Review of Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture. Edited by Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas
Review of Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture. Edited by Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas. Pp. 280. (Spectrum Multiview Book Series.) Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2022.
The Journal of Theological Studies, flad022, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flad022 Published: 28 June 2023
North American readers may be shocked to learn just how little time the rest of the world spends thinking about the differences between dispensationalism and covenantal theology. The skirmishes replayed in this book take place at the edge of most of our radars. This makes the book simultaneously invaluable and disappointing.
The usefulness is obvious: overhearing this very in-house debate is fascinating if you are interested in understanding contemporary US evangelicalism—a dominant cultural force worldwide. The editors, Brent Parker and Richard Lucas, have assembled a good collection of four scholars from different points along the covenantal and dispensational theology spectrums. Team covenant is represented by two well-known systematic theologians: Michael Horton, who lays out the case for the traditional reformed covenantal theology, and Stephen Wellum, who advocates for a progressive covenantal theology. On the dispensationalist side, theologian Mark Snoeberger defends a traditional dispensationalist view, while New Testament scholar Darrell Bock advances a more moderate form of dispensationalism.