Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology

by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

One's view of Israel is key in determining one's theology. This groundbreaking study investigates four approaches to the theology of Israel Past, Present and Future, and scrutinizes beliefs that tend to confuse the identities of both Israel and the Church. The Biblical Evangelist called Israelology a "tremendous, masterful book... Amillennialism, postmillennialism and other forms of Covenant Theology go up in smoke under the withering blaze of biblical light Fruchtenbaum places on them

Genres: Theology, Reference, Nonfiction, Biblical Studies, Christian, Christianity

Hardcover

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

Arnold Genekowitsch Fruchtenbaum is the founder and director of Ariel Ministries, an organization which prioritizes evangelization of Jews in the effort to bring them to the view that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

Reviews

[Louis Lapides · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book for any follower of Jesus who cares what the entire Bible teaches about Israel. Fruchtenbaum deals with all the texts used by Replacement Theologians and does an excellent job refuting the erroneous exegesis of these passages. For any Christian confused about Israel's place in the plan of God along with the church, Israelology is a book that must be read and kept as a reference source. Two thumbs up!!!

[Chris Via]

[DRAFT]
Intro
A lifelong non-denominational American Christian, my religious views have been myopic, to say the least, though I accept nearly full responsibility for this shortcoming. Outside of forming off-the-cuff inspirational paroxysms culled ad hoc from Paul's letters, which devolved into wishful thinking more than faith, and putting up a wall against any form of systematic theology in favor of high-energy flights of fancy--because of these attributes, I was very ignorant as to what this big book, the Bible, actually said and completely convinced that it only addressed me, i.e. my perception of life. Now, however, things are much different. Five years ago, I began seriously studying and considering the entire canon of the Scriptures as a system (as opposed to isolated statements) and how this system pertains to all people from all walks of life.

It was with Harold Bloom's book, Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine , that it struck me that there was a whole group of people who viewed the New Testament and its chief contributor as a violent appropriation of their religion. Having been raised on Paul's magnificent letters and terrified by the perceived brutality of the Old Testament, this view was a shock. Before studying the history of the development of the Bible (good, brief overview: How We Got Our Bible ), I didn't even realize the inappropriateness of calling the divisions the Old and New--for orthodox Jews, there is no Old and New; there is only the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures . That they are called Old is indicative of the view: this first half, the largest half, of our Bible is pretty much irrelevant, but we're stuck with it like a scar. Luckily, scars heal and serve as reminders.

Abstract of the book
Fruchtenbaum's main purpose is to prove how one's view of Israel determine's one's theology. He provides a critical analysis of the leading theologians in the 3 different Covenant theologies (pre-, post-, and amillenialism) to show the view of Israel in each. This sets up for the final comparative analysis against Dispensationalism, Fruchtenbaum himself identifying as such. In short, the branches of Covenant theology fall short of integrating a careful account of Israel in the biblical text into their theology.

The structure of the book:
1. Covenant Postmillenialism
2. The Israelology of Covenant Postmillenialism
3. Covenant Amillenialism
4. The Israelology of Covenant Amillenialism
5. Covenant Premillenialism
6. The Israelology of Covenant Premillenialism
7. Dispensationalism
8. The Israelology of Dispensationalism
9. A Dispensational Israelology (Fruchtenbaum's systematic theology)

General Notes
There are some crucial sections of the Bible that determine one's theology, especially as it pertains to Israel and eschatology. These are:
1. Revelation 20 (millenialist views)
2. Romans 9-11 (Israel views)

Dispensationalist - Views the whole of Scripture as a household that God manages with different economies and dispensations. Distinctly premillenial. Keeps the Church (as in the Church of Acts) and Israel separate.

Covenantalist - Views the covenants of law/works and grace as guiding everything in Scripture. No distinction between Israel and the Church; Israel has been supplanted by the Church.

Summary of the Covenant Postmillenialism section (read 10 Feb-21 Feb 2017)
The whole world will become almost completely Christianized, which will then prompt the second coming of Jesus. Towards this end of this Christianized and peaceful period that precedes the return of Christ, there will be a brief period of backlash termed the Great Tribulation. At the commencement of the return, the first resurrection is a spiritual one that results in the regeneration of the soul. The second resurrection is of the body: the general resurrection in which the dead participate.

Some more points of covenant postmillenialism:
- Christ will appear for the second coming after the millennium (not literally a thousand years).
- The Jews have been cast off, and the Church is the New Israel, the new people of God.
- The Church was founded in the Old Testament.
- No earthly kingdom promised to the Jews.
- The Christian Church is the fulfillment of all OT prophecy.

