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David E
Holwerda,jesus
>
Israel:
One
Covenant
or
Two?
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1995), xi, 193pp, indexes.
PeterW. L Walker,jesus
and
the Holy City:
New
Testament
Perspectives onJerusalem
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1996) , xiii,
370
pp,
indexes.
Dan Cohn-Sherbok, The
Crucified jew: Twenty
Centuries
o
Christian Anti Semitism
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1992), xx, 258
pp,
indexes.
Raymond
C Ordund, Jr.,
Whoredom:
God s
Unfaithful Wife in
requiring these in courses I teach
at
Bahnsen Theological
Seminary.
Another of the books is a very
insightful analysis of the topic
of
spiritual adultery and the people
of
God: Ordund s Whoredom:
God s Unfaithful Wife
in Biblical
Theology.
This might
seem an
odd book to review under the
topic of israeL Nevertheless,
because of my doctoral studies
on the Book
of
Revelation this
tide greatly intrigued me. I
believe Revelation relates God's
divorce of Israel for covenant
adultery (the seven sealed scroll
biblical view
of
Israel, this is the
volume
you have
been looking
for.
Because
of the political
correcmess movement of our day
and the
non-academic
dispensationalist charges of
reformed anti-Semitism,
Holwerda
opens with some
insightful comments about anti
Semitism. He
puts
his finger
squarely
on
the
problem
of such
charges - charges
loudly
proclaimed in Cohn-Sherbok's
book: If evangelical Christianity
persists in claiming
to
be
the
only way to God,
then
it is anti
Biblical Theology (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996),
200 pp,
indexes.
ISR EL
Semitic to
the
core.
He
cites
Jewish scholar
Lapide's
demand
for
continuing dialogue
between
Jews
and
Any
Christian
with
an
interest in biblical
theology and eschatology
CHRISTI N lY
Christians: He insists
must face the question
of
the role
of
Israel in the plan
of
God. All evangelicals agree:
God's redemptive purpose in the
o d Testament focuses
on
Israel
as his special people. But all
evangelicals
do
not
agree
on
the
answer to the questions; What is
Israel's present role in the new
covenant era?
What
is God's
prophetic purpose for Israel n
the future? These are important
issues, which, if unresolved,
wholly
undermine
one's
understanding of Scripture.
Holwerda's
jesus
>
Israel
and
Walker's
Jesus
and the Holy
City
are among
the
finest theological
analyses I have ever read
on
the
question
of
IsraeL
n
fact, these
books
qUickly established
themselves as among the most
important
theological treatises I
have read
on any
topic. I will
be
( Rev. Kenneth Gentry) that there are three errors
that form
the roots of
is a divorce decree},
her
capital
punishment
(the fiery judgments
on
the
harlot), and Christ's
turning to take a new bride, the
Church
(the
new
Jerusalem from
heaven). This is not
the
view
of
Ortlund, but his helpful study of
spiritual Whoredom throughout
Scripture proved quite beneficial
for
my
research.
The remaining
book
is not
even a Christian book - though
funded, printed
and
distributed
by amajor evangelical publisher.
Colm-Sherbok is a Jewish
theologian
who
sees Christianity
as ittherendy
and
foundationally
anti-Semitic.
Holwerda'sJesus > Israel
ought to
be
in the library
of
every reformed Christian. fyou
want to get a handle on the
Christian animosity
toward the Jews and that
therefore
must be
rejected
by
Christians if dialogue with Jews
is to be possible at all. These
three - errors'
are that
Jesus was
the Messiah of Israel, that he was
rejected by the Jews, and that he
in tum has repudiated
them
(p.9). (I am hoping some classic
dispensationalists such as Dave
Hunt and Tommy Ice and
their
doomsayer friends will
stumble
upon this book. It ought to
correct
their
groundless moral
charges against covenant
theology.)
With careful precision and
clarity of expression Holwerda
shows
that
Christ is the
fulfillment of Israel. His chapters
studyJesus in relation to Israel,
the Land, the Temple, and the
June, 1997 THE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon 21
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 5 - Israel and Christianity: A Review Article - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Law. His sixth chapter then
considers the question: "A
FutUre for Jewish Israel?"
