One of a Kind: The Relationship between Old and New Covenants as the Hermeneutical Key for Christian Theology of Religions

by Adam Sparks, Gavin D'Costa (Foreword by)

Overview

A fundamental requirement in an inclusivist understanding of the relationship between Christianity and other religions is evidence of God's salvific activity outside any knowledge of Christ. This is commonly identified in the religion of Old Testament Israel. On this basis an analogy (the "Israel analogy") is drawn between the religion of the old covenant and contemporary non-Christian religions. Closely related is the parallel argument that as Christ has fulfilled the Old covenant, he can also be seen as the fulfillment of other religious traditions and their scriptures. This study outlines the use of the Israel analogy and the fulfillment model, subjecting these concepts to a biblical and theological critique revealing that the exegetical and patristic data are misconstrued in support of these concepts. Furthermore, the Israel analogy and the fulfillment model undermine the sui generis relationship between the old and new covenants and fail to respect the organic, progressive nature of salvation history. They also misconstrue the old covenant and the nature of its fulfillment in the new covenant. The Israel analogy and fulfillment model rely on a correspondence between the chronologically premessianic (Israel) and the epistemologically premessianic (other religions), and therefore consider the "BC condition" to continue today. In so doing, they undermine the significance of the Christ-event by failing to appreciate the decisive effect of this event on history and the nature of existence. It marks a radical turn in salvation history, a crisis point, rendering the BC period complete and fulfilled. Therefore the concept of a continuing "premessianic" condition or state is seriously flawed, as are the Israel analogy and fulfillment model. Thus the inclusivist paradigm reliant in large part on these defective concepts is also problematic, and proponents of this paradigm need to reconsider its basis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630876548
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	733 KB

About the Author

Adam Sparks is a sessional lecturer (Christian theology and other religions) at Birkbeck College (University of London) and Secretary of "Theology for All" (TFA).

Table of Contents

Foreword Gavin D'Costa ix

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Abbreviations xxv

Part I Israel in a Christian Theology of Religions

1 An Introduction to the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Theology 3

1.1 Defining the "Theology of Religions" 3

1.2 Towards a Definition of Fulfilment Theology 10

1.3 Early Church Sources Used to Support Fulfilment Theology 13

2 Recent and Contemporary Use of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Theology 19

2.1 Roman Catholic Use of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Theology 20

2.2 Mainline Protestant Use of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Theology 51

2.3 Evangelical Use of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Theology 6o

2.4 Summary 69

Part 2 Israel and the Church

3 Why Israel Matters for Christian Theology 73

4 An Outline and Critique of Supersessionism (Replacement Theology) 82

4.1 The Jewish People are Still in a Covenant Relationship with God 85

4.2 God's Purposes for Israel Will Be Fulfilled. Israel Still Serves a Purpose 90

5 An Outline and Critique of the "New Majority Views" 93

5.1a The Dual- or Two-Covenant Paradigm 95

5.1b The Single-Covenant Paradigm 98

5.2 The Gospel Is for the Jews 101

5.3 There Is No Special Way of Salvation foe Israel 105

5.4 The Israel-Church Relationship and the Implications for a Christian Theology of Religions 111

5.5 Summary 115

Part 3 Critique of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Model

6 Salvation History 1: Continuity and Unity 121

6.1 An Introduction to Salvation History 121

6.2 Two Testaments-One Salvation History 130

6.3 The Structure of Salvation History 133

6.4 The Christological and Eschatological Orientation of Salvation History 138

6.5Summary 140

7 Salvation History 2: Chronology and Crisis 142

7.1 Christ the Midpoint of Salvation History 142

7.2 The Impossibility of Being Pre-Messianic in Post-Messianic Times 157

7.3 Summary 176

8 Covenant Confusion 177

8.1 Introduction 177

8.2 An Introduction to Covenant Theology 177

8.3 Covenant Confusion: A Reformed Covenantal Critique of the Israel Analogy and Fulfilment Model 203

8.4 Summary 221

9 A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Critique of the Fulfilment Model 223

9.1 Biblical Arguments Outlined and Assessed 224

9.2 The Early Church Fathers and Fulfilment Theology 238

9.3 Biblical and Extra-Biblical Fulfilment 257

9.4 Summary 283

10 Conclusions and Recommendations 285

Bibliography 289

Index 311