Defining & Discussing Dispensationalism

This blog post is one of a two part series which briefly discusses dispensationalism and covenant theology. Some of what is said about each model of redemptive history will necessarily be a gloss; also, it is outside the scope of this article to discuss other models of redemptive history new covenant theology, Lutheran or Roman understandings.

Varieties of Dispensationalism

There are three major different forms of dispensationalism, the classic dispensationalists (e.g., Scofield), the revised dispensationalists (e.g., Ryrie), and progressive dispensationalists (e.g., McArthur) (There are also ultra dispensationalist believing that the church started in Acts 13 or 28 and rejecting baptism and/or holy communion as earthly.) This article only treats classic and revised dispensationalism as the progressives affirm there is only one people of God.

Definition of Dispensationalism

Terminology can be confusing as nondispensationalists recognize dispensations and dispensationalists recognize covenants. Ryrie defines “A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose.” It is generally agreed that the necessary and sufficient belief of dispensationalism is: the Church and Israel are separate peoples. From this belief necessarily follow several distinctions of dispensationalism:

• The Church is not foretold in the OT and is a parenthesis or intercalation.

• Promises given to Israel are ‘earthly’ and promises given to the Church are ‘spiritual’.

• An emphasis on the discontinuity between the dispensations.

• A distinction between the rapture and the second coming of Christ, including a pretribulational rapture, and a premillenial return of Christ.

• A return to sacrifices (as a memorial) in the millennium!

Dispensational Hermeneutics 

Dispensationalists claim to interpret Scripture literally or plainly. They claim this does not rule out figures of speech but that the plain meaning of text is the most correct. In practice, they interpret prophecy as having only a literal meaning relating to earthy things. E.g., ‘Israel’ only means the nation of Israel, but history (and other nonprophetic genres) may have more than one meaning and apply to the Church. (See LaHaye’s commentary on the Book of Revelation where he ‘spiritualizes’ the letters to the seven churches but holds to firmly literal rendering of the rest of Revelation.) A full critique of the dispensational hermeneutic can be found in Poythress’s Understanding Dispensationalists.

Critique of Dispensationalism

While a full critique cannot be given here, it is important to note that while the eschatology of dispensationalism is usually given the most prominence, it follows from its basic premise, the separate natures of Israel and the Church. Some general principles include that the NT is the interpreter for the OT and clearer passages should interpret more obscure ones. 

• Numbers 12.6-8 indicates prophets received visions or dreams and prophesied in riddles. 

• Hebrews in particular is the NT’s commentary on the OT. Esp. Heb 12.22-24

   – Michael Horton once expressed to me the question of why we would look for a return of the shadows of the OT in the temple an sacrifices when we now have a better temple, a better mediator, and a better covenant. 

• Romans 11 has but one olive tree indicating one people of God

• Ephesians 2.12-13 Gentles were once strangers to ‘the commonwealth of Israel,’ but are now brought in as believers.

• Revelation 21 when discussing the New Jerusalem has both the names of the tribes of Israel and the Apostles inscribed on it.

When I was a dispensationalist one of the most influential questions was posed by my Pastor, Dennis Hermerding: Does Christ have two brides? I realise that some dispensationalist (as I did) hold to a distinction between the wife of Jehovah and the bride of Christ but I came to find that position untenable. 

Next week, ‘I’ve rejected dispensationalism, what now?’ or ‘A better model for understanding God’s progressive revelation’. 

Bibliography

Mathison, Keith A., Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God? (1995) P&R

Poythress, Vern S., Understanding Dispensationalists, (1986) online here

Ryrie, Charles C., Dispensationalism: Revised and Expanded (1995) Moody Press

Ryrie, Basic Theology (1986) Victor Books

Also check out monergism.com which has links to several helpful articles. And special thanks to the Library of Fitzsimmons which generously lent me Ryrie’s books (even removing one from its supporting role in ergonomics.) 

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An Interesting Aside: The Origin of the Individual Soul

Part of our study guide for our Men’s Christian Education Class included a discussion of the origin of the individual soul. I was intrigued by this and wrote a short review of the issue. Attached is the original document.

