Author: Willis, Wesley
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Rick Shrader‘s Review:
I previously read and reviewed this book in 1994 when it came out (30 years ago!). Recently I have been reading a lot in the issue of Progressive Dispensationalism (PD) and related topics. I pulled this book off my shelf and decided to read it again. I found it to be one of the best helps for the current situation. In ’94 when it came out, it was a first response to the early writings of PD. It was published by Philadelphia College of the Bible (founded by C.I. Scofied and William Pettingill in 1913, now Cairn University) and co-edited by Charles Ryrie. Ryrie wrote the first chapter, “Update on Dispensationalism,” in which he responded to Darrell Bock’s and Craig Blaising’s early writings. That was very much like his chapter, “Progressive Dispensationalism,” in his updated Dispensationalism which he wrote in 1995. However, it is the additional material written by dispensationalists of the traditional persuasion that is a great help to the issues even today. It includes, Thomas D. Ice on hermeneutics, Charles Dyer on the meaning of “fulfillment,” John Walvoord on the kingdom, John R. Master on the New Covenant, Arnold Fruchtenbaum on Israel and the Church, J. Randall Price on prophetic postponement, Zane Hodges on a dispensational understanding of Acts 2, Elliott Johnson on the “already and Not Yet,” Paul Feinberg on pretribulationalism, and Earl Radmacher on the imminent rapture.
I would recommend this book as a great introductioin to PD from a traditional point of view or just as a good review. Here is a paragraph from Elliott Johnson in 1992:
“But more to the point of this assessment is the influence of the ‘already and not yet’ view of the interpretation of progressive revelation. Walke has recognized the impact: ‘This already–not yet model of dispensationalism, entailing a less than one-for-one correspondence between Old Testament covenants and prophecies and their fulfillment in the church, shakes the very foundations of dispensational hermeneutics, which includes a consistent literalistic interpretation of the Old Testament.’ The crucial element that Walke recognizes is the abandonment of the biblical authority of the Old Testament message as it was expressed in the original context when one uses only parts of the message in the partial fulfillment in the church.” (p. 197)