He
holds a very postmillennial-like
view as found in Murray's '
commentary
on Romans.
In
his
final chapter he inquires whether
Israel as a nation with a temple
centered worship will rise again
in
fulfillment of the plan of God. '
Though I do not,converse well in
Latin, I do know some Spanish:
his answer to this issue is
effectually: No way, Jose.
By careful theolOgical analysis
Holwerda shows us the
remarkable correspondences
between the history of Israel and
the llle of Christ. These are not
accidents of history,
but
are
indications of Jesus' functioning
as God's true Israel. Page after
page of the GospeJ.record exhibit
Jesus as the fulfillment of IsraeL
For instance, the Old Testament
promises of theregatheting of
Israel to the Land are
fulfilled
in
the gathering of the Jews
in
Christ, i.e., in salvation. With a
wealth of biblical'research we are
brought to a greater appreciation ,
of the depth and glory of the
Scripl;Uralstory of Christ, as well
as to the meaning and purpose
of IsraeL
After reading Holwerda's
book I thought I was confident I
had
stumbled
on
the most
helpful book I could possibly
have
on
the question of Israel.
Then I read Walker's
Jesus and
the
Holy
City
If you want
to
purchase only one book on the
relationship 'bf Israel, Scripture,
and Christianity, I don't know
what to tell you - 1 am in a strait
betwixt two." But ifyou are
deeply intereSted in biblical
theology and Israel, you simply
must buy two books; Holwerda's
and Walker's.
Today
Walker's work is a post
doctoral treatise written lUlder a
fellowship at Tyndale House,
Cambridge. He was urged to
pursue this work after some
lectures he
gave
on
the
New
Testament and Jerusalem in
1984. I am glad he took up the '
challenge; I simply could not put
down the work after I read the
first
few
pages.
n
fact, I
immediately re-worked a debate
book
on the great tribulation
that I ~ doing for Kregal,
incorporating some of Walker's
insights. Eerdmans really should
print the book with yellow pages
so the reader
can
save his yellow '
highlighter for sparing
in
use in
other books.
My
copy now glows
yellow at night.
Questions broached inJestts
and the
Holy City include: What
is the biblical sigumcance of
Jerusalem? What was Jesus'
attirude toward the city and its
temple? Did the New Testament
writers see Jerusalem
as
being
affected by the coming of Jesus?
How
should ChristiilIlS
view
Jerusalem today? His answers
parallel those of Holwerda's, His
research, though, digs even ,
deeper. Being larger (with
smaller print
d m o r e p a g e s
Walker provides more detail
' than Holwerda.
Not only is the book's Content
incredibly insightful
but
its
clearly structured outline and
format are helpful for both the
academic researcher and the
casual reader. Each chapter title
. clearly relates its subject matter.
Each chapter begins with a brief
22
TIlE
COONSEL of Chalcedoll JU1ll , 997
s y n o p s i s d i s t i l l i n g t h ~ ~ e of
his
research. Jbe book is heavily .
foomoted with bibliographical '
references and argum;I).tative '
expansions, I noticed only a fe:n
typos (pp. 120, 132, 135n,141;,
,272"5: A thorough bibliography ,
and a detailed index
are
crOwning
touches for
this
imponant tteatise.
Though the Ihemeof the
book16euses on Jerusalem.
Walker necessarily dealS with the '
three-fold reality 'of Israel: iis '
city, land; and temple. Each '.
chapter,analyzes the biblical-
theolOgical perspectives oLselect
New Testament write:rs on these
three'issues. The New Testament
writeis
c h ~ S ; I .
for analysis are .
those who dea1expressly\vjth
Jerusalem: Mark, Matthew, Luke,
John, 'the riter of Hebrews,and
the writer of Revelation (he
s
' '
not
) . U e
John the Apostle wrote
it).
, ; The conservative
f e f o r m ~ d
Christianwill need to brace
himself for lj.Jew higher Ciitlca :, .
infelicities - although not really .
that
many.
