That You May Prosper: Dominion by Covenant

by Ray R. Sutton

Dust cover missing

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christian, Cultural

368 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Ray R. Sutton is Bishop Coadjutor in the Diocese of Mid-America of the Reformed Episcopal Church in the Anglican Church in North America. He is also Rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas, Texas, president and professor of Scripture and Theology at Cranmer Theological House in Houston, Texas and headmaster of Holy Communion Christian Academy (formerly Bent Tree Episcopal School). Sutton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and moved to Dallas at age thirteen.

He is currently head of the Ecumenical Relations Committee of the Anglican Church of North America.

Reviews

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. This was so good.

That You May Prosper filled in a lot of blanks in my reasoning--in many cases, blanks I never realised existed. It's an endlessly thought-provoking study of the content and the structure of Biblical covenants. I'd heard a lot about the covenant, but this book provided me for the first time with an idea of what the covenants involved and what they were supposed to accomplish.

I think the main thing I got from That You May Prosper, though, was a much clearer idea of how authority, community, and covenant institutions are supposed to work. This book basically puts wheels on the concept of Trinitarian community (in which both the individual and the collective are equally ultimate; see Rushdoony's The One and the Many). Sutton divides covenant structure into five points, the first two of which have to do with authority. Every covenant begins by outlining the identity of the transcendent authority (= the Lord God Almighty), and then continues by setting up a hierarchy through which this power is mediated (= earthly authorities).

Sutton spends some time working through this both in theory and practice, and it confirmed a lot of my thoughts, and pushed them into new territory. I guess I always knew that the fact of God's ultimate authority over the world necessarily meant that no human authority could claim ultimate authority on earth: no priest, no father, no king. I also knew that Biblical authority structures are supposed to be representational and accountable. But Sutton's covenant structure systematises these and other concepts in a way that preserves both the rights of the individual and the claims of the collective, in family, church, and state.

The familial applications of this doctrine were of special interest to me because there seems to be a lot of confusion in the church today about the authority structure of the family. Many Christians, seeing the damage done to society by radical feminism, have reacted into a view that sees fathers as more or less the conduits of divine authority to their families. Sutton soundly rejects this error, demonstrating its pagan presuppositions.

"In this ["chain of being" view] the father is the "link" between god and the rest of the family...since god is in time and part of the creation, the father is a physical extension. He contains within him the "stuff" out of which god is made. ... There are many ramifications, but the governmental and ethical ones are of particular interest. If the father is deity in the home, then the way to god is through the father. ... Also, since the father is the divine connection between heaven and earth, his authority is absolute. It cannot be contradicted. ...

"Biblical authority is not this way. The authority of the home is God, not the father. Whatever the father has is delegated to him. He is a representative of God, not an extension of Him. There are checks and balances. He might sin, and ask his family to do the wrong thing. So, there is a time to disobey the father. ... Father, mother, and children have access to and are directly responsible to God. The father is the legal representative as opposed to magical leader."

This provides a good explanation of how Christian "patriarchy" is supposed to differ from pagan patriarchy. In Rome, the paterfamilias had an authority which no man should have over life and death in his household. He could execute, or sleep with, anyone under his care. It was this world that Christianity emerged into. The Victorians weren't perfect, but they had nothing on the Romans.

Which leads me to make a general retraction, of sorts. I've regularly used the word "patriarchy" to describe my understanding of the Biblical doctrines on family authority, partly because I find "complementarianism" lamesauce, and partly because I had no better term. From now on, however, I'll be more often using the word "covenantalism" to describe my views, as it much better fits what Scripture teaches.

Anyway, there was so much in this book that I can't possibly do it justice (I loved the parts on the sacraments and eschatology). I would caution that perhaps Sutton does fall victim to a common failing - having found himself a hammer, everything looks like a covenant nail to him - but no matter where you may stand on the covenant, I think this would make a very thought-provoking read.

