Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on July 25, 2008
Poythress, Vern Sheridan. Understanding Dispensationalists. 2nd ed. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1994. 142 pp. Available online.
Vern Sheridan Poythres is Professor of the New Testament Interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary. Professor Poythress, an amillennialist, is the author of several articles and books that are of relevance to the study of Revelation (see below).
Understanding Dispensationalists
At a first (and second) glance, the “dispensational” interpretation of Revelation seems strange, at least to a European, Lutheran scholar like me. My impression is that few European scholars are dispensationalists. However, popular, even sensational, books and films have spread dispensational views, as have organisations that do missionary work in Israel and/or among Jews. Hence I have looked for literature on this subject.
Although written more than twenty years ago (the first edition was published in 1987), Vern Poythress’ Understanding Dispensationalists is still a very helpful introduction. Understanding Dispensationalists does not only introduce the reader to dispensationalism. In his challenging of this hermeneutical system Poythress sets forth cogent arguments that are valuable in themselves.
Writing purposefully in a clear and very friendly manner, Poythress discusses the term dispensationalism. He uses it for historical reasons, but prefer terms that are more accurate and specific:
“Darbyism” (after its first proponent), “dual destinationism” (after one of its principal tenets concerning the separate destinies of Israel and the church), or “addressee bifurcationism” (after the principle of hermeneutical separation between meaning for Israel and significance for the church).
Poythress sets forth the characteristics of “classical dispensationalism” (Chapter 2), defined by writers such as John Nelson Darby, Cyrus Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Charles Ryrie, John F. Walvoord, and others. Poythress recognises variations, some of them so important that they are best taken as a separate group: “modified dispensationalism” (Chapter 3).
Chapter 4 is devoted to “Developments in Covenantal Theology,” as Covenantal Theology is the “principal rival” to dispensationalism. As a Lutheran, I do not subscribe to Covenant Theology. Neither do I think that it is necessary in order to benefit from this volume. Poythress’s covenant-theological approach is recognisable, however.
In Chapter 5 Poythress describes how the classic-dispensational hermeneutical system (as well as some social forces) makes it difficult to argue effectively against dispensationalism. It is necessary to discuss the more basic issues: “what counts as evidence for fulfillment, and how that fulfillment is itself to be understood” (p. 55).
Poythress develops a strategy for dialogue with dispensationalists in the short Chapter 6. One must discuss hermeneutical issues in relation to the interpretation of specific texts. Some issues that need discussion are: the church’s inheritance of OT promises, the nature of OT symbolism, and the use of the Bible in the controversy (pp. 68f).
In three chapters, Poythress develops his argument against dispensationalism. 1 Corianthians 15:51-53 presents a problem to pretribulationalism (Chapter 7), while Hebrews 12:22-24 challenges the hypothesis of “separate parallel destinies for the church and Israel” as well as the problem of “the nonfulfillment of prophecy in the church” (Chapter 12; quotes from p. 118). The penultimate chapter deals with “the fulfillment of Israel in the church” (Chapter 13).
Chapter 8 is a very helpful discussion of “literalness,” which form the basis for Poythress’s analysis and critique of the dispensationalist idea of literalness in chapter 9.
Chapter 10 argues – in my view convincingly – that one cannot interpret the OT in the way dispensationalists do.
What I am calling for, then, is an increased sense for the fact that in the original (grammatical-historical) context, eschatologically oriented prophecy has built into it extra potential. With respect to eschatology, people in the Old Testament were not in the same position as they were for short-range prophecy. Eschatological prophecy had an open-ended suggestiveness. The exact manner of fulfillment frequently could not be pinned down until the fulfillment came. (p. 107)
One of the reasons is that the coming of God changes everything:
But if the transformations of people and land are determined in their character by the coming of God himself, God is still the deepest center of prophetic expectation. Can an Israelite predict in detail what the coming of God will mean? … To have God revealed in full glory to the whole world (Isa. 40:5) means something so spectacular that the Israelite should be reserved about what is metaphorical, and in what way it is metaphorical. (p. 101).
Poythress shows that the Old Testament itself is the best argument against what he calls a “flat” reading. “[I]t is a violation against of grammatical-historical interpretation to read prophecy flat. It is even a violation to read Israel’s history flat.” (p. 104).
Finally, Poythress also shows how the Old Testament typology challenges dispensationalism (Chapter 11).