Also
IdjsagreWitIi.
his
iate-dating o f R t ; v e l ~ i j o n { ~ d
' some otherNew Testiment
books), n
fact.
I think
his
chapter on e ~ l a t i o n would ;
'haye
been
strengthene4 had he
accepted an approach like
,
(which I bridly Ill;I).tiOI\ above).
He
does cite frequently frolli
my
efore
Jerusalem Fell,
sometiInes
a g r e e i n g , s o n ( ~ t i m e S
d i s a ~ ~ g
,
Another,oppor:tunity
hi
DiS,Ses is
in his handling of He\>rews '
12:27-28, wherehe sees
th,e
removal of created things" as a
removal of the earth, rather th n
thdewlsh ritual system (cf. Heb, '
9:11,24). '
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 5 - Israel and Christianity: A Review Article - Counsel of Chalcedon
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I cannot recommend any
books more highly for the
serious student of Scripture than
Holwerda's
Jesus
Israel and
Walker's Jesus
and
the
Holy
City
Now
Cohn-Sherbok's
The
CrucifiedJew is another story.
Upon reading it I was somewhat
taken aback that Eerdmans
would publish this work, for two
reasons: (1) Cohn-Sherbok
chastises evangelical Christian
orthodoxy as irtherendy anti
Semitic. (2) Eerdmans publishes
the two books reviewed above,
books that Cohn-Sherbok would
deem anti-Semitic (it reminds
me
of
the federal government's
SUbsidizing tobacco farming then
making cigarette manufacturers
put
a dea th warning
on
cigarette
packages).
But then I began to realize the
utility
of
Cohn-Sherbok's book:
This is the perfect tool to
demonstrate to classic
dispensationalists (such as Hal
Lindsey in his The
Road
to
Holocaust that the charges of
anti-Semitism levied against
reformed, covenantal theology
are really against evangelical,
conservative Christianity. I
argued
this
in my
Dispensationalism in
Transition newsletter in 1993. I
wish I
had
had The CrucifiedJew
on hand
for proof. Lindsey,
Hunt, Ice, and other
apocalyptists mistakenly assume
that their dispensational system
with a Jewish millennuim .
relieves them of historical
charges
of
anti-Semitism (even
though their view husdes the
Jews
back
into Israel in time for
the great tribulation which wiD
result in the destruction of one-
third of worldwide jewry). But
since reformed theology teaches
that the Church is the new Israel
(the body of Christ, the
fulfillment of Israel), we
must
somehow
be
anti-Semitic.
One blurb on the back cover
will set up my complaint:
Booklist states that Cohn
Sherbok has rendered an
important service .. [He shows]
that anti-Semitism is not a
historical relic. Knowing its
history may enable
contemporary readers to
confront it more effectively
whenever and wherever it show
itself in the present. Now let us
see
how
the author demonstrates
Christian anti-Semitism - an
anti-Semitism conducted
ironically by followers of the
jew, Jesus Christ, who is related
to
the
world by the Jewish
aposdes. just a
few
select quotes
will illustrate the problem.
What
is the seedbed of hatred
of
the jews
and
of anti-Semitism?
Not reformed theology,
but
the
New Testament: The seeds of
anti-Semitism were sown in
Christian sources and nurtured
throughout the history of the
Church (p.xiv) The New
Testament laid the foundations
for later Christian hostility to the
Jewish nation. This New
Testament tradition served as the
basis for the early Church's
vilification of the Jews (p.xv).
The New Testament thus laid
the foundation for the
theological negation ofJl.\daism
and the vilification of the jewish
people (p.12). Matthew
referred to these unbelievers
Dews]
as
hypOCrites, blind fools.
and serpents ..Such a view of the
Church - in opposition to the
official leaders of the nation -
was a starting point for the
tragic history of Christian anti
Jewish vilification and attack
(pp. 14-15).
Thus the Jewish leaders are
depicted as rejecting and killing
jesus, whereas the first believer
was a Roman centurion (Mark
15:39). The Good Samaritan is
contrasted
with
the faithless jew
(Luke 10:33). The Gentiles will
come from all places to sit
at
the
Messianic banquet while the
sons of the Kingdom
w ll
be cast
into outer darkness (p.1S).