That You May Prosper is available in a free PDF here!
http://www.garynorth.com/freebooks/do...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Doug Wilson says, when you first discover the hammer you think everything looks like a nail. This Covenant structure was seen to be the solution to all biblical debates, and I actually think it is. But Sutton has the mind of a lawyer, not the mind of a poet, so this book will give you a lot of structure and only a few glimpses of glory, a lot of law and not so much grace. The problem of the modern western church is the lack of understanding God's law, so despite the fact that this book isn't the whole story, this shouldn't hurt. There are some areas where I disagreed with Sutton's applications, but like all groundbreaking books, it's a solid foundation that paves the way for further work. Like the church, theology is a group effort, a pooling of different gifts, and Sutton's offering is a crucial one.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, and atrocious, depending.

[Zach de Walsingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stuff on judicial theology and covenantalism.

[William Schrecengost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this book was about seeing covenant structures in scripture. For that, it was OK. I think you can see those structures in clearly covenantal sections of scripture, like Deuteronomy. But I think it got forced into some places. The " 10 words" of creation and the "10 words" of the Decalogue are two main examples.

The other part of this book, that I found more intriguing and helpful, was his discussion on how we should be seeing things in a covenantal perspective. Philosophically, we have tried to describe things in "the one and the many", the dichotomy of individualism and community, freedom and security, etc. But Sutton proposes that all these things are reconciled under the triune God. That we are made to be a covenantal people, even though we seem to have lost that now. I think this point is something that I'll find myself thinking about and considering more coming away from this book. His covenantal structure of Bible interpretation doesn't interest or compel me much.

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Building in the world needs a foundation to build from, this book was helpful in establishing that.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE ORIGINAL EXPOSITION OF THE ‘FIVE-POINT COVENANTAL MODEL’

Ray R. Sutton is an American Anglican bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church; he also served in parish ministry from 1976-1991 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tyler, Texas (a prominent church in the Christian Reconstructionist movement; James B. Jordan was the co-pastor, and Gary North and David Chilton were members).

The Foreword by Milton C. Fisher to this 1987 book explains, “[This] book… is doubtless the clearest exposition of Bible-as-covenant… that you’ve ever read… The discovery and application to biblical studies of the suzerain treaty parallels to Sacred Scripture, contemporary to and confirmatory of the Pentateuch, has been extremely ..valuable for appreciation of the orientation of the Word of God in its entirety… Whether you agree with every idea propounded … Its commanding logic … will prove a stimulus and assistance to your formation of judgments of your own. For example, not everyone will readily accept the seemingly facile manner in which several Books of the Bible are outlined on the same covenantal pattern readily found in … Books like Exodus and Deuteronomy… But when one becomes convinced of the centrality … of the covenantal form… some such analysis of portions of the Bible makes real sense.”

The Preface by Gary North states, “I realized that Sutton had stumbled onto something of great importance … I was convinced that the book would make a major theological contribution. How major? … Some readers felt that I overestimated its importance. Time will tell. (So will eternity.)… Calvinism is known as covenant theology, yet … no Calvinist author before Sutton has spelled out in detail precisely what a biblical covenant is… For the first time, the student has set before him a comprehensive, biblically grounded… presentation of the five aspects of the covenant: the sovereignty of God over history, yet His immanence in history; the hierarchical authority of God over His creation, with designated human representatives over other men; the law of God; the dual sanctions of the covenant, established by an oath: blessing and cursing; and covenantal succession: inheritance or disinheritance in time and eternity. After the publication of the book, one correspondent wrote to Sutton and proposed a helpful memorization tool: an acronym, THEOS. This is the Greek word for God. The acronym stands for Transcendence, Hierarchy, Ethics, Oath, and Succession: the five points. It is also worth noting that the famous five points of Calvinism correspond to the five points of the biblical covenant.” (Pg. xiii, xv)

