Posted on 06/01/2012 12:02:44 PM PDT by wmfights
Justin Martyr (A.D. 100–165) is important in the history of supersessionism because he was the first Christian writer to explicitly identify the church as “Israel.”[1] Justin declared, “For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham . . . are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ.”[2] He also said, “Since then God blesses this people [i.e., Christians], and calls them Israel, and declares them to be His inheritance, how is it that you [Jews] repent not of the deception you practise on yourselves, as if you alone were the Israel?”[3] Justin also announced that, “We, who have been quarried out from the bowels of Christ, are the true Israelite race.”[4]
For Jeffrey S. Siker, “Justin is a transitional figure”[5] in the development of supersessionism. Justin does not mark the beginning of supersessionism, but he does openly advocate a replacement approach concerning Israel and the church that had been forming for nearly a century: “Justin marks the end of an era, the culmination of a process in formative Christianity that had begun much earlier.”[6] Justin’s hermeneutical approach to the Old Testament was also important in the development of supersessionism. He reapplied Old Testament promises so that the church, not Israel, was viewed as the beneficiary of its promised blessings. Justin declared to Trypho: “And along with Abraham we [Christians] shall inherit the holy land, when we shall receive the inheritance for an endless eternity, being children of Abraham through the like faith. . . . Accordingly, He promises to him a nation of similar faith, God fearing, righteous . . . but it is not you, ‘in whom is no faith.’”[7] Siker adds, “According to Justin, the patriarchal promises do not apply to the Jews; rather, God has transferred these promises to the Christians and . . . to Gentile Christians in particular.”[8]
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[1] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 11, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1950–51), 1:200. See also, 1:261, 267. Peter Richardson has observed that the first explicit identification of the church as “Israel” was made by Justin Martyr in A.D. 160. See Peter Richardson, Israel in the Apostolic Church (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1.
[2] Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 11, ANF 1:200.
[3] Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 123, ANF 1:261. He also says, “Those who were selected out of every nation have obeyed His will through Christ . . . must be Jacob and Israel.” (1:265).
[4] Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 135, ANF 1:267.
[5] Jeffrey S. Siker, Disinheriting the Jews: Abraham in Early Christian Controversy (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1991), 15.
[6] Ibid., 16.
[7] Justin, Dialogue With Trypho 119, ANF 1:259.
[8] Siker, 14. Diprose asserts that Justin “adopts a typically Greek attitude” toward the characters in the Old Testament, referring to Abraham, Elijah, and Daniel’s three friends as “barbarians.” Ronald E. Diprose,Israel in the Development of Christian Thought (Istituto Biblico Evangelico Italiano, 2000), 79.
I think the emergence of the belief that the church had replaced Israel also contributed to the organizational structure and religious practices that followed. We see the rise of a centralized hierarchy and church practices that imitate Judaic practices emerging in the 2nd century.
He could be wrong.
The “mystery of the gospel”, or the fact that there is no longer separation between Jew and Gentile, is outlined in Ephesians chapter 2:
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) — 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
The “mystery of the gospel”, or the fact that there is no longer separation between Jew and Gentile, is outlined in Ephesians chapter 2:
Good luck on that.
Hopefully this thread won't end on the usual sour note.
“And along with Abraham we [Christians] shall inherit the holy land, when we shall receive the inheritance for an endless eternity, being children of Abraham through the like faith. . . . Accordingly, He promises to him a nation of similar faith, God fearing, righteous . . . but it is not you, ‘in whom is no faith.’”
Ummm, yeah.
Can one who denies the Son be said to have the Father? This is an easy one.
Exd 12:49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Sounds like replacement of the people Israel is not the purpose to be accomplished. This fits perfectly with the concept of grafted in of which Paul speaks. Also, Acts 15:20-21 does not support a replacement of Israel with anyone else.
Justin martyr “reapplied” Old Testament promises? Under what premise?
Since most of his works are lost.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiachThere could have been an agenda in what was lost and saved.
Thanks for the ping!
“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD. 21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”"“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
“My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will [b]place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” (Ezekiel 37:21-28)
Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “ I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
35Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: 36 “ If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
37Thus says the Lord,
“If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 31: 31-37)
Is that Scripture of God speaking to the Jews and making promises to them true or false?
