Sunday, March 30, 2014 Grace Life School of Theology Grace History Project Lesson 133 The 1990s: The Development of Progressive Dispensationalism

Transcription

1 1 Sunday, March 30, 2014 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 133 The 1990s: The Develpment f Prgressive Dispensatinalism The Advent f Prgressive Dispensatinalism Prgressive Dispensatinalism (PD) is a mvement that began t take shape amng academic Evangelical thelgians in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bck published Prgressive Dispensatinalism. In chapter ne, titled The Extent and Variatins f Dispensatinalism, they ffer the fllwing intrductry remarks regarding the advent f PD: Prgressive dispensatinalism ffers a number f mdificatins t classical and revised dispensatinalism which brings dispensatinalism clser t cntemprary evangelical Biblical interpretatin. Althugh the name is relatively recent, the particular interpretatins that make up this frm f dispensatinalism have been develping ver the past fifteen years. Sufficient revisins had taken place by 1991 t intrduce the name Prgressive Dispensatinalism at the natinal meeting f the Evangelical Thelgical Sciety that year. This present bk, alng with the publicatins: Dispensatinalism, Israel, and the Church: The Search fr Definitin and The Case fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism, are key representatives f this viewpint. (Blaising & Bck, 22-23) S, after fifteen years f discussin and refinement, the descriptr PD was first used at a meeting f the Evangelical Thelgical Sciety in The lessns in this sequence are nt interested in surveying the develpment f PD ver time. Rather, we are interested in understanding and evaluating PD in its mature frm. Accrding t Blaising and Bck, the gal f this fifteen year prcess f develpment brught dispensatinalism clser t cntemprary evangelical Biblical interpretatin. (22) This, f curse, implies that thse wh were invlved in this prcess believed that classical and revised dispensatinalism manifested enugh prblems that placed it ut f step with cntemprary evangelical Biblical interpretatin. Three majr wrks, all published within the same tw year windw, captured the essence f the PD mvement Dispensatinalism, Israel, and the Church: The Search fr Definitin, edited by Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bck 1993 The Case Fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism: The Interface Between Dispensatinal & Nn-Dispensatinal Thelgy, by Rbert L. Saucy 1993 Prgressive Dispensatinalism, by Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bck Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 Fr ur purpses with the Grace Histry Prject we elected t limit the majrity f ur study f PD t the last tw bks listed abve because they are a mre mature presentatin f the majr arguments f PD. Many critics f PD have viewed the full title f Rbert Saucy s bk (The Case fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism: The Interface Between Dispensatinal & Nn-Dispensatinal Thelgy) as encapsulating the main mtive f PD, i.e., t recncile Dispensatinal and Cvenant Thelgy as thelgical systems. It is t this intrductry matter that we nw turn ur attentin. Prgressive Dispensatinalism: The Mediating View The first chapter f Rbert Saucy s bk titled, The Critical Issue Between Dispensatinal and Nn-Dispensatinal Systems, presents PD as the mediating psitin between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal systems f thelgy. At the utset f chapter ne, Saucy states the fllwing regarding the histry f discussin between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal thelgy. Thrughut the histry f discussin between dispensatinalists and nndispensatinalists, numerus pints f cntentin have been raised. These differences stem largely frm the particular emphasis f each system in its understanding f Biblical histry. As its name indicates, the dispensatinal view tended t emphasize the difference in the varius perids f human histry brught abut thrugh the prgressive revelatin f Gd s salvatin prgram. Nn-dispensatinalists, n the ther hand, inclined tward an emphasis n the unity f Gd s wrk in Biblical histry. Cntinued study f the Scriptures has seen develpment and mdificatin f bth perspectives. Mst dispensatinalists wuld acknwledge that sme f the early statements f distinctins were verstated. This is ften the case when a psitin is first espused against anther psitin as was the situatin f early dispensatinalism against traditinal cvenant thelgy. At the same time, the rise f the discipline f Biblical thelgy with its emphasis n interpreting the Scriptures in their histrical envirnment has cntributed t a greater appreciatin f the develpment within the histrical redemptive plan and the resultant differences entailed n the part f many nndispensatinalists. (Saucy, 13) Prir t nting areas where tensin still exists between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal thelgy, Saucy uses the rest f this sectin t nte thse areas which fr many interpreters are n lnger in dispute. (14) Under the subheading Reslved Issues, Saucy cmments n the fllwing tpics: 1) Law and Grace; 2) The Sermn n the Munt; 3) The Kingdm f Heaven and the Kingdm f Gd. Since many f these same subjects were discussed in Lessn 113 The Cvenantal-Dispensatinal Rift, we will refrain frm cmmenting n these sectins at this time. Suffice it t say, Saucy cites the fact that recent wrks n dispensatinalism by nndispensatinal authrs make n mentin f different ways f salvatin as prf that Law and Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 Grace are n lnger a divisive issue between the tw thelgical systems. Regarding the Sermn n the Munt and The Kingdm f Heaven and the Kingdm f Gd, Saucy gives the impressin that there is mre cntinuity between dispensatinalists and nn-dispensatinalists in hw they view these subjects than there was in the past. The majr bne f cntentin between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal thelgy accrding t Saucy centers arund, Gd s purpse and plan in Biblical histry. (19) Saucy des nt view the fundamental difference between dispensatinalists and nn-dispensatinalists as a basic hermeneutical principle (literal v. spiritual) nr the ultimate purpse f human histry. (20) The basic issue is the way we understand the histrical plan and the gal f that plan thrugh which Gd will bring eternal