80. Contrary to dispensationalism’s teaching that a physical temple will be rebuilt, the New Testament speaks of the building of the temple as the building of the Church in Christ, so that “the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:21); the only temple seen in the book of Revelation is in Heaven, which is the real and eternal temple of which the earthly temporary temple was, according to the book of …
Category: Biblical Studies
I have lately had the pleasure of doing some theological fencing with a good Christian man named Andrew Suttles. Andrew has raised a number of pertinent questions about Dispensational interpretations of Israel and the Church which I would like to address in this (and another post). Once again I want to state that I think “Dispensationalist” is a lousy and inaccurate name for this type of theology. Firstly because dispensations are largely theologically mute. Secondly, because the real crux of …
1. Introduction I recall once seeing the late Francis Schaeffer interviewed during the filming of ‘Whatever Happened to the Human Race’ and he was asked how he felt about God allowing him to develop brain cancer. His response was typical, “I take the Fall seriously” he remarked. Schaeffer showed that he was truly convinced of the Christian worldview by acknowledging the hard truth that mankind is under the curse, which ravages the world due to the disobedience of the first …
Were The Old Testament Prophets “Ecstatics”? There is one more topic that should be addressed before moving on. The topic concerns the matter of whether or not the early Old Testament prophets ever lapsed into an ecstatic frenzy or trance-state when the Holy Spirit overcame them. From studies that have been done on prophets and seers in other ancient cultures we know that part of the seer’s routine was to go into a trance or stupor, in which he or …
As I am too busy to write much at present, I thought I would air this article from 2007. Hope it helps some of you. Introduction The whole subject of the Person of the Holy Spirit, and especially of His work, is one that is something of a mystery to many Christians. They know that the Spirit is and has always been the third Person of the Godhead, but when they come to think about the way He is revealed …
As I am busying myself recording and editing about 60 lectures on “Eschatology” and on “The Canon” I thought I would re-post this article about one of my bete noirs – Natural Theology. I have kept the old comments up too. Any discussion of the doctrine of Divine revelation or of apologetic method has to incorporate the matter of natural theology. Is natural theology a legitimate exercise when its foundational tenets are viewed in the light of Scripture? In the …
In this final article in this series on the importance of the Biblical Covenants I want to outline what I believe are the important issues which ought to affect anyone who believes that the Bible should be interpreted in the same “naive” way we read personal letters, sermons, novels and other books. We must always keep in mind that the Bible is written to the “common man” not the specialist scholar. 1. Although there are recognizable dispensations within the Bible …
Introduction In this installment of our series on what I have called “Biblical Covenantalism” I want to concentrate on the matter of interpretation as it relates to the Covenants of Scripture. I have alluded to this in an earlier article, but I want to say more because I believe this matter to be so vital for a proper understanding of the Bible. As is recognized by most Dispensationalists, many of those brethren who denigrate Dispensational theology for its “literalistic” …
What a remarkable event the new birth is! What a reversal, a triumph, an utter transformation! I (I should say “we”), who am a continuing stain on God’s landscape (Rom. 3:10-18) – contributing nothing but a deepening of the stain (Matt. 6:11a) – I have been born from above (1 Pet. 1:23)! I have been cleansed and forgiven (Heb. 9:11-15)! God has given me a new life and He has adopted me as His dear son (Rom. 8:15-17). According to …
So far in our present studies in “Biblical Covenantalism” we have seen that what is known as Dispensationalism is not very well named. Not that dispensations are foreign to Scripture, but the name does not describe the distinctive approach to the Bible and Theology that is quintessential to the system. On the contrary, it brings to prominence things which are of far less importance than the matters we have been discussing with regard to the Covenants of Scripture. It is …