Frequently Asked Questions
Why do CVP's leaders talk so often about covenants and "covenant theology?"
There are two primary ways to look at Scripture. The first, Dispensationalism, sees the Old and New Testaments as relating to two completely different eras: Israel and the Church. This results in great differences between Israel and the Church, particularly between Israel as a nation under law versus the Church as a people under grace. Additionally, most Dispensationalists believe that God is not finished with Israel as a nation. The Church, therefore, is considered a "parenthesis" in God's history of dealing with Israel. This leads many Dispensationalists to read prophecy in a literal, futuristic sense as applying primarily to ethnic Israel.
The second hermeneutic, Covenantalism, sees a fundamental continuity between the Old and New Testaments. Those who live in the New Testament era are heirs to the same promises as those of the Old Testament era. They are expected to obey the same laws, worship in the similar ways (excepting those ceremonial/sacrificial elements that were abolished by Christ's self-sacrifice), and believe the same things. This has important results in the areas of worship, the role of the Law, the meaning of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and so on.
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