Far As The Curse Is Found

Michael Williams of Covenant Seminary provides a serviceable introduction to a covenantal/biblical-theological reading of the Bible in his recent book from P&R, entitled Far As The Curse Is Found . Williams’s interpretations are judicious and one of his fundamental themes is that salvation restores rather than cancels creation, a theme that we can hardly hear often enough. The simplicity of the writing and argument is deceptive. If this isn’t an earth-shattering book (and it’s not), there is a lot of serious thought here.

Along the way, he offers a careful discussion of the nature of the Adamic covenant, manifests a high view of the law and its continuing relevance to the church, and describes the conflict within the early church in these NPP-friendly terms: “During the postexilic era, elements within Israel became very legalistic in their observance of the Mosaic law. For some groups such as the New Testament-era Pharisees, law keeping took on redemptive significance as conformity to the law becamse the mark of belonging to the people of God. One proved his election by carefully observing the Mosaic law, especially its Sabbath instructions and its regulations concerning ritual cleanliness. When Jews became believers in Jesus Christ, they often retained these notions about the centrality of the law. And when Gentiles became believers, in some cases Jewish Christians would seek to require them to observe Jewish traditions.”