
James Lanier
- To the people who are giving low stars recklessly: 1. I do not endorse replacement theology. 2. However, what is the difference between Futato's statement "You are Israel!" and Paul's statement to the GENTILE church in Galatia, "And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise"? 3. If you fault Futato for shoving replacement theology down our throats based on his statement, you ought to fault Paul for doing the same. 4. Point: Preaching a theological system requires more than an exploration of the biblical text. One's theological views no doubt inform one's understanding of the biblical text. Whatever his theological views, Futato can't be far out of line for making the same point that Paul makes. Only when he begins to make statements beyond the text that spell out exactly in what ways we are children of Israel (i.e., that you are children of Abraham and Israel as a spiritual and/or political entity loved by God is no more in redemption history) can you accuse him of anything worthy of warning your friends about. 5. Another point: Doctrinal differences are VERY IMPORTANT. They matter. A lot. Having said that, it is very odd to me that some of us are handing out lower reviews of this material than we would for many secular forces in our lives (e.g., our favorite television shows, movies, or books) that preach messages totally at odds with Scripture. Jesus' prayer in John 17 concludes with a plea for unity in the church. While we ought to squabble over the minutia of Scripture, it could be that by our antagonism toward fellow believers we are playing into the hands of our Enemy in a larger way than if we just politely--albeit vocallly--disagreed.