IN DEFENCE OF THE DECALOGUE

Book Review

"In Defence of the Decalogue: A Critique of New Covenant Theology"

By Richard Barcellos

Enumclaw, WA: Winepress Publishing, 2001

New Covenant Theology is an attempt to carve out a middle way between traditional Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. Its focus is on ethics. It rejects the Ten Commandments in favour of the law of Christ. It seems to have originated at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia as a reaction to the teachings of Theonomy, which over emphasise Old Testament law. In recent decades it has achieved a increasing degree of acceptance among many Reformed Baptists. A scholarly refutation of these new ideas has long been needed.

Richard Barcellos, the pastor of a Reformed Baptist Church in California, has stepped forward to take up this challenge. His long anticipated critique is somewhat briefer than I had expected at 117 pages. It is a painstakingly argued refutation of the basic propositions of New Covenant Theology. Reading it reminded me of my High School maths teacher who told us, "put down all your working out."

Because of this approach the book is a model of careful exegesis and historical research. It exposes the pretentious but shoddy scholarship that characterises much of New Covenant writing. Barcellos doesn't say all that could be said, and he is irenic in tone, but he does demolish the central New Covenant concepts rather well. One small criticism is that the book has no index.

The author begins by refuting the idea that the New Covenant as announced in Jeremiah 31:33 promised the giving of a new law. Rather, he shows that the New Covenant involves the writing of the Decalogue on the hearts of Gods people. The following chapter is the longest in the book. Barcellos carefully refutes the idea that the Old Covenant is to be identified with the Ten Commandments. He shows that the Decalogue has a continuing role as revealing the eternal moral will of God. John Reisinger, one of the most influential New Covenant authors, comes in for some justified criticism in this chapter. The kindest comment that could be made about his writings is that they exhibit some confusion.

In the second half of the book Barcellos explodes the concept that Jesus abrogated the Decalogue in the Sermon on the Mount and replaced it with a new law. He also rejects the odd notion that any one of the Ten Commandments is only applicable to a Christian if it is explicitly repeated in the New Testament. Barcellos also deals with several historical questions. New Covenant writers claim that John Calvin and John Bunyan support their views. Barcellos carefully refutes the claim that John Calvin held to a New Covenant understanding of the role of the Ten Commandments and especially the Sabbath Commandment. Likewise he shows that while John Bunyan argued strongly, and sometimes a bit loosely, against seventh day Sabbatarian views he held to an orthodox, Puritan view of the Christian Sabbath.

As Barcellos points out there are a wide range of views held by men who would describe themselves as New Covenant theologians. It is to be hoped that this book will influence the more moderate of these to return to the Reformed Baptist orthodoxy. It is also to be hoped that Barcelloss book will alert Reformed Baptists and others to the dangers posed by this novel set of beliefs. New Covenant Theology seeks to drive a false wedge between Old and New Covenant law. It largely rejects the Old Testament as a source of ethical teaching. Its insistence that Jesuss commandments to love God and our neighbour cannot be understood as pointing back to the more detailed provisions of the Ten Commandments carries with it a tendency toward situation ethics and antinomianism. Also the writings of many New Covenant authors reveal a worrying pseudo intellectualism. In the well worn paths of Christian theology innovation is more often a sign of error than of fresh exegetical insight.

In Defence of the Decalogue is available from the Founders Organisation:

http://www.founders.org. The price is $U.S. 10.95. Payment can be made via Visa Card once you have joined Paypal. Instructions as to how to do this are available via the Founders Organisation web site.

Reviewed by David Marshall, Trinity Reformed Baptist Church, Hamilton, New Zealand