Friday, May 25, 2007

A Light to the Nations 2

The sentiments in my previous post would probably not come as a surprise to Sydney evangelical Don Robinson. He is a rare breed: a conservative evangelical theologian (a Moore College lecturer, no less) who has a high view of God's continuing purposes for ethnic Israel, whilst steering clear of dispensationalism. His chapter on "Jew & Gentile in the New Testament" in his book "Faith's Framework" (available here ) was very influential in my thinking.
It is a well-written, coherent and convincing argument AGAINST the prevailing view of "supersessionism", most popularly expressed in terms that the church is the "New Israel" - a view which seems most widely propagated in Bible overview books and courses. I am convinced that this view is potentially damaging to the cause of Jewish mission, will (at least in its more extreme forms) be perceived as antisemitic by non-believing Jewish people (see here and here; I am NOT implying that all those who hold to a "New Israel" view are anti-Semites, nor that they do not support Jewish mission); and, most importantly, lacks clear Biblical support. Robinson's refreshing view to the contrary deserves a wide readership.

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