Covenant theology
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Disambiguation: Covenant Theology is not to be confused with the Covenanters
Covenant Theology (also known as Covenantalism or Federal theology or Federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible. Covenantalism uses the theological concept of "Covenant" as an organizing principle for Christian theology and it views the history of mankind's redemption from sin under the framework of three over-arching theological covenants:
- the Covenant of Redemption
- the Covenant of Works
- the Covenant of Grace
Covenant Theology teaches that God has established two covenants with mankind and one within the Godhead to deal with how the other two relate.
The Covenant of Redemption, is the agreement beyond time and within the Godhead that the Father would appoint the Son Jesus Christ to live a perfectly acceptable substitutionary life and die an undeserved death on behalf of, and as a covenantal representative for, those who would sin but would trust in Christ as their covenantal substitutionary representative.
The Covenant of Works, was made in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam who ultimately represented all mankind in a covenantal sense. (Romans [5:12-21]) It promised life for obedience and death for disobedience. Adam and ultimately all mankind failed to live as God intended and stood condemned. Adam disobeyed God and broke the covenant, and so the Covenant of Grace was made between God and all of mankind.
The Covenant of Grace, promised eternal blessing for all people for trusting in the successive promises of God and ultimately for accepting Christ as a substitutionary covenantal representative. It is the historical expression of the eternal covenant of redemption and covenant theologians see Gen 3:15 as the historical beachhead for the covenant of grace.
The Covenant of Grace became the basis for all future covenants that God made with mankind such as with Noah (Gen 6, 9), with Abraham (Gen 12, 15, 17), with Moses (Ex 19-24), with David (2 Sam 7), and finally in the New Covenant fulfilled and founded in Christ. These individual covenants are called the "biblical covenants" because they are explicitly described in the Bible. Under the Covenantal overview of the Bible, submission to God's rule and living in accordance with his moral law (expressed concisely in the Ten Commandments) is a response to grace - never something which can earn God's acceptance (legalism). Even in his giving of the Ten Commandments, God introduces his law by reminding the Israelites that he is the one who brought them out of slavery in Egypt (grace).
Regarding frameworks for viewing the Bible, Covenantalism stands in direct contrast to Dispensationalism. Regarding the theological status of modern day Jewish people Covenantalism is often referred to by its detractors as Supersessionism or Replacement theology as it promotes the idea that God has abandoned the promises made to the Jews and has replaced the Jews with Christians as His Chosen People in the earth.
Covenant theology is a prominent feature in Protestant theology, especially in churches holding a reformed view of theology such as the Reformed churches and some Presbyterian churches and, in different forms, some Methodist churches and in some Baptist churches.
History of Covenant Theology
Covenant theology has roots in the writings of Augustine and John Calvin (Institutes 2:9-11). Johannes Cocceius (c. 1603-1669) developed the classical statement on covenant theology in his The Doctrine of the Covenant and Testament of God (Summa doctrinae de foedere et testamento dei, 1648). Covenant theology was clearly expressed in the British Westminster Confession of Faith (chap. 7) and further developed by Hermann Witsius (1636-1708) in the Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man. It may also be seen in the writings of Jonathan Edwards (Collected Writings of Jonathan Edwards, Vol 2, Banner of Truth edition, p.950).In the United States, the Princeton theologians (Charles Hodge, A. A. Hodge, B. B. Warfield, Geerhardus Vos, and J. Gresham Machen) and, in the Netherlands, Herman Bavinck followed the main lines of the classic view, teaching the Covenant of Redemption, the Covenant of Works (Law), and the Covenant of Grace (Gospel).
Current well-known Covenant theologians include R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer, and Meredith G. Kline. This system is taught at schools such as Covenant Theological Seminary, Erskine Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, [Birmingham Theological Seminary], and Westminster Theological Seminary.
Covenant Theology and the biblical covenants
Covenant theology first sees a Covenant of Works administered with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Though it is not explicitly called a covenant in the Bible, Hosea [6:7] has been interpreted to support the idea. The specific covenants after the fall of Adam are seen as administered under the overarching theological Covenant of Grace and include:- The Abrahamic Covenant, found in Genesis [chapter 15].
- The Mosaic Covenant, found in Exodus [chapters 19 through 24].
- The Palestinian Covenant -- an unconditional covenant enlarging upon the Abrahamic Covenant promising the seed of Abraham eternal possession in the land (Deuteronomy [30:1-10]), and
- The Davidic Covenant, found in 2 Samuel [chapter 7] establishing David and his lineage as the rightful kings of Israel and Judah and extending the covenant of Abraham to David's lineage.
