A friend wrote asking for a list of books I’ve read touching Covenant theology. He thought given the current controversy on identifying the Israel of God (who Israel has become in NT theology) that it would be a profitable list. All of these books will make clear that OT Israel was the cocoon that was shuffled off when it became the butterfly that is the Church, and so there are no further promises left to the Israel after the flesh.
So, I offer this list, as I randomly have recalled my reading over the decades;
1.) Cornelius Venema – Christ And Covenant Theology: Essays on Election, Republication
Deals with issues surrounding the rise of covenant theology in relation to R2K theology.
2.) Stephen Myers – God to Us: Covenant Theology in Scripture
Is intended as something of a primer in Reformed covenant theology
3.) O. Palmer Robertson – Christ of the Covenants
Traces Christ through the unfolding of the one covenant of grace.
4.) Charles D.Provan – The Church is Israel Now: The Transfer of Conditional Privilege
Demonstrating, from Scripture that it is Dispensationalists who practice replacement theology by replacing the Church with unbelieving Israel
5.) David Howeldra – Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two?
Argues that the promises to OT Israel are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
6.) O. T. Allis – Prophecy & The Church
Absolutely destroys Dispensationalism’s teaching that promises remain to physical Israel. Best book I’ve ever read unraveling Dispensationalism’s errant views of covenant theology.
7.) O Palmer Robertson – The Israel of God
Robertson examines the OT prophecies related to land, God’s people, the coming Kingdom and other topics and shows how Christ and his church fulfill those prophecies today.
8.) Francis Roberts – God’s Covenants: The Mystery and Marrow of the Bible
Five volumes. I’ve only made it through Vol. 1. Exhaustive explanation of the covenant of Grace as understood in the classical “Covenant of Works,” “Covenant of Grace” paradigm.
9.) Rowland Ward – God and Adam
A handy volume giving a birds eye view of various explanations of the mechanics of covenant theology. Very helpful.
10.) Geerhardus Vos – Biblical Theology: Old and New Testament
Vos was an absolute genius. I’ve read everything I have been able to find by him. You will not understand Covenant theology until you have read Vos. Unfortunately Vos was Amil so read discerningly on that score.
11.) G. K. Beale – A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New
Beale argues that every major concept of the New Testament is a development of a concept from the Old and is to be understood as a facet of the inauguration of the latter-day new creation and kingdom. The emphasis is on the continuity between OT and NT which only covenant theology can provide. Beale is another genius who has greatly helped me. Again … he is Amill.
12.) Jonathan Gerstner – Wrongly Dividing the Truth
An needed attack on Dispensationalism that presupposes Covenant theology.
13,) Geerhardus Vos, ‘The Doctrine of the Covenant in Reformed Theology’ in Richard B. Gaffin (ed.), Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: the Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos
14.) J. D. Hall & Joel Webbon – The Hyphenated Heresy: Judeo-Christianity
Though not strictly a book on covenant theology this book does demonstrate repeatedly that the Church is the inheritor of all the promises to Israel and is today the “Israel of God.” Clearly teaches that OT physical Israel has been replaced (fulfilled) by the Church.
14.) See also the appropriate sections of Systematic Theologies
Robert Letham
Louis Berkhof
Charles H. Hodge
Herman Bavinck
Robert Reymond
Francis Turretin
R. L. Dabney
John Calvin (Institutes 2: 9-11)
Herman Hoeksema
HH offers a decidedly different view of the covenants seeing more continuity between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace than what might be termed “classical Reformed” theology. However, HH makes some interesting points that are worthy of consideration.
These are what I remember reading off the top of my head. If I recall more I will edit and add them at a later date.