Sutton wrote in the Introduction, “How do we discover the covenant? We have to be convinced that it is the central organizing principle of the Bible. The only way to come to this conclusion is to understand the covenant itself… So, [this book] has two parts: covenant and dominion. My primary purpose in the ‘covenant’ section is to DEFINE the covenant… Significantly, scholarship of the last few decades has uncovered the similarity between Deuteronomy and other ancient near-eastern covenant treaties, usually called ‘suzerainty treaties’…” (Pg. 14-15) “[Let] us briefly overview the five points of covenantalism… True Transcendence… Hierarchy… Ethics… Sanctions… Continuity… These give points of covenantalism are the foundation of [this book].” (Pg. 16-17) He continues, “It is my thesis that covenant is the mechanism for dominion and success… Having established that dominion is by covenant, we get down to specifics… Someone might think that this covenant structure is overly idealistic. It is not; it has been tried before; it has been successful. The covenant is PRACTICAL.” (Pg. 18)

He states, “Why do men want a transcendent God, but without a covenant bond linking such a God to man? Answer: to substitute a DISTANT god of man’s creation for the all-too-present God of the Bible. The idea of a god’s transcendence in an anti-Biblical sense of distance, not God’s absolute personal authority. Such a distant god is the god of deism. Such a god… does not interfere with its activities. And, above all, he does not judge it… In short, this god is IMPERSONAL.” (Pg. 33)

He argues, “The enemies will be defeated, and the Church will have dominion and blessing, if it will keep God’s covenant! … There is one apparent exception… the life of Job… In the end, Job does receive the blessing of the covenant… So, there are times when it seems like there is no connection between ethics and effects… In the short term, he was ‘cursed’ for being righteous. In the long term, he was blessed DOUBLY… His life reinforces the ethics principle of the covenant.” (Pg. 68)

He acknowledges, “Apostasy is real. People can fall away. Question: Fall away from what? They fall from the VISIBLE COVENANT. IF they never come back and repent, then they were never truly converted to begin with. From the HUMAN point of view… We cannot read hearts and say infallibly that a person really and truly is a Christian… If a person ‘says’ he believes, is baptized, and shows basic outward evidence of being a Christian, he should be treated as a believer. Should he fall away, his assurance is lost…” (Pg. 81-82)

He summarizes his five points, “First Point. … True Transcendence. All covenants begin with a statement of Lordship by distinguishing God from man one of three ways: creation, redemption, and revelation… Second Point…. Hierarchy. Biblical hierarchy is the representative principle… God makes His transcendence known through visible authorities… Third Point… Ethics. There is an ethical cause and effect relationship… Fourth Point… Sanctions. The covenant is ratified through the reception of the sanctions of blessing and cursing by means of a self-maledictory oath… Fifth Point… Continuity. After ratification, the true heirs should be confirmed… this is the model we shall be using throughout the book… On what basis can I conclude that this structure of the covenant holds true for the rest of the Bible? The only way is to check and cross-check with other Scripture.” (Pg. 120-122)

He states, “Unfortunately, there are Christians in places of great influence today who continue to teach a clan view of the family… They do not acknowledge the Protestant principle of MULTIPLE AUTHORITIES. They teach that the father’s word is law… This simply transfers to the father the kind of authority which the Roman Catholic Church officially invests in the Pope… This is radically anti-Biblical. There are always multiple human courts that are established by God to speak in God’s name, and no single earthly governmental authority has a monopoly on speaking God’s covenantal word, and therefore absolute authority to create or dissolve a marriage.” (Pg. 155)

He observes, “As long as the civil government subsidizes and educates a society toward polytheism in the name of pluralism through its own educational systems, Christianity will not be allowed a free-market opportunity to change the culture. We desperately need a resurgence of covenantally minded Christians to forge the way!” (Pg. 193)

He concludes, “We come to the end of our study of the covenant. The final question to be answered is, ‘How do we establish a society based on the concepts presented in this book?’… God told the Israelites that their Biblical culture would come ‘little by little.’ It did not come SUDDENLY, or overnight. It came gradually… It can only successfully some about (and stick), if it takes hole at a grass-roots level through evangelism.” (Pg. 202)

In an Appendix, he explains, “In my development of the structure of the Biblical covenant, I have particularly relied on Meredith G. Kline…Kline and I disagree about the applications and implications of each of the five points of the covenant. We disagree to such an extent that my book can legitimately be regarded as a rejection of Kline in the light of Kline.” (Pg. 281)

This book will be interest to Calvinists, Christian Reconstructionists, and others.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! I've read it before and whenever I read this Preface written by Gary North it is still ridiculously over the top. Gary North's superlatives could rival any boxer or hip hop star's hype man, he talks about this book like it were Muhammad Ali.