Definitions:
Traducianism—The soul is propagated along with the body by natural generation. I.e., we received our souls from our parents.
Creationism—God creates each soul specially for the fœtus in utero.
(Pre-existentianism—All souls existed in a previous state before birth, often coupled with the belief in a fall of humans in this spirit state before Adam in Eden. This is listed a note of historical interest. Origen [d. 254], who was the principal proponent of this view was anathematized in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553.)

The Big Picture Story Bible: A Review

The Bible is God’s story and it begins with these big words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” — The Big Picture Story Bible

The Big Picture Story Bible (by David Helm, illustrated by Gail Schoonmaker) is the story of the Bible retold in simpler language for children, not unlike The Jesus Story Book Bible, about which I’ve also written a review. The Big Picture Story Bible is written for a younger age than The Jesus Story Book Bible.

A friend recommended The Big Picture Story Bible while were discussing the appropriateness of images of Jesus in children’s book. He commented one of his other children’s book depicted every character, even God’s enemies, as smiling and ‘happy to defy God’. He mentioned to me that The Big Picture Story Bible illustrated emotion more realistically by showing a wider range of expressions in characters, including sadness and anger. 

Grandpa and Grandma bought the book for Charlie’s first birthday. One of the first things one notices about the book is the artwork: the book’s style is simple with superbly saturated colours. The pictures convey a sense of wonder and show the expanse of the described scenes. Often the pictures show additional details the text of the story omits.

The acknowledgements section thanks Graeme Goldsworthy ‘who first helped [the authors] grasp the Bible along the lines of “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule.”’ The book certainly is true to form and references this motif several times. The story narrative does a good job connecting the individual stories with the meta-story of redemption. Our child is shown that sin is rebellion, and God is working to redeem to himself a people out of rebellious sinful humanity. Old Testament stories are not told as morality tales, but in connexion to Jesus and the overarching story of the Bible.

It is refreshing to see books of this calibre: simplifying the story of the Bible for children and yet not compromising the message. These books encourage our covenant children to think of the whole history and covenant of redemption.

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The Churchman of Geneva

“We may be sure that the man who wanted no stone to mark his grave would want no festivities to mark the anniversary of his birth.” Iain Murray — John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology

John Calvin: revered or reviled; lauded or loathed. Perhaps no figure of the sixteenth century is more controversial than John Calvin. This summer I picked up a collection of essays entitled John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology. As the subtitle indicates, the essays range in topic from his role as theologian, Reformer, and pastor.

The first essay of the collection, ‘The Humility of Calvin’s Calvinism’ dispenses with notions of Calvin as an egotistical maniac. In the second essay, Derek Thomas provides an excellent biographical summary. There are great essays on Calvin’s preaching style and his doctrine of preaching. (Amazingly, Calvin preached without notes.) Other essays discuss other aspects of his theology including what would become TULIP. The last essay ‘The Communion of Men with God’ treats his doctrine and practice of prayer.

I did want to see more discussion of difficult aspects of John Calvin’s life. However, on the whole, I think the essays gave a great overview of the life, ministry, and theology of John Calvin. I would definitely recommend this book to any who want a fuller picture of John Calvin, his devotion, doctrine, and doxology.

‘We cannot even open our mouths before God without danger unless the spirit instructs us in the right pattern of prayer. This privilege deserves to be more highly esteemed among us, since the only-begotten Son of God supplies words to our lips that free our minds from all wavering.’ John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion.

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Sunflower Market

Wednesday, September 30, a new grocery store opened next to us: Sunflower Farmers Market. The doors opened at 7:00 a.m. I arrived at Sunflower at ten to six hoping to be one of the first 200 people to whom Sunflower promised a free full grocery bag. Unfortunately the 200^th person arrived about 5:30 a.m. (The ‘:’ can be read as ‘#!@$’ if you like.) Although I did not get a free full bag of groceries, I did receive a free reusable grocery bag and free organic salad. Also, the store had several good deals on various groceries.

