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80 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Covenant Masterpiece, March 2, 2006
This review is from: God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Hardcover)
Dr. Horton has done the Reformed church another favor. Amidst the current assaults on the orthodox doctrines of justification by faith alone (because of Christ's imputed righteousness), the importance of the covenant of works, and the clear law/gospel distinction, this book will keep the Christian balanced and on the firm ground of classic, historical, Reformed orthodoxy.
Rather than over-emphasize one central dogma of the Reformed faith, Horton nicely describes the covenant as a sort of glue, or "web," that intimately connects the whole of theology. Describing the three covenants (Redemption, Works/creation, and Grace) from Scripture, Horton magnifies the person and work of Christ as the true King [David] and the true Servant [Israel].
If you've wondered about the relationship between the Adamic, Noahic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants, or if you've wondered about the relationship between the old and new covenants, this book is a must read. Horton neither wastes ink nor smears it on those he disagrees with; he is clearly a humble servant of Christ who seeks to make His riches known. And the way of covenant is an excellent and necessary way to do so.
I hope pastors read and study this book, I hope students devour it, and I hope lay-people take up the challenge to learn these doctrines. We need books like this to help guide us on our pilgrim way.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Needed Introduction, September 6, 2006
This review is from: God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Hardcover)
The Bible is replete with references to covenants, but how are we to understand them? What does it mean for created man to be in a covenant relationship with the Almighty God? How can understanding the biblical covenants impact our understanding of Scripture? Dr. Michael Horton seeks to answer these questions and more in his new book, God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology.
Dr. Horton begins in the first chapter by looking at the big picture of covenant thinking and why it matters. According to him, our understanding is important because "God's very existence is covenantal" and "we were not just created and then given a covenant; we were created as covenant creatures." (10) Chapter two looks more directly at Scripture by comparing Old Testament covenants with some secular covenants contemporary to them (known as suzerain treaties). From the Old Testament, Dr. Horton draws out two types of covenants and explores them in his third chapter: covenants of works and covenants of grace.
Following the examination of covenants in the Old Testament, Dr. Horton looks to the New Covenant noting that it is entirely distinct from the previous Sinai covenant. After the foundation work in the Bible is done, chapter five moves the discussion to systematic theology by considering the larger categories of the covenants of redemption, creation, and grace. In the sixth chapter, Dr. Horton explores themes of common grace from free will to how Christians are to view their place on Earth.
Finally in chapter seven, covenant theology is compared against its main theological competitor (dispensational theology) and looks at the relationship between Israel and the Church. The eighth chapter explores baptism and the Lord's Supper as signs and seals of the New Covenant. In the final chapter, Dr. Horton distinguishes between different understandings of biblical law in order to explain Christian obedience under the New Covenant.
As much as I agree with Dr. Horton on the major issues and mostly enjoyed the book, there were a number of issues that detracted from its quality. On at least point, Dr. Horton's position is unclear, and at worst inconsistent. On one hand he affirms that those in the New Covenant are true believers-"There are real partners in this covenant (God with believers and their children)" (105), but on the other he asserts, "not everyone in the covenant of grace is elect." (182) Another problem is that on a few occasions (pages 105, 131, 167, 182) he references children as members of the New Covenant, with the implication that they are eligible for the sacrament of baptism, but never supports this idea. Since infant baptism is a contentious issue among Reformed believers, he should have at least attempted to make a case for it.
A common criticism of theological discussion these days is that it's not practical. Following the principle that good practice is built upon sound theology, Dr. Horton had a great opportunity to make the book incredibly practical in the last chapter by explaining specifically what laws Christians ought to view as guidelines. Unfortunately, his (worthwhile) discussion remained abstract and readers will have to do their own work to figure out what use it has for Christian living.
Though the book is an introduction to covenant theology, it is more academic in nature, so readers would do well to have some theological experience. However, God of Promise fulfills a substantial need in our Reformed libraries. Very few books address the system of covenant theology directly, and Michael Horton is likely the best contemporary theologian to do so. God of Promise is a valuable resource for those seeking to understand the picture of biblical teaching and the resulting categories of Reformed theology.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A missed opportunity, July 17, 2009
This review is from: God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Hardcover)
With the resurgence of Reformed thought and the renovation of the support for covenantal ideas in the scholarship of the Ancient Near Eastern now is a perfect time to roll out to a new generation the classic covenant theology. In a book subtitled "An introduction to Covenant Theology" this is exactly what I was hoping Horton would do.
Unfortunately, in my opinion he misses an opportunity here a bit. This is not because I found any specific doctrinal disagreement with Horton, but because of where he chose to spend his energy.
The first part of the book is spent rolling out the widely discussed Suzerain-Vassal treaties. While this is nice corroboration for classic covenant ideals, it's kind of a "paste on" to the core of the theology. So I moved quickly through this section to get to chapter 5, which is where he really discusses the structure of covenant theology itself (perhaps a bit late).
On the good side, in this chapter Horton makes some very strong but subtle points which affect our reading of the Scripture and draws out a few quotes from classics like Geehardus Vos, Perkins, and a few other Puritans. On the bad side, he spends a lot of correcting O. Palmer Robertson's view, and then striking against the New Perspective on Paul with out naming it by name. It might be good content for a scholarly article, but it was not good content of an introduction to covenant theology. I left more clear on how he differed from Robertson than the actual import of covenant theology. It is only this chapter which deals directly with covenant theology itself and it's implication on our view of the Bible... the preceding chapters are preamble, and the following chapters are outworkings of the implications of covenant theology in various spheres.
Horton may have laid good groundwork for a renovation of the theology, but if it is going to impact a broader reading audience, someone is going to have to release a book which deals more completely with the historic theology and it's implications on our hermeneutics in a way that is more friendly to an average reader.
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