Covenantal theology is a quirky lane on the main highway of Christian theology. It took shape in Presbyterian and Reformed circles; and, from one angle, Reformed theology is covenantal theology – not so much in terms of particular dogmatic claims, but in terms of the structure of Reformed thought.¹ In other words, covenants provide the basic framework for understanding Scripture and for the whole of life in Reformed theology. For a time this theological focus remained a traffic lane into which few other theologians ventured.

Yet the twentieth century rediscovery of a massive body of covenant treaties from the Ancient Near East has only reinforced and sharpened the existing convictions of the Reformed community.² In fact, the rise of this material has now made covenant a focus of many biblical scholars from a variety of traditions – Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, and so on.³ This new swell of biblical scholars gives us occasion to revisit this concept which has not only been central to Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, but now seems to working its way to the center of other traditions as well.

To begin, a covenant (ברית, διαθήκη) is “a relationship of ‘oaths and bonds’ and involves mutual, though not necessarily equal, commitments”⁴ – “a bond in blood sovereignly administered.”⁵ Moreover, it was – to the ancient mind – not simply a legal, but a familial relationship of love. Covenantal thought comes to us first through the history of redemption. Second, that history, as the primary ground for our understanding the relationship of the persons of the Godhead, opens up the reality that the persons of the Trinity relate to each other covenantally. Third, the application of redemption to the believer comes to us as a covenantal relationship. Fourth and finally, the very life of the church – the body of the redeemed – takes covenantal shape. In short, the gospel is a covenant tale – as the declaration of God’s great historical action, as revelation of himself, and as its application to humanity. In this nine part series of articles we will explore the covenantal shape of all these topics – beginning with the history of redemption.

1. Cf. Michael Horton, God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 11
2. The definitive work on the topic is Dennis J. McCarthy’s Treaty and Covenant: A Study in Form in the Ancient Oriental Documents and in the Old Testament (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1963).  Horton summarizes the portions of the ancient treaty: preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, sanctions, invocation, deposit of the treaty, and periodic public reading (God of Promise, 25-28).
3. See the works of those such as D. J. McCarthy, E. P. Sanders, N. T. Wright, and Thomas Schreiner to see how widely this new late interest in covenant has spread.
4. God of Promise, 10.
5. O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980), 4.

© 2010 The Center for Gospel Culture