 

Now a little about the store: Sunflower Market is a little smaller than your typical grocery store but has a great produce section including one produce stand devoted to solely organic produce. Additionally, Sunflower only carries ‘all natural’ meat, meaning no growth hormones or antibiotics are given to the animals. While it is not as humane or healthy as grass-fed pastured beef, I feel better about feeding my family foods with fewer chemicals. Sunflower also carries several brands of organic and high-quality yoghurt and dairy products, free range eggs, and several good frozen fruits and vegetables. But the second best section after the produce is the bulk section. Sunflower has several rows of bulk items such as pasta, rice, beans, candy, coffee, dried fruit, granola, sugar, etc. One whole row is devoted to organic bulk grocery. One last thing: Sunflower takes off 10¢ of your purchase for every reusable bag they use.

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Autumn

Autumn

In the desert

The leaves don’t fall.

This past week the weather has cooled significantly in Tucson. The evenings and nights are now perfect; we keep our doors open in the evening to enjoy the fresh night air. The days are tolerably warm (not hot). I look forward to meals with my family on the patio and inviting friends over for outdoor parties. I’ve even made plans with a friend to craft some homebrew beer.

With this change in season comes new inspiration; I now have several topics planned for this blog. Moreover, I’ve finished a few books recently and am soon to complete editing my friend’s zany novel. I am definitely excited for autumn. Perhaps I’ll be able to go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum this season and see the fall foliage. With Thanksgiving approaching I hope you have a great autumn and much to be thankful for.

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Photography from our Backyard and Charlie’s Party

I took some pictures of the progress in the backyard and Charlie’s party. We blogged about Charlie’s party on our family blog and soon we’ll have more blogs about the progress of the backyard and Charles’ reaction to it. But in this post I wanted to include some photos and descriptions.

One would think that decolourizing  the background would be fairly easy. And it is in most cases. This time however Photoshop Elements did not want to recognise the ribbons as separate from the background; it took quite a long time to select them, sometimes even selecting individual pixels.

This picture (and the next) remind me of Depression-era photography. Here we see a man (my father-in-law) working on a project with various tools and construction materials in the scene. The difference between this and the Depression era is that I’m not being paid to photograph nor is he being paid to work (and it’s also not a public works project).

This also reminds me of Depression-era photography with tools and debris around the chairs.

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The previous two photographs I find interesting because of the very different mood they project, simply by colour.

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We cleaned small river rock we had in our yard and set it down. The above are close-ups of the rock. They don’t give the scale of the rock but in our post on the backyard we’ll have more information on that.

Hopefully I have not been too boring; perhaps I should have left the pictures unexplained as it seems pictures translate poorly into words. Let me know what you think.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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The Fantastic Discwolrd

Balanced on the back of four elephants riding on a giant space turtle lies the Discworld. This world is a large disc where the ocean is ever falling over the Rim. A small sun and moon orbit the Discworld where light is slowed by the magical field so the Disc has time zones. Here magic and narrative play a role akin to physics and history in our world. Discworld is a series by fantasy author Terry Pratchett who is quite prolific; he has written over 35 books in the Discworld series alone.

I’ve read four books in the series: The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Small Gods, and Thief of Time. All have been purchased at Bookmans, a great used bookstore, but more on that in a future post.

The Color of Magic is the first Discworld novel and as such introduces the Discworld, where the local reality field is distorted by magic.  The plot revolves around a failed wizard  (Rincewind) and Discworld’s first and only tourist (Twoflower).  Pratchett wonderfully parodies tourism; an especially humorous part is concerns the tourist attempting to speak the local language by consulting a book: when he needs a place to stay he asked for ‘I wish to be directed to a hotel, tavern, lodging, house, inn, caravanserai.’

The Light Fantastic continues the story. An entertaining passage reflects on how Death views himself (This occurs while Twoflower is attempting to teach Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence to play bridge.)

The Death of the Disc was a traditionalist who prided himself on his personal service and spent most of the time being depressed because this was not appreciated. He would point out that no-one feared death itself, just pain and separation and oblivion, and that it was quite unreasonable to take against someone just because he had empty eye-sockets and a quiet pride in his work. He still used a scythe, he’d pointed out, while the Deaths of other worlds had long ago invested in combined harvesters.

