The Master's Seminary Journal Volume 26

The Master's Seminary Journal Volume 26, Number 2 Fall 2015 is now available HERE

I thought William Roach's article The Resurgence of Neo-Evangeicalism especially interesting. He cites Historic Premillennialist Craig Blomberg:

I have deliberately not taken a stand myself on any of the problems as I discussed them in this chapter. Because readers seem invariably curious, I will happily disclose where I come down at the moment, given the varying amounts of study I have devoted to each. I would support an old-earth creationism and opt for a combination of progressive creation and a literary-framework approach to Genesis 1. I lean towards Kidner’s approach to Genesis 2–3 but am open to other proposals. I suspect that Jonah really intended to recount a miracle that really did happen, but with Job I gravitate more towards Longman’s mediating approach. Despite the overwhelming consensus against it, I still find the arguments for the unity of Isaiah under a single primary author, even if lightly redacted later, more persuasive (or at least problematic) than most do. I remain pretty much baffled by Daniel 11; it is the issue I have researched by far the least. My inherent conservatism inclines me in the direction of taking it as genuine predictive prophecy, but I listen respectfully to those who argue for other interpretations and continue to mull them over. I reject Gundry’s approach to Matthew as highly unlikely. I have yet to be persuaded by Licona’s initial views of Matthew 27:51–53 but would love to see additional comparative research undertaken. I think good cases can still be mounted for the traditional ascriptions of authorship of the New Testament epistles, allowing for perhaps some posthumous editing of 2 Peter. And I refuse ever to be suckered back into the views of my young adult years, when I actually believed that the end would play out as Hal Lindsey claimed they would!

DISPENSATIONALISM, ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH

The eighth annual Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics was held on the campus of Summit University on September 16 and 17, 2015.

10 Council members prepared papers, and 25 Council members gathered to discuss the topic, "Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church.” 49 non-council members observed the discussion. Participants came from across the country, some as far as California, Texas and South Carolina. Many current BBS students and alumni were part of the interactive event.

"The highlight for me was the Pastor’s Panel on Thursday night as we connected our dispensational theology to local church life and issues," notes Dr. Mike Stallard, Dean of Baptist Bible Seminary.

Representatives from Regular Baptist Press and Lampion Press were present, and they continue to work with the Council and its members on future publications.

Read the papers HERE

Has the Church Replaced Israel?

Whitewashing Islam

David Wood gets it:



See also Europe at a Crossroads.

If I Weren't a Dispensationalist

I've had similar thoughts. Some very good points...

Excerpt:

For instance: If I were not a dispensationalist, how would I make sense of all that is happening in our world today? The onward march of global terror, the impending dissolution of the United States and its place as the leader of the world, the trampling of nearly all that we hold to be morally right and dear, and the rampant apostasy in the contemporary church all fit together perfectly with a dispensational understanding of Scripture and the pre-tribulational view of Bible prophecy—especially in light of all that we expect to see unfold during the coming tribulation. If I were a postmillennialist—looking for the advance of worldwide progress in the spiritual, political and moral realms that would finally herald the return of Christ—I wonder what I would be thinking about all of that.

Or if I were an amillennialist, believing that God had no future plan for national Israel—neither final salvation nor a kingdom to come—how would I understand a world in which the modern iteration of such a tiny nation plays such a central role in global geopolitics?...keep reading

The Master's Seminary on Seventh-day Adventism

The Master's Seminary recently produced a pretty fair article evaluating Seventh-day Adventist teachings. You can read it HERE.

I also wrote an article on Adventism for Zeteo3:16.

The TMA article was met with some heated flak. I'm not at all surprised. I've written several pieces responding to Adventist Steve Wohlberg's polemics against dispensationalism and I've received similar criticism. These folk simply didn't appreciate my responses to Wohlberg's attacks. This phenomenon isn't exclusive to Adventists either. I'm still seeing the Left Behind or Led Astray? people getting tetchy at the pretribulational responses to their polemical video. Why so sensitive, guys?

As an aside, the SDA articles on my blog get the biggest hits by far. This suggests just how active Adventists are insofar as eschatology.

TMA have released a follow-up 10 point post clarifying some matters. Read it HERE.

Need for a Trusted Dispensational Resource Center

A new Dispensational Resource Center and a contribution from Dr. Paul Henebury:

The expression of theology known—for better or for worse—as dispensationalism has always had important things to say to the church and to the world.

To the church it has commended an approach to the text of the Bible which prioritizes what is properly called, despite some caveats, the “literal” method. Taking this approach to the reading of the Testaments does not mean that there is a one-sided understanding of the text to which all must acquiesce—a kind of hermeneutical flatland which we should all find ourselves in if we are fully on board with this school of thought. No, although there are always small-minded people who will expect us not to break step, a vibrant and healthy theology will entertain the considered viewpoints of various contributors who, because they are less than perfect, because they cannot see everything, employ a prima facie interpretation and bring their best efforts before their peers and move the conversation forward within its parameters.

Dispensationalism also speaks to the body of Christ about the relative importance of the two testaments. In an era when, more and more, the voice of the Old Testament is being all but muted by theological pre-understandings of the New Testament in influential circles, a robust alternative which gives no preference to either part of Scripture is pertinent now more than ever. What we need is a group of well-informed, sophisticated-yet-humble contrarians to assure us that God means what He says in both to whomever He is talking, and that faith trusts that God will fulfill His Word despite the obstacles which finite reason and historical vicissitude use to fuel their objections to the plain sense. Faith cannot but resign itself to believing the words as they are spoken. If it tries to reinterpret the words as different words it is never quite sure if it has gotten the translation right. And so it is never sure just what it is to believe. A vibrant dispensational (but I would want to say “Biblical-covenantal”) theology will always start us off with the plain sense and will always return us there...keep reading