New Covenant Theology

[21centpilgrim]

Although NCT is mostly associated today with some within the Reformed Baptist camp, it's earliest appearance on the landscape of church history as a movement was with the 16th century Anabaptist. To them Christ was the lens of all of theology and the Sermon on the Mount played a major role in following Christ. This historical truth is down played in some measure because the Anabaptist were not Reformed.

[dwilkins]

Although NCT is mostly associated today with some within the Reformed Baptist camp, it's earliest appearance on the landscape of church history as a movement was with the 16th century Anabaptist. To them Christ was the lens of all of theology and the Sermon on the Mount played a major role in following Christ. This historical truth is down played in some measure because the Anabaptist were not Reformed.

No doubt the ideas are much older than the newest naming of them. In fact, I'm in the middle of reading Justin Martyr's "Dialog with Trypho" and it seems to me that it's the same message. Bercot and Viola are clear that the splitting of the Law into Levitical and civil code (in order to retain the civil code for Christianity) only became necessary when the church/state hybrid was born. The state needed religiously acceptable options for using force, so they went back to the Mosaic Law to get it.

Doug

[darinhouston]

I'm not sure some of the distinctives make sense with what I know about anabaptists -- but, I'm not sufficiently familiar with either to be sure. It wasn't brought out completely in the audio I posted, but one thing they seem to focus on (at least in debates I've heard) is the mixed multitude of Israel being still alive today. I believe they have a focus on the visible church and the elect within it. As an example, they see Jesus replacing Old Covenant circumcision (again, for the entire multitude) with New Covenant baptism (instead of a circumcision of the heart) which leads to the paedobaptist issue they hold. They see that a child enters the mixed multitude of the "visible church" and therefore required to be baptized just as a child entering Israel by birth was to be circumcised.

[dwilkins]

I just finished Reisinger's newest book, "New Covenant Theology and Prophecy". The book isn't so much about prophecy as hermeneutics. He already upset 1/2 of the world by calling out the Covenant Theologians. Now, he's calling out the Dispensationalists. I like his guts because I agree with him that both are wrong (though I don't agree with his Calvinism). I thought it was interesting that his final shot on the Dispensationalists was in reference to Acts 2:16. Reisenger basically said that if Peter meant that the events of Pentecost were in fact a fulfillment of Joel 2, then the Dispensationalists were in trouble. On the other hand, Reisenger has just committed to the Day of the Lord occurring in that generation.

I said earlier that New Coveant Theology led down a road to very strong Preterism (not necessarily Full Preterism, but at least J. S. Russell Preterism). I'll be curious if he experiences what Sproul did (a vicious attack on his ministry) or if he ever manages to publish anything again.

Doug

[21centpilgrim]

Darin,

It sounds like the New Covenant people that you are aware of are a rare breed, in that they adhere to infant baptism, while all of the NCT people I have interacted with and have read have definitely been credobaptist and see the NT corespondance of OT circumcision to be the circumcision of the heart by the Spirit.
There does not seem to be a single main voice for NCT and there are many differences within the belief system, although most are Reformed Baptist to some degree. It is still new on the horizon and gaining more and more traction and therefore more critics- mostly Covenant Theologians.

[21centpilgrim]

This might help for many.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Covenant_Theology

[dwilkins]

This might help for many.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Covenant_Theology

"Some logical deductions of New Covenant Theologians and advocates[7](such as Steve Lehrer of New Covenant Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona, Ben Ditzel of Truth Ministries and John G. Reisinger of Sound of Grace Ministries) have been that since "the whole Old Covenant is obsolete", "none of the commands of the Mosaic Law are binding on believers today."[8]. Covenant Theologians, on the other hand, believe that at least portions of the Old Testament law is binding on Christians, though there is some variation on which parts and how they apply."

That's an interesting quote from the link. If the movement lives long enough (and I doubt it will for very long in either Reformed or Dispensational circles) it will end up in strong preterism (defined as the Day of the Lord being in the past). It has to be so because the Day of the Lord is an element of the eschatology built into the Law of Moses. If the Law of Moses is over, the Day of the Lord has happened.I think that Reisinger might see a hint of this (thought I doubt he's come to grips with it yet) because of the way he called out Dispensationalists on Acts 2:16 (if the events of Pentecost come just before the Day of the Lord, and Reisinger is stipulating that Joel's prophecy was in fact being fulfilled in 30AD, then . . .).

Doug