"Sutton's book will be regarded in retrospect as a turning point in Christian theology..Sutton's book unlocks the Biblical doctrine of the covenant as no other book has in the history of the church...The outline of this book will shape the thinking of Christians from the day forward...future Christians may not actually read Sutton's book (though historians will)...you have a classic in your hands...if you own an autographed first edition buy another copy and put the autographed one in your safety deposit box. In four hundred years, it will make you rich. "(!!!)

If I were Ray Sutton I would have told Gary North to drop the preface or don't publish the book, even if all of these things proved true North's glibness and braggadocio set the reader up for almost certain disappointment. I like this book, I think it is a valuable and insightful resource on the covenant, but it simply is not *that* good and the Preface writes a check that can't be cashed.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was both good and bad. It was interesting and I liked the first 136 pages. Past that, it was tedious. I ended up skimming most of the rest of the book. I had high hopes, and while Sutton had some good insights and I gained a couple things, it was ultimately disappointing. Of all things, I would rather it be bad than disappointing.

I really enjoyed his Signed, Sealed, and Delivered, and see the foundation here in That You May Proper of his eventual move from the Presbyterian church to the Episcopalian church.

[Aurora Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

A classic example of overreach. Having discovered that the book of Deuteronomy is structured on a 4 point covenant treaty, Sutton adds a fifth point and starts to see this structure appear everywhere, and believes it is the key to unlocking the entire bible. In 2003, in his book Signed, Sealed, and Delivered, Sutton recanted this book and expressed an interest in a complete overhaul of the work along more trinitarian lines.

[Arthur Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

A real dog’s breakfast. A woven tapestry of truth and error that winds up denying the gospel. This is the seedbed of what later became known as Federal Vision. Starting from some true insights into covenant theology taken from Kline, he breaks away and finds himself making the gospel void.

“To be united to Christ means great life or horrendous death, depending on the faithfulness of the one baptized.”

“When the Bible speaks of faith, it means faithfulness”

It is a worse error than Arminianism. It is Covenant Arminianism.

I am glad I read it and will probably read parts of it again. It makes one think. And it helps to see the outcome of a bad understanding of the Spirit’s work in redemption. He’s got some good thoughts on postmillennialism, and points out some valid criticisms of Kline’s amil thought. However, at the end of the day, “if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received…”

[Zach McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not convinced that the five point covenant model that Sutton presents can be pressed as tightly onto every part of Scripture as he seems to propose - I am hesitant to call this the "key" to "unlock" Scripture. However, the model is exceedingly helpful and Suttons observation and application of the model to the family, Church, and State is insightful and practical.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sutton develops his covenant structure and hermeneutic using a 5 point acronym, THEOS. Where Sutton fails (in the poor writing), he does offer some help in understanding covenant structures, especially from the viewpoint of God. The appendixes offered do a decent job of tying up lose ends and answering some FAQs.

[M P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished not sure I understand it.

disagreements
over the answers to five questions:
1. Who's in charge here?
2. To whom do I report?
3. What are the rules?
4. What do I get for obeying or disobeying?
5. Does this outfit have a future? Xi

THEOS. This is the Greek word for
God. The acronym stands for ​Transcendence, Hierarchy, Ethics,
Oath, and Succession: the five ​points. Xv

[History7teacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the clearest exposition of the Bible’s teaching about the covenant that I have ever read. The author defines a covenant from the Scriptures with its five fold structure and then shows how the same pattern runs through many of the other books of the Old and New Testaments. Truly a book to study and ponder.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abp. Sutton shows the 5 fold model of covenant as it appears in scripture and models such as the Church and the state. Through the book he flexes incredible biblical knowledge and a sharp mind. This was my introduction to covenantalism and would reccomend it as a good place to start.