Summary of the Covenant Amillenialism section (read 13 Mar-18 Mar 2017)
- Amillenialism is a misnomer because Amillenialists do believe in a Millenium period, but we are in it now: it is the period between the 2 advents of Christ.
- There will be no literal reign of Christ upon the earth; the Millenium is our present age.
- Some Amillenarians believe that the Millenium is being fulfilled by the Church on earth (Augustinian), and other believe it is being fulfilled now in heaven (Kliefoth's view).
- Everything in the Bible is governed by the Covenant of grace (there are no other distinct covenants).
- The Abrahamic, Sinaitic Moabic, Davidic, and New Covenants are just the Covenant of Grace under different administrations.
- Faith in Jesus Christ was always the means of salvation for all saints of all times.
- One way in which it is shown that there is no different between the Christian Church and Israel is that in the Septuagint the Greek word ekklesia is used to translate the Hebrew word qahal (but ekklesia simply means an assembly; it is even used in Acts to refer to an assembly of pagans).
- Uses the allegorical mode of interpretation, especially in the area of Israel and prophecy.
- There will be no future national restoration of Israel.
- Of the 3 Covenental schools, Amillenialism offers the narrowest Israelology.

Summary of the Covenant Premillenialism section (read nn Aaa-nn Aaa 2017)
Tk.

Summary of the Dispensationalism section (read nn Aaa-nn Aaa 2017)
Tk.

Summary of Dispensational Israelology (Fruchtenbaum's systematic theology) (read nn Aaa-nn Aaa 2017)
Tk.

[Cristy]

This book is Amazing!! Arnold is the greatest scholar in Judaism today. Be prepared for a mega dose of illumination.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and extensive study on Israel in the Bible. Fruchtenbaum carefully deals with various views of covenant theology and eschatology. I benefited from the study, even in areas where I disagreed with the author's conclusions.

[G Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this as a required text at seminary, and for the longest time, this text was the sole reason I remained a dispensationalist... I actually had to write a summary of the book in its entirety... And reread it again for "fun" for another class. After my time at seminary, I reread it two more times, once while trying hard to maintain my dispensationalism and again, after I had moved away from it.
I have taken a couple classes under Dr. Fruchtenbaum. Smart little guy. If you buy into the premise(s) of dispensationalism, and a strict distinction in the peoples of God (Israel and the Church), then what he has to say is spot on. Perhaps the only flaw one might find is in the "systematic" approach to things.
But I do not believe his sensationalized claims of "replacement" theology are fair... nor do I believe that just because you are ethnically a Hebrew, somehow you hold a more special place in God's heart.
This is "Christian" sanctioned racism and it needs to be seen as that. It seems to have a firm grip on certain contingents within the church who are already in a tail spin from post-Holocaust guilt. Swinging the pendulum the other direction is not the solution.
Our theology must first of all be faithful to the entirety of sacred scripture, ALL of its literary, typological, covenantal contexts.
Its not about the church replacing Israel, but rather fulfilling Israel... Where Israel failed in establishing a new humanity, the church, with Christ as her head has succeeded... Not because they are not Israel (race has nothing to do with it!), but because they have Christ. Christ showed us the new way to be (fully/truly) human when Israel could not.
Anyway, this is a hefty book. Not dense, but thick.
If you want a good counter balance... regardless of what you may think of him in other contexts, I would recommend Rushdoony's lectures on _A Systematic Theology of the Land_...
If you want book length treatments of this issue from other perspectives I would encourage the reader to read:
_Jesus and Israel: One Covenant of Two?_ by David Holwerda
_Jesus and the Holy City: Perspectives on Jerusalem_ P.W.L. Walker... and if you can find it his _Holy City, Holy Places?: Christian Attitudes to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the Fourth Century (Oxford Early Christian Studies)_ is quite good too.
Walker also edited a volume with Johnston, _The Land of Promise_ that has some helpful preliminary observations...
Lots of good stuff out there on this issue that is not sensationalized or silly... and I say silly, because the convenantal side has their silly people too.