Table of Contents
- Getting Dispensationalists and Nondispensationalists to Listen to Each Other (pp. 7-18)
- Characteristcs of Scofield Dispensationalism (pp. 19-29)
- Variations of Dispensationalism (pp. 30-38)
- Developments in Covenant Theology (pp. 39-51)
- The Near Impossibility of Simple Refutations (pp. 52-65)
- Strategy for Dialog With Dispensationalist (pp. 66-70)
- The Last Trumpet (pp. 71-77)
- What Is Literal Interpretation? (pp. 78-86)
- Dispensationalist Expositions of Literalness (pp. 87-96)
- Interpretive Viewpoint in Old Testament Israel (pp. 97-110)
- The Challange of Typology (pp. 111-117)
- Hebrews 12:22-24 (pp. 118-125)
- The Fulfillment of Israel in Christ (pp. 126-129)
- Other Areas for Potential Exploration (pp. 130-131)
Postscript to the Second Edition (pp. 132-137)
Bibliography (pp. 138-142)
Other works by Poythress
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on July 11, 2008
The author
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., is a major, if not the leading proponent of the so-called partial preterism. Partial preterism asserts that “the bulk of John’s prophecies occur in the first century, soon after his writing of them” (Gentry, in Pate [ed.], Four views, p. 37). This article, “A preterist view of Revelation” is a useful first-hand introduction to Gentry’s view. Thus he is a postmillennialist as well.
Gentry is the leading proponent of the early dating of Revelation (see Before Jerusalem Fell below).
Gentry (b. 1950) is a graduate of Tennessee Temple University (B.A., cum laude), Reformed Theological Seminary (M. Div.), Whitefield Theological Seminary (Th. M.; Th. D., summa cum laude). He also attended Grace Theological Seminary for two years, while a dispensationalist.
A commentary in preparation
Gentry is currently researching an academic commentary: The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (working title for this full-length [perhaps 800+ pages], academic commentary that Gentry issee the Wikipedia article on Gentry for the thesis of this commentary).
According to preliminary studies he has released (”The Wrath of God and Israel”, Fountain Inn, SC: 2007), he will be presenting evidence that the harlot city “Babylon” (Rev. 16:19-19:2) is a metaphor for first century Jerusalem, and that the book’s author John is following the pattern of the Old Testament prophets in denouncing Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness by such images (see especially Jer. 2-3 and Eze. 16). Gentry holds that the theme of Revelation is Christ’s judgment coming against those who pierced him (Rev. 1:7), and the “slain Lamb” (Rev. 5:8,13; etc.) is wreaking vengeance upon first-century Jerusalem in order for God to divorce his unfaithful wife so that he might take a new bride, the Church (Rev. 21-22). Thus, Revelation dramatizes the transition from the old covenant, Temple-based, Judaic economy to the New Covenant, spiritual economy that includes all ethnicities, not just Jews (compare supersessionism). (Wikipedia, see below)
Selected works
Gentry is the author of Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation.
Other books written by Gentry are The Beast of Revelation (1989); He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology; and The Greatness of the Great Commission: The Christian Enterprise in a Fallen World (1990). Some of his books seem to be online.
He is a contributor to four eschatological debate books: C. Marvin Pate, ed., Four Views of the Book of Revelation (Zondervan); Darrell L. Bock, ed., Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond (Zondervan); Thomas D. Ice and Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Great Tribulation: Past or Future? (Kregel); and Keith L. Mathison, ed., When Shall These Things Be? A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism (P & R).
Articles
See Preterist literature and Articles by Kenneth Gentry
Sources
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on July 6, 2008
BiblicalStudies.org.uk has a – mostly un-annotated – list of resources with relevance for Revelation: BiblicalStudies.org.uk – Revelation. Several of these resources are on my To-Do list.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on
D’Elia, John A. A Place At the Table: George Eldon Ladd and the Rehabilitation of Evangelical Scholarship in America. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 304 pp.
George Eldon Ladd, an evangelical critic of dispensationalism and the author of a well-know commentar, is the subject of a brand new biography by John A. D’Elia. Ladd’s influence was large, his personal life depressing.
Table of Contents
Early life and academic preparation (1911-1950)
The emergence of a strategy (1950-1954)
Old battles and partial victories (1954-1959)
Beyond the borders (1959-1963)
The costs of engagement (1963-1966)
Surrendering the quest (1966-1982)
Michael F. Bird has a very detailed review over at Euangelion.
