Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 25:3 (Fall 2021)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

SBJT 25:3 (Fall 2021) p. 213

Book Reviews

Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11. Edited by Jared Compton and Andrew David Naselli. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2018, 266 pp., $21.99 paper.

Debates regarding the relationship between Israel and the church seem to have no end in biblical studies. While these discussions and arguments ultimately involve how one puts together the whole canon of Scripture and understands the meaning and interrelationships of the biblical covenants, there are many crucial texts that receive attention and focus. One such passage is Romans 9–11. Jared Compton and Andrew Naselli, the editors of this multi-view work, aim to address the meaning of Romans 9–11 and its bearing on the status of Israel and Israel’s role in biblical theology, and what implications may be drawn for the relationship between Israel and the church. The editors indicate that they are interested in how Romans 9–11 factors on one’s view of typology (is the nation of Israel a type of Christ or the church in such a way that Israel’s role is climatically fulfilled?) and the relationship of the covenants. What spawned this inquiry is the progressive covenantalism movement which was primarily initiated by Stephen Wellum and Peter Gentry (235–36).

The three main positions presented are framed around the discussion of typology and Israel. The three, somewhat unwieldy, names of the views are: 1) A Non-Typological Future-Mass-Conversion View, 2) A Typological Future-Mass-Conversion View, and 3) A Typological Non-Future-Mass-Conversion View. As observed in the titles of the views, the goal was to have two positions (views 1 and 2) that affirmed a future mass-conversion of Jews but differed on Israel’s typological role in biblical theology, and two positions which differed on the mass-conversion of ethnic Israelites but agreed on Israel’s typological role (views 2 and 3). The views in the book did not line-up into such clean-cut categories however, as all three views differ on their understanding of typology, while all the contributors agreed that “Israel” in Romans 9–11 always refers to ethnic Jews.

The first view, presented by Michael Vlach formerly of The Master’s Seminary (now he is a professor at Shepherds Theological Seminary), is a dispensational

SBJT 25:3 (Fall 2021) p. 214

view, which not only rejects Israel as a type of Christ or the church (unless typology is redefined to refer to mere correspondences), but argues that Romans 9–11...