Can Old Testament verses speaking of Israel be legitimately reinterpreted by the New? Can we trust what we plainly read in the Old Testament or do we need some kind of decoder ring?
One frustration I continuously come across is the Covenant Theologian’s claim that the Old Testament is reinterpreted by the New. I see it in some of the otherwise great CT books I read. Whether it’s Israel in the Psalms or the prophets, somehow the prophetic blessing and meaning gets transferred to the church. In many of these cases, the Old Testament is typically reinterpreted by the New.
Some CTs don’t like using the word “reinterpret” so they’ll appeal to other devices like “fulfilled by Christ or in the church.” Upon being challenged by several OT texts, Gary Burge once told Michael Rydelnik that we must think “Christianly.” In other words, forget the OT meaning. Another term one comes across is Christocentric Hermeneutic. The term might suggest support for reinterpretation. After all, isn’t the Old Testament “Chistocentric” according to Luke 24:13-35? Anyway that’s one argument I’ve seen.
By the way, Dr. Michael Vlach has cited George E. Ladd and other non-dispensationalists regarding the reinterpretation of the OT by the NT:
The fact is that the New Testament frequently interprets Old Testament prophecies in a way not suggested by the Old Testament context. ~ Ladd
This [literal interpretation of the Bible] leaves dispensationalists frequently stuck in the awkward position of insisting on an Old Testament interpretation of a prophetic theme that has been reinterpreted in the New Testament in the light of the messianic age which dawned in Jesus Christ. ~ Riddlebarger
For as we shall see (and as commentators regularly show) while the land itself had a concrete application for most in Judaism, Jesus and his followers reinterpreted the promises that came to those in his kingdom. ~ Gary Burge
Dr. Paul Henebury has a thought-provoking article Is Reinterpretation the Right Term? Make sure you take a look at his 40 Reasons for not reinterpreting the Old Testament. See also his series on Replacement Theology and whether we should use the term.
What about so-called Christocentric Hermeneutics? Can this system be justifiably used to re-think God’s plain-sense promises in passages such as Jer 31:31-37? Can CH magically transfer the meaning to the church? What about other concerns? Abner Chou discusses these important issues in The Master’s Seminary article A Hermeneutical Evaluation of the Christocentric Hermeneutic.
Dr. Chou’s excellent fast-paced presentation is helpful. He keeps me on my toes.
https://youtu.be/AV9SLCmqE5c
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