Amazon.co.uk info
Synopsis
George Eldon Ladd was a pivotal figure in the resurgence of evangelical scholarship in America during the years after the Second World War. Ladd’s career as a biblical scholar can be seen as a quest to rehabilitate evangelical thought both in content and image, a task he pursued at great personal cost. Best known for his work on the doctrine of the Kingdom of God, Ladd moved from critiquing his own movement to engaging many of the important theological and exegetical issues of his day. Ladd was a strong critic of dispensationalism, the dominant theological system in conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism, challenging what he perceived to be its anti-intellectualism and uncritical approach to the Bible. In his impressive career at Fuller Theological Seminary, Ladd participated in scholarly debates on the relationship between faith and historical understanding, arguing that modern critical methodologies need not preclude orthodox Christian belief. Ladd also engaged the thought of Rudolf Bultmann, the dominant theological figure of his day. Ladd’s main focus, however, was to create a work of scholarship from an evangelical perspective that the broader academic world would accept.
When he was unsuccessful in this effort he descended into depression, bitterness and alcoholism. But Ladd played an important part in opening doors for later generations of evangelical scholars, both by validating and using critical methods in his own scholarly work, and also by entering into dialogue with theologians and theologies outside the evangelical world. It is a central theme of this book that Ladd’s achievement, at least in part, can be measured in the number of evangelical scholars who are today active participants in academic life across a broad range of disciplines.
HT: Ardel Caneday
More information at Amazon: US
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Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on April 24, 2008
A very prolific scholar is professor David (Arthur) deSilva. Lately, I mentioned one of his recent articles here. However, there is more, much more. I will return to deSilva’s contributions later. Here I will call attention to the article that deSilva published recently:
deSilva, David Arthur. “What Has Athens To Do With Patmos? Rhetorical Criticism of the Revelation of John (1980-2005).” Currents in Biblical Research 6, no. 2 (2008): 256-89.
deSilva has published several articles on Revelation since 1991. Sometimes this means that a commentary is in preparation. And indeed! His homepage reveals:
A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, [to be submitted to the publisher in] 2008).
Personally, I look very much forward to yet another socio-rhetorical commentary, in addition to the one by Ben Witherington.
Additional works by deSilva on Revelation: deSilva, David Arthur. “The ‘Image of the Beast’ and the Christians in Asia Minor: Escalation of Sectarian Tension in Revelation 13.” Trinity Journal 12 (1991): 185-208.
________. “The Revelation to John: A Case Study in Apocalyptic Propaganda and the Maintenance of Sectarian Identity.” Sociological Analysis 53 (1992): 375-95.
________. “The Social Setting of the Revelation to John: Conflicts Within, Fears Without?” Westminster Theological Journal 54 (1992): 273-302.
________. “Honor Discourse and the Rhetorical Strategy of the Apocalypse of John.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 21, no. 71 (1998): 79-110.
________. “A Socio-Rhetorical Investigation of Revelation 14:6-13: A Call to Act Justly Toward the Just and Judging God.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 9 (1999): 65-117.
________. “Final Topics: The Rhetorical Functions of Intertexture in Revelation 14:14-16:21.” Pages 215-41 in The Intertexture of Apocalyptic Discourse in the New Testament. Edited by Duane F. Watson. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002.
________. “X Marks the Spot? A Critique of the Use of Chiasm in Macro-Structural Analyses of Revelation to John.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 30 (2008): 343-71.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on April 20, 2008
Take a look at the blog One coin at a time. Brett Telford is the owner of a fine collection of coins with The Twelve Caesars.
The entry “DOMITIAN!!!!!” displays two very fine photographs of a coin with Domitian.
Ethelbert Stauffer was a German Protestant theologian who held that gematria, the numerology of the Hebrew language and alphabet, could be used to explain the Biblical number 666. Stauffer computed this “Number of the Beast” using the short form of Domitian’s names and titles: Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus…
How? Don’t hesitate to visit this entry and Mr. Telford’s collection.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on April 19, 2008
Theology Today – Vol 16, No. 1 – April 1959 – BOOK REVIEW – The Book of Revelation & The Revelation of Jesus Christ & The Last Book of the Bible & Interpreting Revelation
The Book of Revelation
By Thomas S. Kepler
232 pp. New York, Oxford University Press, 1957. $4.50;
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
By Donald W. Richardson
Fourth Edition. 195 pp. Richmond, John Knox Press, 1957. Paper, $1.50;
The Last Book of the Bible
By Hanns Lilje
Translated by Olive Wyon
286 pp. Philadelphia, Muhlenberg Press, 1957. $4.50;
Interpreting Revelation
By Merrill C. Tenney
220 pp. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957. $3.50.
Poythress, Vern Sheridan. Understanding Dispensationalists. 2nd ed. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1994. 142 pp. Available online.