[Tim Chaffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. A thorough examination of the ways in which various Christians view Israel in Scripture. More specifically, Fruchtenbaum provides an in-depth analysis of how three aspects of Israel (Israel Past, Israel Present, and Israel Future) are understood according to those who hold to Covenant Theology (this he breaks into Covenant Postmillennialism, Covenant Amillennialism, and Covenant Premillennialism) and Dispensationalism.
At over 1000 pages, Israelology is a condensed version of the author's 2000+ page dissertation. Fruchtenbaum gives plenty of space to the leading figures from each perspective before analyzing their claims and arguments. The author is a Dispensationalist and he saves his own view for last. However, he does not shy away from critiquing those areas where he believes Dispensationalists have dropped the ball. This is especially true of Dispensationalism's teachings regarding Israel Present, calling it "Dispensationalism's weakest area." He does not say this because he thinks Dispensationalism has a wrong view of Israel Present, but because leading Dispensationalists have failed to develop this area as thoroughly as they have developed their views on Israel Past and Israel Future.
The book is appropriately titled. Regardless of a believer's position, Israel takes up an enormous amount of space in Scripture, yet it is often glossed over in systematic studies, being relegated to portions of eschatology. This volume is a wonderful addition to any theological library and should be read by every pastor, professor, theologian, and other Christian leaders. I read the 1989 edition pictured on this page. A newer cover design appears on the book now, but I am not sure if the content has been updated. It would be great to have additions to the book to see the author's analysis of scholars writing on the various subjects over the past 29 years.

[Sean Higgins]

Don't buy this beast of a book. That said, I don't know of any other book that would be better on the subject. It's a dilemma. Ha!

People have a lot of thoughts about "the Jews," especially the kind of social-media posters that the algorithm puts in my Twitter timeline. Providentially, Israel and Hamas went to war (this recent round) in-between when I started and when I finished reading this book. But that conflict is only one reason why Israel/Jews are a current concern.

But Israel/Jews are a *permanent* concern to God, even *eternally* so. The LORD made multiple covenants with the nation/people of Israel, and He either changed His mind or He still has fulfillments of His Word to bring about.

I am *not* Jewish. To my knowledge I don't have any Jewish neighbors. But I do want to care about what God cares about. It's not obvious to me that a lot of Christians are trying to do that.

Anyway, _Israelology_ is a repetitive book, which is one reason that it's a thousand pages long. It was originally a doctrinal thesis, and academic things are more academicy if they're tedious, right? Once Fruchtenbaum gets past his definitions (and demolitions) of what he thinks are erroneous positions things get better.

Premillennial Dispensationalism (which is what Israelology seeks to demonstrate as true) is the red-headed stepchild of the Reformed world. For that matter, the Truly Reformed wouldn't even allow a Premil-Dispy to identify with Reformed colors. Fine.

As I said, this book is repetitive. For my taste Fruchtenbaum overstates his case on occasion, and that's coming from someone who likes spicy rhetoric and bitter drinks.

Israel is a subject God cares about. His promises and provisions for the Jews, past and present and future, are all over the Bible. Israeology *is indeed* an appropriate subject for systematic theology. But that same Bible has a lot to say against dualism/pietism and this-world-is-badism, which _Israelology_ the book misses. So don't buy it unless you really need to, but if you do need to, you really should.

[Joel Toppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fruchtenbaum presents "Israelology" as a necessary component to any systematic theology. Fruchtenbaum's insights make this a richly rewarding study. It's not light reading. I actually read it using the Logos digital library edition so I could make full use of the Logos software (or iPad app) to cross-check scripture references (there are thousands). Overall I find Fruchtenbaum's theology sound. His tone, however, comes across a little dogmatic (borderline obnoxious) on a few points. The book is well-organized making it ideal for reference.

[Douglas Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource that I've read and keep on my shelf as a resource. To be honest, I felt it was written almost like a PhD thesis. It can be a pretty heavy read at times, but rewarding if you stick with it.

[Daniel Sloan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work. Covers Israel from Amill, Post-Mill, Cov-Premil and Dispen.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read highly recommend it clearly explains how your view on Israel impacts your belief of the end times and goes into great detail over the beliefs of Israel in the Bible