Small Gods tells the story of Omnia, a very religious monotheistic country that is a satire of the Roman Church or Islamic states. My favourite quote from the book is reprinted below.

Humans! They lived in a world where the grass continued to be green and the sun rose every day and flowers regularly turned into fruit, and what impressed them? Weeping statues? And wine made out of water! A mere quantum-mechanistic tunnel effect, that’d happen anyway if you were prepared to wait zillions of years. As if the turning of sunlight into wine, by means of vines and grapes and time and enzymes, wasn’t a thousand times more impressive and happened all the time…

I am reminded of Jesus’ quote that, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.’ I love that in the Reformed tradition we emphasize the common grace of God and ordinary means of grace. God sustains us in ordinary means, and the signs he gives are water, bread, and wine, which point to signs that occurred long ago.

Thief of Time tells the story of the Monks of History and the son of Time. The monks channel time from areas where it’s not needed (like the sea) to areas where it is (like cities). A novice monk cannot be trained but is given to a sweeper as both work to find and destroy a device which would measure the fundamental tick of the universe and thereby stop time itself. The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse plays a role as well, temporarily abandoning his disguise as a punctual milkman.

The novels are very humorous and Terry Pratchett has dozens more books just waiting for me to read them.

International Wildlife Museum

Recently our family went to the IWM, International Wildlife Museum. Feel free to check out our family blog for details. While Heather wrote a wonderful article with photos on the experience, I shall concentrate more on the content of the museum.

The museum had several large rooms of preserved animals, ranging from insects to birds to megafauna. Included were a few skeletons of prehistoric animals, exhibits on the Sonoran Desert, and displays on poaching and conservation. While I did not get to examine the poaching exhibit, I did notice a few placards interspersed with the exotic animals advocating conservation and relaying success stories where numbers of animals have increased through stewardship programs.  One room in particular (The Head and Horns Room) reminded me uncomfortably of Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game. I learnt the museum is an educational program of the Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF). SCIF is ‘dedicated to increasing knowledge and appreciation of the world’s diverse wildlife, as well as explaining the role of wildlife management in conservation. (Flyer at museum)’

The message of the museum is very different from the standard message one hears from the media where man is the bogeyman responsible for all sorts of animal atrocities. It was interesting to see this different point of view. Although I was not able to read all of the placards (it’s hard to when chasing your son who wants to walk everywhere) the museum seemed to present a rather positive view of humans in conserving endangered species. The museum also highlighted the funds hunters pay being used for the conservation of the prey, increasing their numbers. It was interesting to see this point of view and realize what good man has done in his environment.

On a related note the DVDs for Planet Earth have three documentaries of which I’ve watched the first. I thought the first was very well balanced, asking questions of: how do we improve impoverished peoples so they don’t destroy wildlands, and is environmentalism a Western luxury? I was surprised the message wasn’t heavy-handed like so much environmentalism. I look forward to watching the other two documentaries.

In conclusion, I enjoyed going to the museum and look forward to going again when I have more time to read the exhibit descriptions.

He Probably Drinks Bud Light.

I found this xkcd comic from a few days ago particularly funny.

Tucson CSA

This summer our family and another split a CSA share. I hear most of you asking, ‘What is a CSA?’ (Unless, of course, you’ve been around me, and then I’m sure I’ve droned on an on about it.) A CSA is, in essence, an investment in a farm, where one shares in its profits and risks. A sum of money (or investment) is paid to the farm, which entitles the investor to periodic quantities of produce. Hence the acronym stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. The CSA model was developed in Germany and Switzerland in the 1960s as an alternative to the industrial food supply chain. (The German word for CSA is Landwirtschaftsgemeinschaftshof) But usually the CSA is much more to the members than the cold transaction previously described. Members usually share recipes and cooking tips and get to know their farmers and how their food is grown. Most CSAs grow food organically and members pick up their shares from a central pickup location.

The Tucson CSA began in 2004 and offers a variety of fruits and vegetables. Members sign up for a share each season and pick up an allotment each week at the Historic Y near the University. This season we have received: onions, tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, eggplant, melons, potatoes, wheat-berries, cucumber, flowers, and squash among other produce.

