Christian Zionisms

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According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Zionism is

‘a movement for the development and protection of a Jewish nation in Israel.’

My aim here is to briefly identify and distinguish between various expressions of Christian Zionism.

1. First phase

The Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions identifies the first phase of Christian Zionism as dating back to the 16th century.  It was a Protestant – mainly Calvinistic and Anglican phenomenon.

As documented in Iain Murray’s The Puritan Hope, there was a widespread belief among the Puritans in a latter-day spiritual awakening among Jewish people that would precede Christ’s return. …

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 Authentic Community (sermon notes)

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[This was delivered as a semi-scripted sermon; these notes represent the general drift of what was said.  Text in bold was shown on the screen]

‘Final instructions’

Not a random collection of odds and ends.  But a series of 17 quick-fire instructions, many of which are dealt with more fully in other letters by Paul and his associates.  (E.g. prophecy – 1 Cor 14).

There is a single overall theme:

Becoming the community God wants us to be.…

Mt 9:18–26, Mk 5:22–43 – The healing of Jairus’ daughter

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The healing of Jairus’ daughter is recorded in Mt 9:18–26, Mk 5:22–43 and Lk 8:41–56.

Bart Ehrman sees a ‘clear contradiction’ between Mark’s account  and Matthew’s.  The former has the daughter on the point of death; the latter has her already dead.

In response: It is quite probable that Matthew’s version is a simple abridgement, with consequent telescoping of detail.  (Matthew’s account has 9 verses, Luke’s 17 and Mark’s 23).

Sometimes, in the Gospels,

‘a passage may be so abbreviated that it seems to contradict a fuller parallel.

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Andrew Wilson: four types of divine healing

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Some while ago, Andrew Wilson wrote about four different types of healing.

Type #1: The ongoing healing that takes place every time I graze my knee, or a virus enters my body:

‘My body is being healed all the time, and it’s a result of the grace of the God who created me, searches me, knows me and loves me that he has designed a body that functions that way. I never want to forget – although I often do – the daily wonder of living in a self-repairing physical body.’

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Lloyd-Jones: cessationist, or continuationist?

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Even more than C.H. Spurgeon, Dr D.M. Loyd-Jones has divided his hearers and readers in respect of his views on the spiritual gifts.

In his book Strange Fire, John MacArthur offers a single quotation which demonstrates (presumably to MacArthur’s satisfaction) that Lloyd-Jones was a cessationist.

Actually, I’m going to present a rather more extended quotation than MacArthur offers:

‘A prophet was a person to whom truth was imparted by the Holy Spirit. . . .

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Spurgeon: cessationist, or continuationist?

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It is a common fault of speakers and writers to quote sources and evidence that support their position, while ignoring those that would tend to undermine it.

I don’t regard myself as exempt from this danger.  But I do realise the danger.

In an appendix to Speaking in the Spirit (2019), Stephen Wexler cites Wayne Grudem (a continuationist) and John MacArthur (a cessationist) as each quoting C.H. Spurgeon in favour of their own position on spiritual gifts.…

1 Thessalonians 5:19 – ‘Do not extinguish the Spirit’

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1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NET) — Do not extinguish the Spirit.

Is the reference here primarily to the ethical fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22f), or to the charismatic gifts of the Spirit (or neither, or both)?

Let’s consider the possibilities.

1. It refers to ethical behaviour (the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit)

In support of this interpretation, note that joy and thankfulness have just been mentioned, and these are closely linked with the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5.…

Cessationism – representative voices

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‘Cessationism’ is the name given to the view that the miraculous or extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased at the end of the apostolic age, when the canon of Scripture was complete.

Following are some representative voices (from this source).  I have seen the originals of some of these quotations, but not all of them.

John Calvin (1509-1564): ‘…the gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles, which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in order to make the preaching of the Gospel marvellous for ever’ (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Bk IV:19, 18).…

Ex 20:8 – “Remember the Sabbath day”

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20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. 20:9 For six days you may labor and do all your work, 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
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‘Texts of terror’: eight interpretative options

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Following Roger Olson, Matthew Lynch has outlined eight ways in which we might seek to understand the violence of the Old Testament.

I summarise.

1. Rejection.  Marcion and his followers rejected the Old Testament in its entirety.  Its wicked and violent God has been replaced by the kind and loving God of Jesus and the New Testament.

Objection: Fatal for this view is the fact that it rejects much of the New Testament as well.  For, (a) the New Testament endorses the Old Testament in its entirety; (b) the New Testament has its own share of problematic teaching. …