Justin merely teaches what the Church has believed and taught for almost 2,000 years since Paul revealed the mystery of Isreal to the Ephesians, Galatians and the Romans.
Orthodox Christians are accused of “replacement theology” or of “supersessionism” - neither charge is true. What is true is that the true Israel of God, the Church, is comprised of those who are in Christ and as Lee likes to point out, Paul tells us in Galatians 3:29 “and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” the believing Gentiles are grafted in to the same tree as natural Jews, together they make up the true Israel, because they are “ in Christ”. The key is faith in Christ and not DNA.
Now there are those that accuse those of us that believe as St Paul taught and Christians have believed for 2,000 years of “denying the Scriptures” or “ denying Christ” ( sound familiar Lee? ) as they teach doctrines unheard of for 1,800 years after St Paul was beheaded, WHAT A JOKE!
Let’s see who is denying Christ. In Ezekiel 37, when it mentions a king and shepard,is this king and shepard Jesus or David?
Are the Scriptures in post 10 true or false?
they are true!!
the error many make is not understanding of who “Israel” is in the Scriptures. many read Israel and automatically assume it refers to natural Jews, people with Jewish DNA.
it’s as if St Paul and his Epistles, were never written.
i think we both agree that Judas was a physical Jew, do these promises apply to him? is Judas included in the “all Isreal” that shall be saved in Romans 11:26?
let’s see if who denies Jesus the rightful honor and glory due Him, who is the king and shepard mentioned in Ezekiel 37, David or is David a type and shadow of our true King and our true Good Shepard, the Lord Jesus Christ?
So when God says that His servant David will be “king over them”, who is the “them” being referred to?
do you wish to have a dialogue, meaning a true discussion where we both agree to answer and ask questions or do you only want to ignore questions to you and ask me questions as if i am on the witness stand?
i would love to answer your question, but since i answered your previous question and you ignored my questions to you, i will wait until i receive answers and then i will, of course, answer your question.
Now, if you can just come up with an answer to this, maybe we can proceed.
When God says that His servant David will be "king over them", who is the "them" He is referring to?
LOL, i can see where this is going. nothing new under the sun.
the “them” is the true Israel of God, those throughout history, who are the elect, those who by the grace of God have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are believing Jews and believing Gentiles who have been reconciled to God in the Body of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepard, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He is the Prince of Peace.
Weeellll, but there are a few problems with that.
First, can you provide the Scripture where God ever states that David will rule as a king over the church?
Second, there is the land problem:
They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.
What land has God given to the church and where, again, is the Scripture where God says that David will be the prince of the church forever?
no problem at all. it’s only a problem to those who deny Jesus Christ is Lord and don’t realize the OT contains types and shadows pointing to Christ, but in the NT Jesus becomes man and the need for types and shadows is done away with.
i never said David will rule as a king over the Church.
i said David is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ.
please read Acts 2:29-36.
the “land” is a type and shadow of the new heaven and new earth. 2 Peter 3:10 tells us the earth will be burned up. obviously Ezekiel 37 can’t be talking about actual land because it states they will live on it “forever”, the physical land in the middle east will be burned up and destroyed, no one will live there “forever” ( only those who deny 2 Peter can believe such a doctrine )
still not answering my questions, huh? anyone following along realizes why.
But God never said that the land is a "type and shadow of the new heaven and new earth". Nowhere does God say that the land given is anything but literal, physical land.
Can you provide the Scripture where God, not fallen man who allegorizes the Scripture about the land God gives to the descendants of Abraham, states that the "land" is a "type" of anything? The Scripture is really needed here to back up that assertion. We really need to see where God validates you on this.
i said David is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ.
Yeah, but again, we need validation from God on this man-created allegory. Can you provide the Scripture where God says that when He says that His servant David will be "king over them", that that passage is to be taken as anything but literal? Because if God doesn't say it's to be allegorized, then we have to take it literally, and you haven't been able to provide anything that God says that David is to be king over the church.
still not answering my questions, huh? anyone following along realizes why.
Well, we'll get to that just as soon as we come to some resolution on who the promises in post 10 are directed to.
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