Covenant theology
Covenant theology, often referred to as federal theology, is a framework within Christian theology that emphasizes the significance of covenants—binding agreements between God and humanity—as central to understanding the relationship between the two. Rooted in the beliefs of both Judaism and Christianity, this theological perspective organizes religious beliefs around key covenants established by God with figures such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. Each covenant carries specific promises and conditions; for instance, God's covenant with Noah includes the promise to never again flood the earth, signified by the rainbow.
The concept gained prominence during the Protestant Reformation, where reformers like Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger highlighted its importance in their writings. This framework profoundly influenced groups such as the Puritans, who identified three main covenants: the Covenant of Works, the Covenant of Grace, and the Covenant of Redemption. Each of these conveys different aspects of humanity's relationship with God and underscores themes of obedience, grace, and redemption.
In modern times, while covenant theology still holds relevance, some theological movements have shifted focus toward the individual's personal relationship with God, moving away from collective covenants. Notable theologians like Karl Barth have contributed to this evolving discourse, reflecting the diverse interpretations and applications of covenant theology within the broader Christian tradition.
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Covenant theology
Covenant theology, sometimes known as federal theology, is a study of religious beliefs that is based on the idea that the relationship between humans and God is centered on a series of covenants. A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more parties that commits each to a specific course of action in relationship to the other party or parties. While covenants have been part of religious belief and practice in many faith traditions and part of the Jewish and Christian faiths since the earliest days of Judaism, the concept of religious belief being organized around these covenants dates to the Protestant Reformation. Later, in the nineteenth century, some Christian denominations would place a new emphasis on covenant theology.
Background
A covenant is a promise or oath to which two or more parties agree to be bound. While the term can be applied to an agreement between two people, such as a marriage covenant, or between entities such as two governments, as in a treaty, the term is often applied to agreements between a deity and the people who worship the deity.
Jews and Christians share belief in the same God and their faith traditions include a number of covenants between humans and God. Islam, another Abrahamic faith, also recognizes covenants made by God. God made covenants with Noah (Genesis 9:9-17), Abraham (Genesis 17:1-10), Moses (Exodus 34:10, 24), and David (2 Samuel 7:9-16), among others. To Abraham, he promised that he would make his descendants numerous and that he would protect and guide them, in exchange for them obeying God's rules and living lives that would show others that God was the one true God. Abraham obeyed God's requests, including having all males of his family circumcised, establishing that as a sign of the covenant with God that Jews continue to keep.
In exchange for Noah's obedience in building the ark, God promised that he would never again destroy the earth with floodwaters. The rainbow that appears after storms is the sign of that covenant. The ten commandments—rules given by God—are the sign of the covenant with Moses, known as the Mosaic or Sinai covenant, because Mount Sinai is where God gave the commandments to Moses. Again, the promise is that the people obey and God protects and guides.
The covenant with David was different from the previously mentioned covenants because it did not carry a requirement of obedience. God promised David that the Messiah would come from David's lineage and that Judah, or Israel, would be an unending kingdom. These were unconditional promises.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ, a descendent of David through the lineage of his adoptive father, Joseph, is the Messiah promised in God's covenant with David. Christians believe that Jesus instituted a new covenant through his death and resurrection. This did not abolish all of the rules of the old covenants of Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David, but made it more possible to fulfill them because of the forgiveness of sins and grace that comes through Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, according to Christian belief. These covenants were important to the Jews and to the Christians in the early centuries of the church and throughout the Middle Ages.
Overview
During the Protestant Reformation between 1517 and 1648, some reformers focused on these covenants as key parts of their theology. This was especially true of Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger, who each wrote several works that emphasized covenant theology. Their writings, especially Bullinger's Decades of Sermons (1549), De Testamento (1535), and Der alte Gloub (1544), had great influence because they were read by many clergy as part of their formation and were transported to many different lands. The Westminster Confession of Faith, adopted in 1646 by the Church of England, also deals with covenant theology.
This covenant theology had an important impact on the Puritans. The Puritans were members of the Church of England, the state church in that country, but wanted to purify or reform the church. When that proved impossible, they took advantage of an opportunity to go to the New World and establish a colony—the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629)—in which they could worship as they wished. One of their most important concepts was the covenant theology.
The Puritan way of thinking focused on three key types of covenants. The first was the Covenant of Works, such as the covenant between Adam and God, when God offered Adam and his descendants eternal life in the Garden of Eden in exchange for obedience. Adam and Eve failed to keep their part of the covenant. This is why God entered a new covenant with Abraham.
The Puritans believed in predestination, as suggested by John Calvin during the sixteenth century. The French theologian and reformer believed that God decided whether each individual would have eternal life; nothing the person did or did not do could change this. However, since individuals could not know in advance whether the future held eternal life or eternal punishment, it was necessary to live life in accordance with God's will so as to justify their eventual fate. In the Covenant of Grace, this active type of faith is made possible by the grace of God, who called his faithful to act in a way that fulfilled his purposes.
The third main covenant, the Covenant of Redemption, builds on the Covenant of Grace. Since man is incapable of perfect obedience and falls short of fulfilling the terms of the covenant, God's Son, the Messiah promised in the covenant with David, accepted the terms of the covenant on behalf of humankind. In completing the terms of the covenant by sacrificing himself, Christ obligated God to fulfill his side of the covenant by freeing humankind from the punishment for their failings and giving them grace to do better.
Covenant theology experienced renewed interest in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but many rejected the concept of covenants between God and groups of people in favor of a personal relationship between God and the individual. A key proponent of this was Swiss theologian Karl Barth, a member of the Reformer movement.
Bibliography
"A Brief History of John Calvin." Calvin College, calvin.edu/about/history/john-calvin.html. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
Clark, R. Scott. "A Brief History of Covenant Theology." Westminister Seminary California, www.wscal.edu/personal-pages/a-brief-history-of-covenant-theology. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
Clark, R. Scott. "The History of Covenant Theology." Ligonier Ministries, www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/history-covenant-theology/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
"Federal Theology." Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, www.reformed.org/definitions/index.html. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
"The First Covenant." BBC, 25 June 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/firstcovenant.shtml. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
Jones, Mark. "What is a Covenant?" Ligonier Ministries, www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-covenant/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
Vlach, Michael J. "New Covenant Theology Compared with Covenantalism." The Master's Seminary, www.tms.edu/m/tmsj18i.pdf. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
Walton, Robert C. "The Spread of the Zwingli Reformation." Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-4/spread-of-zwingli-reformation.html. Accessed 13 March 2017.