Review of Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant

Stallard, Mike, editor. Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant. Schaumburg, IL: Regular Baptist Press, 2012, 285 pages, $24.99, paper.

Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant provides a thorough examination of dispensationalism’s understanding of the new covenant. The book is well-organized, well-written, and provides a clear articulation of dispensationalism’s position.

In Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant, several contributors present their understanding of the New Covenant in Dispensational theology. As a helpful introduction to the arguments, there are two introductory essays that set the parameters of the discussion. First, David Fredrickson (Western Seminary) answers the question, “Which Are the New Covenant Passages in the Bible?” Fredrickson’s essay provides a grammar for discerning which OT passages can be utilized in this discussion. Then, Mike Stallard (Baptist Bible Seminary) gives an historical overview in “The Interpretation of the New Covenant in the History of Traditional Dispensationalism.” Stallard’s essay traces the development and progress of dispensational thought from its inception nearly exhaustively. These two chapters allow even the uninitiated to participate in the debate. Some readers might quibble with the fact that it takes over one hundred pages to get to the stated purpose of the book, but the strength of the introductory essays should quell this concern.

This volume presents and debates three views. First, Roy E. Beacham (Central Baptist Theological Seminary) argues “The Church Has No Legal Relationship to or Participation in the New Covenant.” Second, Elliot E. Johnson (Dallas Theological Seminary) argues, “The Church Has an Indirect Relationship to the New Covenant.” Third, Rodney J. Decker (Baptist Bible Seminary) argues, “The Church Has a Direct Relationship to the New Covenant.” Finally, Bruce Compton (Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary) provides an epilogue, “Dispensationalism, the Church, and the New Covenant.”

Beacham argues exegetically from key passages (e.g., Jer 31; Eze 36) while focusing on the historical setting and genre of the texts (pp. 112 ff.). Beacham emphasizes the importance of the ancient Near Eastern context when analyzing the nature of the new covenant, insisting we must consider it a contract rather than merely a promise or prophecy (p. 108). In this discussion, Beacham conflates contract and covenant, frequently using them interchangeably. This is seen in his thesis, “The chapter argues that the new covenant is fundamentally a legal instrument whereby God will contract specific indivisible benefits with national Israel exclusively, the covenant being formally ratified by the oath of the stated parties once in human history at a clearly specified eschatological time and place yet future to today, precisely as foretold by prophetic Scripture” (p. 109). Readers will find Beacham’s argument comprehensive.

Johnson focuses his argument primarily on an exposition of Jeremiah 31:31–34 to apply this covenant to the church in Hebrews and Paul’s writing (p. 165). Johnson seeks to answer two questions. First, “Is the church a covenant community?” second, “What does it mean to have the promised blessings of the new covenant?” (164, italics original). Johnson takes Paul in Romans 9:4 and Ephesians 2:13-22 to mean that the church is not a covenant community (p. 164) and the blessing of the covenant is, in part, the blessing promised in the gospel applied individually to believers (p. 175).

Decker presents the last view. His treatment deals narrowly with Hebrews 7-10 and is the most technical. Decker shows how Hebrews relates the promises of the new covenant to the church through the sacrifice of Christ. Being that there is no “distinction of multiple covenants here” (p. 219), there must be a relationship the church has, not merely the future Israel, to the new covenant. Decker explains how the new covenant is the basis by which Christians draw near to God that is put into effect by the sacrifice of Christ (p. 222).

A further weakness is that this book is a dispensational, in-house discussion. As such, there is no substantial engagement with other positions and there is a lack of interaction with opposing views. While the contributors engage with each other’s arguments, there is little interaction with alternative views outside of the dispensational framework, even as a point of reference to clarify their argument.

The contributors to Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant provide a clear and thorough presentation of the dispensational view of the new covenant. Their arguments are based on a careful analysis of biblical texts and are consistent with the broader dispensational framework, and they are clearly experts on the topic. Each essay is exegetically founded and fits squarely within the strictly literal (originalist) hermeneutic of dispensational theology. The essays have different focuses, which leads to a disparity in the length of the treatments. For instance, Beacham’s essay is ten pages longer than Decker’s and over twenty-five pages longer than Johnson’s (even Beacham’s response to Johnson is longer than Johnson’s essay) making Beacham’s position the most substantive. This is a major weakness of the book. If Decker’s claim is true that the “no legal relationship” view is “not the majority position” (p. 154), the majority of this book (including Masters’ foreword) argues for a position held by the minority of dispensationals. Unlike the two other views that have a narrow focus, Beacham focuses broadly and leaves no detail overlooked in pursuit of his thesis. Decker’s response to Beacham admits as much (p. 163), though Decker remains unpersuaded.

A further weakness is that this book is a dispensational, in-house discussion. As such, there is no substantial engagement with other positions and there is a lack of interaction with opposing views. While the contributors engage with each other’s arguments, there is little interaction with alternative views outside of the dispensational framework, even as a point of reference to clarify their argument. The authors do not address some of the key challenges that their view of the new covenant faces. For example, they do not address the problem of the relationship between Israel and the church in the context of the new covenant. While they argue that the church has not replaced Israel, they do not provide a clear explanation of how the promises of the new covenant apply to Israel and the church. This lack of clarity limits the usefulness of the volume for those who are seeking a comprehensive understanding of the dispensational view of the new covenant. This is particularly concerning because the book claims to be a comprehensive guide to dispensationalism’s understanding of the new covenant. Without engaging with opposing views, the book risks presenting a one-sided perspective and failing to fully address criticisms of dispensationalism’s interpretation of the new covenant. This is seen further in that the question posed has little import to other systems because of the broader hermeneutical structure presupposed by dispensationalism. Two dispensational presuppositions prevent much agreement with other systems: national Israel as the focus and the employment of a strictly literal (originalist) hermeneutic. Other systems allow room for typological interpretations that a strictly literal hermeneutic would not. This allows Jeremiah 31 to have an application beyond national Israel to a spiritual application to the church. The literal hermeneutic prevents them from seeing the promises of Jeremiah 31 as applicable beyond the immediate audience.

In conclusion, Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant provides a thorough examination of dispensationalism’s understanding of the new covenant. The book is well-organized, well-written, and provides a clear articulation of dispensationalism’s position. However, the book’s lack of engagement with opposing views and recent scholarship on the new covenant is a weakness that should be addressed. Despite this, the book is an important contribution to the study of dispensationalism and its understanding of the new covenant.