Do Covenant Properties Exist?: A Critical Evaluation of K. Scott Oliphint's Covenant Properties Proposal

by Matt Fortunato

The Reformed community waits with bated breath for Dr. K. Scott Oliphint's second edition of God With Us and for his denomination's verdict on whether or not he has violated their confessional standards. Dr. Oliphint is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. His 2011's God With Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God has met fierce criticism. Has his thesis been interpreted properly? Does he really teach that God changes? Or that there are, in effect, two Gods--one in himself and one outside himself? This book provides a mediating voice for Reformed thinkers who are uneasy with or unsure about Oliphint's proposal. As a caricature of his theology spreads, I provide a thorough, charitable, and precise exposition of the central purpose and teaching of God With Us, and I lay bare the methodological error of certain critics. In this book, originally my doctoral dissertation, I critically evaluate the problematic language in God With Us while also vindicating Oliphint's basic doctrine against charges of unorthodoxy. I evaluate some of his main critics and identify the underlying difference between their theology and methodology and Oliphint's. I offer a reformulation of the covenant properties proposal that maintains its strengths, addresses its weaknesses, and advances the discussion in a fruitful way. Oliphint has been charged with "novelty" and "innovation" that strays from Reformed thought. I demonstrate exactly how his language is not nearly as novel or innovative as some have made it out to be. What is at the root of this theological conflict? Is there anything of Oliphint's covenant properties proposal worth salvaging? Anything necessary for the church to hear? Anything necessary for Reformed thinkers to grasp and apply? I argue, yes. Do Covenant Properties Exist? is an in-depth attempt to critically evaluate and carefully develop Dr. Oliphint's basic thesis.

Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2019