JWJeffery.com

Hello everyone:

I recently wrote about some of my reading about the covenants. In that post, I stated my understand that New Covenant Theology was the theology behind preterism in Churches of Christ.

After reading through a significant portion of New Covenant Theology, and finding nothing that pointed towards a Preterist theology, I went and did some research at Eschatology.org, which is a preterist website sponsored by a preterist Church of Christ congregation.

After doing some checking, I found that I’ve mixed some things up in my head and was mistaken. New Covenant Theology has nothing to do with preterism, but is instead a way to view Christ as the lense with which to view everything in the old covenant, including the law. Preterism uses the term “Covenant Theology” to describe itself, and hinges itself on the transition from old covenant to new covenant.

Josh

Greetings and Merry Christmas Everyone!

I got some great Christmas presents this year. I received:

Barton Stone, A Spiritual Biography by Newell Williams

Disciple of Peace: Alexander Campbell on Pacifism, Violence and the State by Craig M. Watts

The Romance of Tristan and Iseult by J. Bedier (Adapter), Hilaire Belloc (Translator).

Tristan and Isolde (The Movie).

The Nativity Story.

I’m looking forward to reading and watching and sharing my thoughts with you.

Josh

Odd things that have come to mind in the last few days…none are original to me, of course:

We are a unity movement that hasn’t just divided, that hasn’t just fragmented, we’ve splintered

Disciples of Christ are theologically liberal and driven by a desire for Christian unity. Churches of Christ are theologically conservative and driven by a desire for restoration of the ancient order. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, who on first glance might appear to be moderate…are fundamentalists. I’m pretty sure I understand the basic religious dynamics which make this true, but the concept still feels odd to me. Sometimes I wonder if we are somewhat closer to the Disciples theologically then the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ….

Our movement has birthed, or at least midwifed, some interesting children. The Christadelphians, with their heterodox beliefs..including their rejection of the doctrine of the trinity, are a fascinating sect. The Mormons probably wouldn’t have made it very far without the help of Sidney Rigdon, a good friend and traveling companion of Alexander Campbell. Jessie Ferguson, whose grave I visited this summer in Nashville, built up a large congregation and then proceeded to destroy it with his tales of necromancy. Jim Jones, whose People’s Temple killed 900 or so people in Guyana, was a Disciples of Christ pastor. Kip McKean transformed many Church of Christ congregations into International Churches of Christ, some of which were accused of being cult like (I think we can safely say that the ICOC is not a cult, however).

What a strange group we are…

Josh

In Ephesians 2, Paul speaks to a Gentile audience, reminding us that at one time we were cut off from citizenship, but now, through the blood of Christ that we are “no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

This got me thinking about what the implications are of being a citizen of God’s Kingdom. A few thoughts come to mind:

• Christ is our king, our ruler.
• Our allegiance is to Jesus’ Kingdom.
• We don’t have dual-citizenship.
• As citizens in the Kingdom, we are foreigners and aliens in our own land.
• As aliens in this nation, we must obey the law, and pay taxes.
• As aliens in this nation, we should not vote.
• As aliens in this nation, we should not bear arms for the state.
• As citizens of the Kingdom, we must work towards advancement of the King’s will.
• As aliens in this nation, we should not work towards the advancement of the state.
• Finally, as citizens of the Kingdom, we must adhere to the Commands of our King above the laws of the state.

Josh

I’m reading my second book on Covenant Theology. Scott Hahn’s A Father Who Keeps His Promises was written for the layman, but has some interesting theology from a Catholic slant. Some of it is quite interesting…. one of the things that interests me about Hahn is that he’ll put forth a theory…often a very good one…which he’ll then try and use to advance Catholic Theology. The problem is, it doesn’t seem that he advances Catholic Theology well. Instead, he puts forth an interesting theory that solves some of the problems of the text, and that instead points towards a more Protestant understanding of the the text. Hahn is a former Presbyterian pastor, so sometimes I wonder if he is just confused. It is either that, or I’m doing quite a bad job of understanding his words.

The first book was God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology by Michael Horton. Horton writes for a more sophisticated audience, from a Reformed point of view, and provides one of the best descriptions of the sacraments I have read. Horton’s work has really helped me to really wrap my head around God’s covenants with Israel, and the implications that has for the New Covenant. I really recommend Horton’s book. I just found that he has written several more books on different aspects of Covenant Theology…I hope to pick those up soon.

Once I’m done with Hahn, I have New Covenant Theology by Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel. My current understanding is that New Covenant Theology is the soil from which Preterism springs….I’m looking forward to reading it to gain a better understanding of what our few Preterist congregations in the Churches of Christ are coming from.

It seems to me that a proper understanding of the covenants is of utmost importance in understanding scripture. Reframing many of our beliefs in the context of covenant brings those beliefs back into a truly biblical and God honoring posture.

Josh