glry t himself. Mre specifically, it is the questin f the purpse and plan f Gd within human histry, i.e., frm this creatin until the inauguratin f the eternal state. This inquiry invlved nt nly the basic gal f histry, but the meaning and integratin f the varius aspects f Gd s wrk during this perid. We must understand nt nly what Gd intends t d, but hw he accmplishes it. The call f Abraham, the electin and frmatin f the natin f Israel, Gd dealing with the church and the natins, and the varius cvenant arrangements all these are facets f the histrical plan that must be integrated and understd. (Saucy, 20-21) Hw ne defines the nature f the kingdm f Gd is central t understanding PD as a mediating psitin between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal thelgy. Regarding this pint Saucy writes: Many Biblical schlars, past and present, pint t the cncept f the kingdm f Gd as the theme f histry. Much recent nn-dispensatinal thinking is illustrated by Anthny Hekema, wh writes that the kingdm f Gd is the central theme f Jesus preaching and, by implicatin, f the preaching and teaching f the apstles... It is in the kingdm f Gd that we must see the real meaning f histry. (21) The purpse f histry, accrding t nn-dispensatinal thelgy, varies n whether r nt they believe that the Scripture teaches a literal, earthly, millennial reign f Christ. (21) Amillennialism sees the reign f Christ in the present age and therefre, tends t view the kingdm purpse f Gd in histry as fundamentally a spiritual reign ver the peple f Gd. (21) In cntrast, premillennial nn-dispensatinalists view the messianic reign f Christ as including the establishment f Gd s will in the structure f human sciety and gvernment befre the mediatrial wrk f Christ is cmplete and the kingdm is delivered up by the Father fr eternity. (22) Histrically, nn-dispensatinalists have emphasized the unity f the histrical wrking f Gd mre than dispensatinalists. (22) Regarding this emphasis n unity that is inherent t nndispensatinal thelgy, Saucy writes in part: Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4... Fr traditinal cvenant thelgians, the varius ecnmies f Gd are the utwrking f the ne cvenant f grace. Fr thers that emphasized the kingdm theme, these ecnmies are stages in the develpment f Gd s purpse t redeem his creatin frm the pwer f sin and its effects. Basic t all nn-dispensatinalist thught is a unity f the peple f Gd that des nt allw fr a future place and purpse fr the natin f Israel in the histrical plan f Gd s redemptin... Perhaps the view mst cmmnly held amng evangelical nndispensatinalists is that Israel s is simply an incrpratin f that peple int the church.... The church takes the place f Israel as the histrical peple f Gd and has been endwed with all the privileges and blessings f Israel. This is essentially the stance adpted by the Rman Cathlic Church at the Secnd Vatican Cuncil. The cuncil spke f the future incrpratin f Israel within the church, but made n reference t any rle r purpse fr Israel in Gd s plan... The cmmn thread running thrugh these nn-dispensatinal views is the emphasis n the unity f the peple f Gd... The cncept f a special future rle amng the natins is smehw canceled ut by the nn-dispensatinalists regard fr verriding unity. (Saucy, 21-24) Meanwhile, traditinal dispensatinalism asserted a twfld purpse fr Gd s wrking in histry, accrding t Saucy. Traditinal dispensatinalism prpsed a twfld purpse fr Gd s prgram in histry ne prgram related t the earth and wrked ut thrugh Israel, the ther related t heaven and wrked ut thrugh the church. Chafer called this distinctin the defining feature f dispensatinalism: The dispensatinalist believes that thrughut the ages Gd is pursuing tw distinct purpses: ne related t the earth with the earthly peple and earthly bjectives invlved which is Judaism; while the ther is related t heaven with heavenly peple and heavenly bjectives invlved, which is Christianity.... Perhaps the key distinctin f traditinal dispensatinalism, therefre, is its emphasis n the distinctin r discntinuities in the histrical prgram f Gd. While affirming an essential unity t divine dealing in human histry, Walvrd explains that dispensatinalism distinguishes majr stewardships r purpses f Gd, particularly as revealed in three imprtant dispensatins f law, grace, and kingdm. The mst crucial distinctin in traditinal dispensatinalism is between Israel and the church... This separatin is s sharp that the church is precluded frm any present relatinship t the messianic kingdm prmises. It is cmmn fr dispensatinalists t refer t the church age, the perid between Pentecst and the rapture, as a parenthesis f time interrupting the messianic kingdm Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 prgram... Assigning this place t the church led t the cnclusin that it is nt related t the messianic kingdm prmises and the cvenants n which this kingdm prgram rests. Althugh usually specifying the Davidic kingdm prmises in particular, the fundamental teaching f traditinal dispensatinalism is that n part f the Old Testament kingdm predictins are being fulfilled in any way during this age. (Saucy, 24-26) In the final sectin f Chapter One titled, A Mediating Psitin, Saucy presents what he believes t be the middle grund between dispensatinal and nn-dispensatinal thelgy. As ne might expect, much f the mediating view fcuses n remving the discntinuities between the tw thelgical systems in terms f presenting a unified purpse fr histry. In ur pinin there is a mediating psitin between nn-dispensatinal and traditinal dispensatinalism that prvides a better understanding f Scripture. This view seeks t retain a natural understanding f the prphetic Scriptures that appear t assign a significant rle t the natin f Israel in the future, in accrdance with a dispensatinal system. But it als sees the prgram f Gd as unified within histry, in agreement with nn-dispensatinalists, and it denies a radical discntinuity between the present church age and the messianic kingdm prmises. (Saucy, 27) Wrks Cited Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bck. Prgressive Dispensatinalism. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Bks, Saucy, Rbert L. The Case fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism: The Interface Between Dispensatinal & Nn-Dispensatinal Thelgy. Grand Rapids, MI: Zndervan, Pastr Bryan Rss