Hal Lindsey and the Restoration of the Jews
In The Road to Holocaust, Hal Lindsey alleges that a non-dispensational hermeneutic leads to anti-Semitism since it denies a future preeminence of Judaism. That his charge is ludicrous has of course been demonstrated. Lindsey's Holocaust has been refuted by Bahnsen and Gentry in House Divided and by DeMar and Leithart in The Legacy of Hatred Continues. The anti-Semitism charge is addressed by Steve Schlissel in DeMar's The Debate Over Christian Reconstruction. The reconstructionists have their problems, but anti-Semitism isn't one of them.
Since The Late Great Planet Earth was published in 1970, Lindsey has immersed himself in eschatological folly with his wild and ever-changing speculations buttressed with strange exegesis. He has been proven to be an irresponsible scholar; he misrepresents those with whom he disagrees, and his handling of Scripture is atrocious. So, I was at first disappointed to see that Still Waters Revival expended the effort to publish this, yet another, Lindsey rebuttal called Hal Lindsey and the Restoration of the Jews. But we must not judge a book by its cover -- or title.
As the title indicates, the purpose of this book is to address Hal Lindsey's view — and more broadly, the premillennial view — of the restoration of the Jews. Despite the title, very few of its pages actually address Hal Lindsey. This is fine, since Lindsey has been ably refuted already. Instead, the book positively sets forth a postmillennial view of the Jews' future.
The first section of the book is written by Steve Schlissel, who shows that the Reformed faith has historically been pro-Israel. But in contrast to the dispensational view, this does not mean the restoration of apostate Jews to the land of Palestine. Rather, it is concerned about the restoration of the Jews to God through Christ. This is reflected in the call of the Westminster Directory for Publick Worship to pray "for the conversion of the Jews."
Schlissel makes many other astute points that bear on the subject of Israel. His ideas take the form of random notes, though they are very discerning. At the bottom of one of his long footnotes he quips, "But I seem to be starting another article" (p. 53n.). Readers who don't mind Steve-o's chattiness and stream-of-consciousness approach will find many stimulating thoughts in the first section of this book. (My "Steve-o" remark is patterned after his cavalier references to "Dear Dr. Louie" Berkhof and R.L. "Dabney the Magnificent".)
David Brown's section, "The Restoration of the Jews," was written in 1861 by a scholarly postmillennialist. He carefully separates himself from millennarian literalism and Israel-Church distinctions, and argues for a covenantal hermeneutic. He holds that the land promised to Abraham's seed will one day be given to the Jews after their conversion promised in Romans 11:23ff. While Romans 11 refers only to the people of Israel, Brown claims that the land of the Abrahamic covenant must go together with the people. His primary evidence is the many prophetic passages where the two are promised together.
This reviewer has held that the promised land that will one day be possessed by believers is the whole earth, of which Canaan is a part. Note, for example, Paul's extension of the fifth commandment's blessing: "that you may live long on the earth" (Eph. 6:3), instead of "that your days be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you" (Ex. 20:12, Dt. 5:16). While the ethnic descendants of Abraham are still important to God's plan, I'm not sure that their land is.
Brown's argument is strong, and I highly recommend it to you. I don't find it totally convincing, but he offers the reader much to consider.
If asked to give examples of things we think of as doctrines, most of us would come up with the Trinity, original sin, soteriology, eschatology, and other lofty sounding topics. This book examines something we often take for granted -- eldership -- and shows that it, also, is a doctrine to which we need to devote serious, biblical consideration and study.
Mr. Strauch introduces his book by setting forth the six goals he has in writing. His purpose is to explain biblical eldership, to restore it to the church, to challenge false traditions of church leadership, to encourage those who are presently elders, to raise up new elders, and to teach believers their obligations to their elders. Mr. Strauch points out that God has not been silent about church government, but that many Christians, nevertheless, take an indifferent attitude toward the subject. He finds it "ironic that some evangelical leaders today are more concerned about the structure of the United States government than the structure of God's church." The result is nothing less than the hampering of the spiritual growth of those who are leaders, and the inability of the church adequately to perform her ministry.
