Affinity 01

I set off to the Affinity conference in High Leigh this morning and met Mark Johnston (Grove) and his assistant Simon Arscott en route. There are about 140 of us here including LTS students coming in on a daily basis. We began rightly with an examination of the concept of covenant in the history of theology. Dr Robert Letham (WEST) had prepared the paper; Robert Strivens (LTS) chaired.

Brief outline of the paper
1. Preliminary considerations
Covenant in the Bible; Covenant theology: a problem of definition
2. From the Apostles to Augustine
Covenant and redemptive history; Covenant and soteriology
3. Mediaeval Europe
Covenant and politics: mediaeval constitutional theory; Emergence of social contract theory;
The King and the rule of law; Soteriological perspective again
4. Covenant theology in the classic reformed period
Covenant of grace; Classic statement Westminster
Under law Under gospel
Covenant of works/life
Arguments against Rationale
Covenant and law; Covenant and politics; Covenant of redemption?
Extras
In addition to his paper Dr L called attention to the idea of progress in theology, warning of the danger of reading ideas back into history. He also spoke of the differences among Reformed theologians over the place of the Mosaic covenant in relation to the Abrahamic covenant. The majority with Calvin wrote of one covenant with different administrations. Generally the Puritans taught that Sinai was never intended to be a means of grace. As for the covenant of redemption, the idea is post Westminster standards beginning with Owen and others. It was intended to buttress the doctrine of penal substitution. Covenant and union with Christ are very important. However, for Dr Letham the notion as normally propounded undermines its own case by threatening classic Trinitarian doctrine. Owen was aware of this. Dr Letham seemed happier with John Brown, Dick, Kuyper, Hoeksema (Council of peace) – the Trinity in covenant with the Second Adam.
He closed with an amusing but slightly irrelevant reading from "Percy takes the plunge" by Rev W Awdry (sic)
Questions for clarification
These were with regard to one will in God. (Gethsemane is best understood as being an alignment of Christ's human and divine wills. Certainly God has one will and great care needs to be taken in the matter of the covenant of redemption. It was confirmed that Owen took the minority view that Sinai was a republication of the covenant of grace. The objection to the covenant of redemption was reiterated. It is like a business meeting, the Holy Spirit sending his apologies.
Small groups
We then adjourned to small groups for half an hour to consider five questions including
1. Mosaic covenant radically different from Abrahamic? After fall two different covenants or always only one covenant of grace?
We felt the second was development of the first.
2. Arguments for and against the pre-fall covenant of creation/nature/works/life? Are arguments against the priority of law valid? Not sure.
3. Should we abandon the idea of an eternal covenant? No.
We made little progress with these difficult questions despite some able contributors in our group.
Plenary questions
These didn't get us very much further. Dr Letham summed up recommending Last Things First: Unlocking Genesis 1-3 with the Christ of Eschatology by John V Fesko. He saw the covenant of works as logically deducible, opposing a solo scriptura approach (something evidenced in our small group). The covenant of redemption needs care in how it is formulated. The view has no confessional support.