- The New Covenant, predicted by the prophet Jeremiah in the eponymous book, [chapter 31], and connected with Jesus at the Last Supper where he says that the cup is "the New Covenant in [his] blood" and further in the Epistle to the Hebrews ([chapters 8-10]). The term "New Testament," most often used for the collection of books in the Bible, can also refer to the New Covenant as a theological concept.
Covenant Theology and the sacraments
Since Covenant Theology today is mainly Protestant and Reformed in its outlook, proponents view Baptism and The Lord's Supper as the only two sacraments, which are called "church ordinances" by some to avoid some connotations of "sacraments." Covenant Theologians relate both of these rites to the idea of supersessionism, where these rites of the New Covenant replace (or supersede) those of the Old.The Lord's Supper
The Lord's supper instituted by Jesus was a replacement for the Jewish Passover festival. As such, it should be celebrated in much the same way - as a symbolic participation in God's act of salvation. In the Old Testament the Jews celebrated God's rescue from slavery in Egypt, with lamb's blood painted on their doors to protect them from God's wrath. In the New Testament, this directly refers to a celebration of God's rescue of the church from their lives of sin, with the blood of Jesus acting as the means by which God's New Covenant people are able to be rescued from God's wrath.Baptism
Paedobaptist Covenant Theologians see the administration of all the biblical covenants, including the New Covenant, as including a principle of familial, corporate inclusion or "generational succession." The biblical covenants between God and man include signs and seals that visibly represent the realities behind the covenants. These visible signs and symbols of God's covenant redemption are administered in a corporate manner (for instance, to households), not in an exclusively individualistic manner.Baptism is considered by Covenant Theologians as the visible sign of entrance into the New Covenant and therefore may be administered individually to new believers making a public profession of faith. Paedobaptists further believe this extends corporately to the households of believers which typically would include children, or individually to children or infants of believing parents (see Infant baptism). In this view, baptism is thus seen as the functional replacement and sacramental equivalent of the Abrahamic rite of circumcision and symbolizes the internal cleansing from sin, among other things.
Credobaptist Covenant Theologians (such as the Baptist John Gill) hold that baptism is only for those who can understand and profess their faith, and they argue that the regulative principle of worship, which many paedobaptists also advocate and which states that elements of worship (including baptism) must be based on explicit commands of Scripture, is violated by infant baptism. Furthermore, because the New Covenant is described in Jeremiah [31:31-34] as a time when all who were members of it would have the law written on their hearts and would know God, Baptist Covenant Theologians believe only those who are born again are members of the New Covenant.
See also
Historical documents relating to Covenant Theology
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), [chapter 7], [chapter 19] and [chapter 27]
- Helvetic Consensus (1675)
Critics of Covenant Theology
- [Pre-Trib Research Center]
- [Book: There Really Is a Difference: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology]
- [The Conservative Theological Society, Article: The Idea of the Covenant in Reformed Covenant Theology]
References
- Horton, Michael (2006). God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. ISBN 0801012899
- Kline, Meredith (2000). Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview. Overland Park: Two Age. ISBN 097064180X
- Murray, John (1982). Covenant Theology. In Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 4. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth. ISBN 851513409
- Reymond, Robert L. (1998). A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith. Nashville: Nelson. ISBN 0849913179
- Robertson, O. Palmer (1981). Christ of the Covenants. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed. ISBN 0875524184
- Van Til, Cornelius (1955). Covenant Theology. In L. A. Loetscher (Ed.), The New Schaff-Herzog Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker. ISBN 9991429808.
- Vos, Geerhardus (2001). The Doctrine of the Covenant in Reformed Theology. In R. B. Gaffin, Jr. (Ed.), Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos. Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing. ISBN 087552513X
- Malone, Fred (2003). "The baptism of disciples alone: A covenantal argument for credobaptism versus paedobaptism". Founders Press. ISBN 097133613X
External links
- [The Divine Covenants] by A. W. Pink
- [Covenant theology articles and essays.] Australian Home of Covenant Theology
- [J. I. Packer on Covenant Theology]
- [Essays on Covenant Theology]
- [Covenant Theology Articles]
- [Commentary on Romans 5:12-21] by Charles Hodge - a central passage for federal theology
- ["The Covenant of Works"] and ["The Covenant of Grace"] from Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge
- ["The Adamic Administration"] by John Murray
- [Series on Covenant Theology] by J. Ligon Duncan
- [The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man] by Hermann Witsius
- [Nave's Topical Bible] on covenant
- ["An Arminian Covenant Theology"] by Vic Reasoner
- ["The Error of Replacement Theology"] by Clarence H. Wagner.
- ["God's Covenants"] series by Fred Malone
- ["What is a Covenant"] from Kingdom Prologue by Meredith G. Kline
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