What
is the horrendous
immorality that led Christians to
persecute jews? The declarat ion
that Christianity is
the
true
religion that alone can promise
salvation: In
common with
other groups at this time, the
early Christians believed
themselves to
be
the true Israel
in opposition to official Judaism,
and such a conception provided
the basis fot the subsequent
repudiation of
Judaism and
the
vilification
of
the
jews
.. [T]he
Jewish faith was seen as a stage
on the way to Christianity rather
than as
an
authentic religiOUS
experience with its own inherent
validity (p.S).
Cohn-Sherbok contiI).ues:
For the Church, Judaism was
an
obsolete faith rejected
by
God
because
of
its rejection
of
Christ,
and
it
was Christianity which
had now become the spiritual
fulfillment of the Hebrew
Scriptures
p.ll).
After citing
Romans 2:24, Colossians 2:16-
17, Galations 3:6-7, 2
Corinthians 3:7-18, Galations
4:S-10, 2S, 30, and other
Juue, 1997
THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 23
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 5 - Israel and Christianity: A Review Article - Counsel of Chalcedon
4/4
passages, he states: "The Church
then h s not simply superseded
Judaism; rather the two faiths ,
stand in opposition. judaism. '
belongs to the
realm
of fallen
Adam,
but
Christianity fulfils the
divine promises recorded in
Scripture" (p.22). 'Jewish
law
has thus been
superseded
.fu:oughChrist's death, and it
Is
now
the Christian faith alone
which offers salvation to the
world" (p.2S).
Ofjohn s record of the jews
crying out, "Crucify him,crucify
him :;.We have a law, and
by
that law he ought to die, because
he h s
made
himself the Son
of
God" (John 19:6-7), Cohn
Sherbok comments: "It
is
thus
the Jewish, rather than the
Rom,ljIlauthorities, who are held
responsible for his death ..
Not
surprisingly such a diatribe
against the jews and the jewish
faith has served as a basis
of
Christian persecution
of
the jews
thrOllgh the centuries" (p.2S).
The greatest anti-Seinite
of
all
times was nOri-other thanjesus
Chiist: "The early Church
believed itself to be the authentic
heir to the promises given by
God in Scripture: jesus '
messiahship ushered in a new
era in which the true Israel
would
pecome a light to the
nations .Such a vision of the
christian commuIrity evoked
hostility against the Jewish
people, who were regarded as
apostate
and
umepentant. This
animosity was fueled
by
the
Gospel writers who described
jesus atia-cking the leaders of the
nation whom
he a Use
of
hypocrisy and iniquity" (p.l2). "
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. hank You
declared - 'for you have taken
away the key of knowledge; you
did not enter yourselves, and
you hindered those who were
entering' (Luke 11: 52). This
Challenge
to
the false religion of
Israel became a rallying cry for
christians,
and
jesus'
denunciation
of
the leaders
of
the people served to justify the
Christian denunciation of both
thejews and the jewish
faith
through .the centuries: (p.l?).
I wonder i Arabs have ever
used the Jewish Tanakh (our Old
Testament) as evidence of Jewish
hatred? After all, it says, "jacob
have I loved but Esau have I '
hated: And what of]ewlsh holy
war references made
in
reference'
to the original inhabitants of the
Promised Land? Do these make
judaism per se anti-gentilic? I
think not.
We
must
not deny that '
Christians have too often sinned '
in persecuting the]ews. This is a
sin of great.enormity. But
it
is
not in
a class
by
itself. It is little
different rom Christians
persecuting Christians, such
as
the Roman Catholics the
Protestants, and vice versa. Nor
should we forget that the Jews
also persecuted the Christians
(Acts, Polycarp's death, etc.), and
still do today in Israel (through
legal restrictions, not death). The
tendency in the modem
politically-correct world is to
separate hate crimes from Simple
murders, making murdering a
minority more evil than
murdering a non-mlnority: Sin is
sin, no matter against whom it Is
committed. n
2-4 THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon
June,
1997
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