[Tyler Jarboe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much solid and helpful demonstration of the covenant theme of Scripture, clearly fitting his model (THEOS/THESC acronym), with important applications. Other examples are somewhat less clear and seemed forced.

[Rory Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Recon title. To be honest, Sutton’s stile kind of bores me...

[Derek Herrema · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

[Fred Schwarz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Currently our Bible Study class is looking at Covenant Theology. This book was mentioned in the class. It was written by a young Ray Sutton back then and he is now the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church. This book has some good notions on covenant theology and Christianity as an “Ethical religion.” But it is harsh in sanctions and proposes a very legalistic Christianity. Too much law and not enough grace in this book; actually, God’s loving grace is completely missing. It is a very puritan outlook. I would not recommend this to anyone unless you are well founded in covenant theology and aspects of grace. I’ve been told that Bp. Sutton, whom I have met, has refused to allow this to be republished and has commented that he would not write it this way if he was to do it now.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think his larger picture is off, though the book is filled with lots of helpful worldview suggestions. As North admits in the preface, the writing style leaves a lot to be desired. Often, it is quite pedantic.

Sutton takes his cue from Meredith Kline's covenant model, with a few alterations. Sutton suggests that covenants follow the 5-point paradigm:

Transcendence
Hierarchy
Ethics
Oaths
Succession

He then has a chapter on each point and shows not only biblical evidence, but historical precedents. I suppose it works well enough. I'm simply nervous about making it the paradigm around which to read the entire Bible. Indeed, in his appendices, Sutton suggests that numerous books of the Bible follow this paradigm. I'm not so sure. Certainly, Deuteronomy and even Romans follow it, but the rest is stretching it.

Pros:
Sutton does a fantastic job contrasting biblical, covenantal religion with pagan religion. He notes that Pagan religions follow a chain-of-being ontology. This means that there is no divide between "God" and creation. The difference is that God has more "being" higher in the scale. Covenantalism, by contrast, posits the Creator-creature distinction in which a transcendent God communicates by his Covenant-Word. Interestingly enough, his critique of chain-of-being anticipates some things Michael Horton would say decades later.

Cons:
The early "Tyler Theology" comes out heavily. I say "early" because while there is a heavy influence of Jim Jordan, it is at a time when Jim Jordan was still a theonomist. Among other things, Sutton argues for paedocommunion. Caveat emptor.

Conclusion:
While badly written, the book is easy enough to read and for the discerning reader it offers a number of helpful insights.

[Peter Bringe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some good concepts and bright spots, but I felt it underperformed. In my opinion, it certainly did not live up to the praise given to it by Gary North's preface. I think Sutton does a good job explaining some aspects of what a covenant is and implies, but some of his biblical exegesis seemed weak or forced. I also felt that Sutton did not adequately relate his observations on covenant theology to covenant theology as it is handled in systematic theology (i.e. covenant of grace/covenant of works).

[mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read on the nature of Biblical covenant and how it extends into all areas of our lives. It did not necessarily reverse any opinions but definitely strengthened some opinions, e.g., government and education. I would also add that having a better understanding of the nature of a covenant, specifically the Mosaic covenant as laid out in Deuteronomy, I have gained a much better understanding of the entire Bible and biblical history.

[Michael T Moos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sutton at this point in his life was a little too reformed and that can be seen at several points in this book. He gets way off in the weeds regarding baptism in appendix 9 seemingly outright denying baptismal regeneration (as opposed to his other work Signed Sealed and Delivered) and of course he holds to a Calvinistic “spiritual presence” in the Eucharist. Good read overall though for most of it.

[Michael Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

although the five point covenant model suggested may or may not be ultra important or dominant, it is certainly a helpful organizer for the book of Deuteronomy!

This book was very influential in shaping my own view of the covenant.

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book on the covenant from a consistent eschatological perspective, That You May Prosper really blew my mind with its clarity, Biblical faithfulness, and intelligence in the way it dug deep to find the patterns that shape the way the Bible was written.

[Jason Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed me. It's one of those that just messes with your theology and I'm so glad it did.