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INTERPRETATION
&
HISTORY A volume of essays written and presented to Dr Allan A. MacRae by his
former pupils on the occasion of his eighty-fourth birthday. The book concerns vital issues affecting the interpretation of the Bible
and the understanding of certain historical problems. It comprises
contributions by seventeen scholars (besides a few others), namely, R.
Laird Harris, J. Robert Vannoy, Robert E. Longacre, Paul R. Gilchrist,
Samuel J. Schultz, Elmer B. Smick, Robert A. Peterson, Robert C. Newman, W.
Harold Mare, Vernon C. Grounds, Robert J. Dunzweiler, Gordon R. Lewis,
William Paul, Wilher B. Wallis, Thomas V. Taylor, William N. Harding, and
John M. L. Young. INTERPRETATION
&
HISTORY
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ALLAN ALEXANDER MACRAE
"From a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"
(1 Tim 1:5 NIV) INTERPRETATION
&
HISTORY
Essays in honour of
Allan A. MacRae
Edited by
R. Laird Harris
Swee-Hwa Quek
J. Robert Vannoy
Christian Life Publishers
INTERPRETATION AND HISTORY
Copyright © 1986 by Allan A. MacRae ISBN 9971-991-14-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means --
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other -- except for
brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the
publisher. Cover Design by Roland Soh Published by
CHRISTIAN LIFE PUBLISHERS
623 Aljunied Road
Aljunied Industrial Complex #07-05
Singapore 1438 Printed in the Republic of Singapore CONTENTS Frontispiece 2
Foreword 7
PART ONE 9
Allan A. MacRae: An Appreciation 11 Tributes
R. ALLAN KILLEN 17
ROBERT J. DUNZWEILER 25 A Bibliography of Allan Alexander MacRae, Ph.D.
JAMES C. PAKALA 31 Tabula Gratularoria 47
PART TWO 55
Biblical Hermeneutics Prophecy. Illustration and Typology
R. LAIRD HARRIS 57 Old Testament Divine Revelation and History in the Old Testament
J. ROBERT VANNOY 67 Who Sold Joseph into Egypt?
ROBERT E. LONGACRE 75 Towards a Covenantal Definition of TÔRÂ
PAUL R. GILCHRIST 93 Sacrifice in the God-Man Relationship in the Pentateuch
SAMUEL J. SCHULTZ 109 ?6 Interpretation & History Israel's Struggle with the Religions of Canaan
ELMER B. SMICK 123 New Testament Christ's Death as an Example in the New Testament
ROBERT A. PETERSON 135 Perspective Transformation by Means of Parables
ROBERT C. NEWMAN 139 The Work Ethic of the Gospels and Acts
W. HAROLD MARE 155 Theology and Philosophy The Bible and the Modern Mind
VERNON C. GROUNDS 169 Inspiration, "Inspiredness", and the Proclamation of God's Word Today
ROBERT J. DUNZWEILER 185 Three Sides to Every Story: Relating the Absolutes of General and Special
Revelation to Relativists
GORDON R. LEWIS 201 Time and Historical Significance
WILLIAM W. PAUL 211 Reflections on the History of Premillennial Thought
WILBER B. WALLIS 225 Church History and Missions Church History Revisited
THOMAS V. TAYLOR 253 An Examination of Passages Cited by the Jehovah's Witnesses to Deny Jesus
Is God
WILLIAM N. HARDING 273 Cross Cultural Witness: Conflict and Accommodation
JOHN M. L. YOUNG 281 Index 291 ?7 Interpretation & History FOREWORD ? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ???????? ??? ?????v??? ?? ?v???
Col 4:7 The intention to mark the occasion of the eighty-fourth birthday of Dr
Allan A. MacRae with a volume of essays was mooted in 1982 at a meeting of
the Faculty of Biblical Theological Seminary. At long last we present this
Festschrift to our beloved teacher, esteemed colleague and brother in
Christ. The honor we give him is long overdue and we are glad that his
contributions to the ongoing task of biblical scholarship can be recognised
in this humble manner. One mark of a great Bible teacher is his ability to urge others on to
fulfil their various God-given vocations. Dr MacRae's pupils may be found
today in the pastorate, in the mission field, in theological faculties, and
in "secular" professions as responsible Christian laymen. Their varied
interests are reflected in this volume. The views expressed may not command
widespread agreement -- each writer is responsible for his own work --
nevertheless we are confident that these essays will consolidate and
advance the achievements of biblical scholarship. We thank all the
contributors for their labor of love and hope that by the grace of God they
will continue to write and grapple with the issues facing Christians today.
