{"id":5110,"date":"2009-12-30T00:06:41","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T00:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html"},"modified":"2009-12-30T00:06:41","modified_gmt":"2009-12-30T00:06:41","slug":"the-old-testament-and-universa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html","title":{"rendered":"The Old Testament and Universalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GregMacd.jpg\"Robin Parry’s major focus, in his book The Evangelical Universalist<\/a>\"\" <\/strong><\/em> , is a biblical case for universalism, and that means one eventually has to take a good hard look at the Old Testament.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Which he does.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After sketching some suggestive Adam-Israel parallels, making Adam a type of Israel in the Land, Parry (aka, Gregory Macdonald) makes the very important observation that God’s covenant with Abram\/Abraham had within it the (great) commission of being a blessing to the nations.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Israel was to be a kingdom of priests to mediate between YHWH and the Nations. This role leads Israel to be a light to the nations and to the nations making pilgrimage to the temple on Mount Zion. And Israel’s fate is embodied in the Servant of Isaiah. But Parry finds — as do many others — universalism in Isaiah 45:<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

45:20<\/i><\/span> Gather together and come!<\/i><\/p>\n

Approach together, you refugees from the nations!<\/i><\/p>\n

Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,<\/i><\/p>\n

those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.<\/i><\/p>\n

45:21<\/i><\/span> Tell me! Present the evidence!<\/i><\/p>\n

Let them consult with one another!<\/i><\/p>\n

Who predicted this in the past?<\/i><\/p>\n

Who announced it beforehand?<\/i><\/p>\n

Was it not I, the <\/i>Lord<\/i><\/span>?<\/i><\/p>\n

I have no peer, there is no God but me,<\/i><\/p>\n

a God who vindicates and delivers;<\/i><\/p>\n

there is none but me.<\/i><\/p>\n

45:22<\/i><\/span> Turn to me so you can be delivered,<\/i><\/p>\n

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!<\/i><\/p>\n

For I am God, and I have no peer.<\/i><\/p>\n

45:23<\/i><\/span> I solemnly make this oath –<\/i><\/p>\n

what I say is true and reliable:<\/i><\/p>\n

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

every tongue will solemnly affirm;<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

45:24<\/b><\/i><\/span> they will say about me,<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

“Yes, the <\/b><\/i>Lord<\/b><\/i><\/span> is a powerful deliverer.”‘”<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

All who are angry at him will cower before him.<\/i><\/p>\n

45:25<\/i><\/span> All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the <\/i>Lord<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

and will boast in him.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

Notice v. 23: this is an oath of YHWH, not just a hope that the nations will respond. All will bow and all will confess and all will say “the Lord is my righteousness and my strength” (alternative translation). He sees a kind of universalism at work here. [He has other texts too, but this is probably enough to see the direction. He also states that it was only with development in the belief of resurrection that a full universalism emerges.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robin Parry’s major focus, in his book The Evangelical Universalist  , is a biblical case for universalism, and that means one eventually has to take a good hard look at the Old Testament. Which he does. After sketching some suggestive Adam-Israel parallels, making Adam a type of Israel in the Land, Parry (aka, Gregory Macdonald) makes the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-universalism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Old Testament and Universalism - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Old Testament and Universalism - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robin Parry’s major focus, in his book The Evangelical Universalist  , is a biblical case for universalism, and that means one eventually has to take a good hard look at the Old Testament. Which he does. After sketching some suggestive Adam-Israel parallels, making Adam a type of Israel in the Land, Parry (aka, Gregory Macdonald) makes the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-30T00:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/imgs\/GregMacd.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Old Testament and Universalism - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Old Testament and Universalism - Jesus Creed","og_description":"Robin Parry’s major focus, in his book The Evangelical Universalist  , is a biblical case for universalism, and that means one eventually has to take a good hard look at the Old Testament. Which he does. After sketching some suggestive Adam-Israel parallels, making Adam a type of Israel in the Land, Parry (aka, Gregory Macdonald) makes the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2009-12-30T00:06:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/imgs\/GregMacd.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html","name":"The Old Testament and Universalism - Jesus Creed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/imgs\/GregMacd.jpg","datePublished":"2009-12-30T00:06:41+00:00","dateModified":"2009-12-30T00:06:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/19879975236b70da80f4cbea933c59d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/imgs\/GregMacd.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/files\/import\/imgs\/GregMacd.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/12\/the-old-testament-and-universa.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Old Testament and Universalism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith for today","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/19879975236b70da80f4cbea933c59d0","name":"Scot McKnight","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/c10\/c10b0226ed6cfd8319b2b8742ac4088ax96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/c10\/c10b0226ed6cfd8319b2b8742ac4088ax96.jpg","caption":"Scot McKnight"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/author\/smcknight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}