[Steven Gattuso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Israelology, according to Dr. Fructenbaum, is "a subdivision of systematic theology, incorporating all theological doctrines concerning the people of Israel". It is also the subject of his doctoral dissertation.
In this 1000 page tome, Fructenbaum develops Israelology, especially regarding present-day Israel, as had not been previously done. He does this within his preferred system of systematic theology, known as dispensationalism. As the term suggests, in this system God deals with His peoples in different ways at different stages of human history. And scripturally, two peoples are set apart from the rest for God's purposes, The Jews and Christians.
Now Jewishness is an ethnicity, and an ethnic Jew can be Christian. Dispensationalists know this, of course. But they tend to insist upon a fine distinction between Israel and the Christian church, which I think is not always justified.
In Genesis, there is a vast tract of land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the prophets, it is said that Jesus is to reign over earth from Jerusalem following His second coming. Here, I think, the literal interpretation is intended, and the Jew-Gentile distinction upheld.
However, I think the Israel/Church distinction is carried too far sometimes. There is in scripture a time of great tribulation to befall the earth immediately preceding Jesus' second coming. In Jer.30:7, "it is a time of distress for Jacob". And the trouble does seem to be centered in Israel. But there are strong parallels in the bible between Israel and the Christian church. Both are called by God to be His spokespeople. Both are called to great suffering to purify them.
Although dispensationalists allow that the tribulation is a worldwide phenomenon, they are so insistent upon a Church/ Israel distinction that they cannot accept that the Church passes through it alongside Israel. They insist upon a removal of the Church from the earth to the Lord before the troubles arrive, a pre-tribulational rapture!
This is very remarkable, unhistoric, and I think anti-scriptural. The doctrine appears to be about 200 years old. For the first 1800 years of church history, it was unknown or very nearly so.
According to George Eldon Ladd, there seems to be in scripture, a "single, indivisible return of Christ, which requires a post-tribulational view", not preceded by a secret, earlier return to remove the Church.
The author usually proceeds logically and draw conclusions fairly . But here and elsewhere, he exhibits the same sort of dishonest, specious argumentation he accuses his opponents of.
In Hebrews 6, the writer describes believers who commit apostasy. "They crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold Him up to contempt." If ever a passage described forfeited salvation, this could qualify. Dr. Fructenbaum holds that salvation once received cannot be lost. So he interprets this passage as suggesting the apostate may experience earthly trauma, but remains saved!
Furthermore, this work is mindnumbingly repetitive. Some points are made many dozens, if not a hundred times.
I accept the author's thesis that there is a Church/ Israel distinction and there are biblical promises to Israel that are yet to be granted. As Paul insists in Romans 11, God has not rejected His people. And the Church does not usurp Israel's "chosen people" status! God is able to choose two distinct peoples in two different senses according to two different dispensations.
In this era of replacement theology and virulent antisemitism, I welcome this work. But I was much put off by the repetitiveness and occasional dishonest argumentation.

[Christopher Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Systematic Theology is composed of 8-10 primary topics. Throughout history, Israel has not been considered to be one of these primary topics. In "Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology" his Ph.D. thesis-turned-book, Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum corrects that glaring omission.

The Jews make up approximately 4/5 of Scripture. The Christian Old Testament and New Testament was written by Jews. The vast majority of history and geography and culture is dominated by the Jewish people. How various schools of Theology, therefore, interact vis-a-vis the Jews is significant.

In this book Fruchtenbaum takes an interesting (and comprehensive) approach to Israel throughout Scripture. To undertake this massive project, Fruchtenbaum views how various schools of theology view Israel in their Theological systems. Primarily, Fruchtenbaum reviews the following interpretive and eschatological systems to understand the various views of Israel: Covenant Postmillenialism, Covenant Amillenialism, Covenant Premillennialism, and Dispensationalim.

This book is helpful to understand these various interpretive approaches to God's Word. I found this book clarifying in many ways as the views were compared side-by-side. As a Ph.D. thesis this book was extremely comprehensive, and for a thesis that is fine. But Fruchtenbaum's readers would be well-served if the author would divide this thesis into several different books. The book, including its appendices, approach 1,000 pages.

Fruchtenbaum, however, certainly knows his topic. His writing is both informative and incisive. I really learned a lot from this book, and some of my muddled theology was clarified (especially my Eschatology) by reading this book. One cannot read Scripture without having a clear view of God's eternal purposes for His chosen people, the Jews. One would be well served by reading this exceptional work. Happy reading!

[ElaineY · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Christian eschatology books I've read. This book introduced me to Replacement Theology and a comprehensive understanding of the various view on the Millennium. More importantly, an understanding on the difference between Dispensational Premillennialism and Covenant Premillennialism.

It was through this book that I came to see Eschatology as theocentric (what God is doing) and the programs and course run by the church nowadays as anthropocentric (what I, we, are doing). Israelology, IMO, is indispensable to anyone interested in Eschatology but be warned, it is a very heavy book. Not recommended for those new to the subject, but if you're already familiar with eschatology and have asked yourself (or others) what the heck happened to Israel and all those prophecies in the Old Testament, this is a book not to miss.

I have bought several copies of this, my first one highlighted and annotated till it fell apart, gave 2 away and hoping it will soon be available in e-book.

[Paul Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the rewritten thesis and as an academic work it is excellent, however for 90%+ of the Christians who want to understand what the Bible teaches about Israel, don't need the entire book, all they need is one chapter. A simplified version "what the Bible teaches about Israel" would be a welcome solution.
Great book for college libraries.

[Robert Sr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, one of a kind book. I have never seen this subject treated more comprehensively.

[Lazaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opener 🙏