the phrase “to cut a covenant” (karat berith), and “to uphold an existing covenant” (heqim berith). And he makes a reasonable circumstantial case for tying …
Review of Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants, by Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2012, 848 pages. A. This book is written by two professors from Southern Seminary; one a theologian, the other an Old Testament scholar. The work in question is a courageous effort to forge a via media between traditional covenant theology (CT) and dispensational theology (DT). If for no other reason than this, Kingdom through Covenant deserves attention, and …
Part Two We have seen that the idea of progressive revelation is connected to two things: the intent behind the communication, and the boundaries prescribed by previous revelation/communication. I have said that these two concerns, together with a definition of the adjective “progressive” as building or augmenting one thing upon another, necessitates an approach in which the picture does not change out of recognition, but is trackable both forwards and backwards from every point in the progression. This implies that …
Part One Towards a Definition of Progressive Revelation Progressive revelation relies in the first instance upon the competence of how that revelation has been communicated. To deny this point is to cast doubt upon the utility of the modifier “progressive.” Revelation has to reveal or else it is not a revelation. Progressive revelation has to reveal progressively in a logically connectable way in order to be what it claims to be, and to thereby substantiate itself. The Example of the …