This book is not for those who want a quick overview of the doctrine of eldership. It is a study. Mr. Strauch takes pains to ground his points on the language and context of Scripture. Seventeen of the twenty-one chapters are focused studies of the various verses and passages addressing some aspect of eldership. He shows that church leadership is to be plural and shared among the elders, rather than the singular and hierarchical form which manifests itself in the pattern of one "pastor" who does all the work, and a board which gives him a hard time for not doing the job right. He shows the variety of duties the elders have, and how they are to be shouldered according to the gifts of each. Working through this book produces not only an overwhelming sense of the sheer hard work required of all elders, but a feeling of deep joy and gratitude that God would raise up gifted and dedicated men to do it. The reader is also left with the conviction that there is much reformation needed in this area if the church is to function in full obedience to God's purpose.
This book provides solid food for elders, aspiring elders, and Christians who are seeking to honor God within the local church. Read it for yourself, then put a copy in the offering basket.
If it is proper to judge a ministry or publication by whether or not it is addressing the fundamental need of the hour, then this journal is one that ought to be in every pastor's study, and in every church library. There is no greater need for the evangelical church today than a second Reformation and the consequent revival of a powerful ministry of the proclaimed Word.
But, of course, good intentions do not necessarily accomplish their stated purposes. I subscribed to this journal in the hope that the content would be as good as the publicity for it. Having read through the first issue, I am happy to report that it is, and that this journal really does belong in every pastor's study, etc.
The theme of the first issue was "Reformation." Contributors, including Tom Wells, J.I. Packer, and Erroll Hulse, have articles arranged around this general theme. There are biographical sketches (of Luther and Baxter), historical instruction (on the three principles of Protestantism), admonition and exhortation (on the starving of the modern church), etc.
Having poured the doctrinal foundation, future issues of the journal will seek to build upon that foundation. For example, the second issue of the journal will deal with the subject of revival. Without doctrinal reformation first, any purported revival would not be true revival, poured out by the Spirit of God, but rather some sort of flesh-induced happy time. It is clear that this journal will enable Christians generally to distinguish true revival from a spurious revivalism. The former is God-given and consequently God-centered. The latter is man-induced and consequently man-centered.
It is to be hoped that future issues will address the historical details of how the evangelical church came to sell her birthright of reformational truth in the first place. The decline has not been a plunge off a precipice, but rather a steady and slow slope downward, with each new step away from the purity of grace seeming, in itself, "not that bad."
It is not that the journal is perfect, but any criticisms I could muster would lay me open to the just charge of nit-picking -- so I forbear.
In the back of the journal is a helpful section of book reviews. If one cannot buy everything he sees advertised in the Christian publishing world, a reliable source of book reviews can help him buy well. Which brings us full circle; we trust that this review will help our readers with the choice of subscribing to this journal. Information on how to subscribe to this publication can be obtained at 1-708-653-4144.
The point of this booklet is simple and direct: Christians are watching too much television, and it is having a spiritually devastating effect on the church and her mission.
Consider some of the points: Television is in direct and open competition with God's revealed word in seeking to establish itself as the sole authority in the interpretation of reality. TV robs us of the ability to carry on relationships by involving our attention in non-interactive programming. TV's limited ability to communicate events leaves us with a superficial knowledge of complex subjects. TV's advertising encourages and feeds on covetousness. TV's programming becomes increasingly debauched as it seeks innovative methods of holding our attention. TV's passive entertainment discourages imagination, thought, meditation, and prayer. TV warps our worldview through its aggressive attacks on God, Christianity, absolute truth, marriage, and the family. In short, television does real damage which cannot help but affect how we operate in the world. The church cannot properly be obedient to God with the boob tube blaring in the background.
Unfortunately, Schlissel presents his important message in a context and style that will prevent many believers from reading it. The context, as the title suggests, is the dominion theology of the Christian Reconstruction movement. Many Christians may be put off by that, and will not be prompted to consider the consequences of a bad habit they, also, need to break. The topic of "too much television" is applicable to all of God's people, and it is a shame that Mr. Schlissel limits his audience to the members of his own choir.
As for the style, the lack of effective editing detracts from the author's abilities as a teacher, scholar, and writer. This booklet was produced by transcribing, apparently verbatim, from a sermon. While the spoken word allows for a certain amount of laxity in structure, the written word does not. No editor who wanted to keep his job would let this kind of writing appear in print, and one wonders how the writer and his publisher let it get by them. I have read some of the author's writing, and it is much more polished than it appears here. If this were my first exposure to him, however, I would be tempted to avoid his other works.
Aside from these drawbacks, Television or Dominion makes a valid point which all believers need to consider. To facilitate this, I encourage the author to make it more readable and to broaden his audience so that the blessing may flow to many more than it currently will.
