Forward by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum

from page 3 of Calvin on the Ropes

Having read Pastor Shearer’s work (Volume I) it is obvious that Pastor Shearer is neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian in the traditional sense of the terms. The focus of this work is evaluating Calvinism and its treatment of Scripture and how it relates to the person’s view of Israel and Israelology. The tendency in Covenantal Calvinism has been to impose certain theological presuppositions on the text and interpret the text based upon a preconceived theology rather than letting the text speak for itself in context and application of normal rules of interpreting literature. Such imposition in turn has led to a presuppositional Replacement Theology which in turn rules out any future for ethnic Israel. Furthermore, it has left Israel with the curses and transferred the blessings promised to Israel to the Church. None of this, as Pastor Shearer shows, sits well with what Paul teaches in Romans 9-11. While such an evaluation may not be valid with Dispensational Calvinists, it has certainly been true with the vast majority of Calvinists that follow a Covenant Theology and hence a Covenantal Calvinism.

In his treatment of Romans, Pastor Shearer clearly shows how a number of concepts and statements Paul makes in chapters 1-8 are preliminary to what he will elaborate in Romans 9-11. While I have not yet seen his treatment of Romans 9-11, what Pastor Shearer has written on the preliminary segments of his treatment makes me look forward to see how he will tie everything together in treating those passages.

This book is highly recommended to both Dispensational Calvinists and Covenantal Calvinists as well as to Arminians, and also to all of those who do not see themselves in any of these categories for an honest evaluation of what the Book of Romans really says about God’s program for salvation and God’s program for Israel