We know that God will raise up many in these last days to demonstrate
clearly and cogently that we have in our hands the inerrant Word of God.
Through the work of Dr MacRae, his pupils and a host of many others, may
this task be done to the glory of God. We record our thanks to our publisher, Mr Paul Wong, for his willingness to
undertake this project. We also thank all who have made this project
possible. It is our hope that there will be something in this book for
everyone and that it may enrich the thinking and lives of many Christians. We wish our distinguished mentor God's richest blessings in multos annos! 11 February, 1986 R. LAIRD HARRIS
SWEE-HWA QUEK
J. ROBERT VANNOY PART ONE ?11 Interpretation & History ALLAN A. MACRAE: AN APPRECIATION The Late Francis A. Schaeffer Dr Allan A. MacRae is one of the key people who opened a door for me in my
life. His influence came at a very crucial time when I graduated from
Hampden-Sydney College and entered Westminster Theological Seminary. In
those days, of course, the school was located on Pine Street in
Philadelphia. Edith and I had just been married and I walked each day from
Green Street, where we had our little apartment, down to Pine Street,
carrying along the lunch that Edith had made for me which I used to eat in
the old library rooms. One of the great questions before me at that time in my preparation for the
ministry was the type of exegesis that one should apply to the whole of
Scripture. It was here that Dr MacRae helped me lay a foundation which has
been very important to me from that day to this. He taught me the elements of Hebrew as well as other subjects. The courses
that were especially important to me were his courses on the Old Testament
Prophets. As the class studied through these it became very clear that the
prophetic passages of Scripture were to be treated in the historical,
grammatical form of exegesis and not in any spiritualised sense. This laid
a foundation for my study of Scripture and for my approach to exegesis in
all the years that followed. Later in my other course work, this form of exegesis, so clearly biblical,
was carried across into the New Testament. It gave me a firm foundation
through all the years in my personal reading, preaching, teaching and
writing. I became convinced that there is a uniform approach to exegesis
for the whole of Scripture. With reference especially to eschatology, I was
sure that prophetic passages should be exegeted in exactly the same way as
the doctrinal and historical passages of Scripture. I cannot over-emphasise
the importance of this in my personal life and outlook as well as in my
teaching and work. Then later, as Faith Theological Seminary was begun, in that first year of
its existence, I was Dr MacRae's "assistant". This meant helping him with
his filing, some reference work and so on. It also meant spending much time
in his apartment in Wilmington, Delaware, and provided a friendship as well
as stimulation which was exceedingly important for me at that time, an
influence which lasted well into my subsequent life. I am thankful for the contributions Dr Allan A. MacRae has made to the
Christian world of our generation, and I would emphasise this includes his
influence upon me personally. ?12 Interpretation & History John W. Sanderson Allan MacRae spoke in chapel during my senior year of college, and he
impressed me with the natural blend of scholarship and mission, which was
his emphasis in that talk. His concern was for missions throughout the
world, in particular, for the mission field of Europe because of its
strategic place in the world, as well as for the needs of the Europeans who
once had the Gospel as their possession. This was not a one-time stress.
Later on, in his classes, I saw the same commitment, and when both of us
served on the executive committee of a foreign missions board, I saw his
concern only deepening and widening. It is only natural today that graduates of schools with which Allan has
been connected should be found both in the halls of scholarship and on the
mission fields where the need for theological education is a high priority.
Seminaries and Bible schools were established as soon as churches had been
planted. While of course others shared his vision in this and gave their
support, much credit is Allan's for his continued emphasis on missions. Allan had been influenced greatly by Robert Dick Wilson who was careful not
to side-step the difficult questions of the Old Testament. Like Wilson, he
took his students on a painstaking review of Pentateuchal criticism and the
single authorship of Isaiah. We spent a month, three hours a week, on the
latter. We took a whole semester to consider the development of documentary
theories concerning the writings of Moses. Such time-consuming study was
not appreciated by many students, but the professor always insisted that
only the truth would prevail, and tha