Enjoy these pictures of CSA harvests:

CSA Week 1

CSA Week 2

CSA Week 3

CSA Week 5

CSA Week 6

CSA Week 8

CSA Week 9

And check out the Tucson CSA website.

Blog Review: The Greenest Dollar

A little while ago, as I was surfing the blogosphere, I came across the blog: The Greenest Dollar. The site has much useful information on being economical and environmental. One of my favourite recent posts concerned natural ant control which in addition to offering useful tips to get rid of them includes interesting information about ants. We also have learnt about reusable sandwich bags, vermicomposting, and cleaning up broken CFLs (which fortunately I haven’t done but I sure I will at some point). The site has quite a few useful links to other thrifty or environmental websites, and it is quite easy to spend a few hours looking at the site and links. I am grateful for sites like these which help use fulfil our mandate to steward the earth (Genesis 1.28).

John Calvin: 500 years

Today marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Born Jean Cauvin, in a small town in northern France, he became the most well known and influential theologian of the second generation of Reformers.

As many of my readers already know, Calvin fever is high this year in both popular and scholastic circles. Conferences are running in Geneva (and elsewhere) as many undertake a Protestant pilgrimage. A few new biographies have come out this year (John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor, etc.) as well as studies, coffee table books (The Piety of John Calvin: A Collection of His Spiritual Prose, Poems, and Hymns, and a historical fiction novel (Betrayal). Undoubtedly, Calvin himself would be embarrassed by this publicity; his will directed he be buried in an unmarked grave.

However, there is good reason to study John Calvin; he systematized Protestant theology in his The Institutes of Christian Religion; he (along with other Reformers) helped create the ‘Protestant work ethic’ with his teachings on vocation. Like Luther, he expounded the sovereignty of God in all things and our absolute dependence on grace for our salvation. His definition of justification in his Institutes is classic:

Now he is justified who is reckoned in the condition not of a sinner, but of a righteous man: and for that reason, he stands firm before God’s judgment seat while all sinners fall….Thus, justified before God is the man who, freed from the company of sinners, has God to witness and affirm his righteousness. In the same way, therefore, he in whose life that purity and holiness will be found which deserves a testimony of righteousness before God’s throne will be said to be justified by works, or else he who, by the wholeness of his works, can meet and satisfy God’s judgment. On the contrary, justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it, appears in God’s sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man.

Although John Calvin is known primarily as a great theologian, he considered himself primarily a pastor. His letter-writing was prolific, offering godly counsel and practical advice. Likewise, his sermons have also been overlooked. (Fortunately, some previously untranslated sermons are now available in English.) As we remember Calvin, let us not only remember his great contributions to systematic theology or the logic of his description of salvation; let us also remember his piety, his zeal for godliness, and passion to see Christ preached.

As for myself, I’ll read a Calvin biography this year and probably pick up a copy of his sermons on Genesis.

Cult of Celebrity

news |n(y)oōz|
noun
newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events
from New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition

In the last two weeks, most media outlets have tirelessly broadcast the untimely death of Michael Jackson. So much so that that other news (Iran, Al Franklin, Congress debating on universal health care, etc. [even other celebrities' deaths]) have been pushed to the sidelines. I saw an advertisement for a TV news special entitled. ‘Is the media coverage of Michael Jackson too much?’ I think that by the media asking the question, they have their answer. Apparently journalists have no one else to interview and have begun reporting on themselves.

For another interesting perspective, Carl Trueman has a post A Very English Death Scene at Ref21.

Posterous.com

I’m probably a little behind but just noticed that my friends have been using Posterous.com lately and thought I’d try it out. So, this is my first use of that service.
 
Also, I took this picture in San Diego when I went the weekend after Memorial Day; I’ve been increasing my knowledge of Adobe Photoshop. I like the subtle use of lilac in this composition; Heather also enjoys this picture.

Soon I hope to update the blog with more on my series on whole foods with some links to blogs and further reviews of books. Until then enjoy the above picture.