Salvation History:

Salvation History is viewed as the progressive unfolding of God’s plan for humanity, beginning with creation and culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This history is divided into various covenants—binding agreements made by God with humanity. Key covenants include those made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and ultimately the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ.  These covenants form a unified and coherent story of God’s salvation for humanity. The Old Testament covenants are seen as preparatory, leading to the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ.  Christ is the center of salvation history, with His death and resurrection fulfilling the promises made in the Old Covenant while inaugurating the New Covenant.

Dispensationalism, Covenant Theology & Supersessionism

Dispensationalism is a relatively modern theological system that divides salvation history into distinct periods, or dispensations, during which God interacts with humanity in different ways. Each dispensation is marked by a test, human failure, and divine judgment. One of the central tenets of Dispensationalism is the sharp distinction between Israel and the Church. Dispensationalists argue that God’s promises to Israel remain valid and unfulfilled, and thus they await a literal fulfillment in the future, often associated with the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of a millennial kingdom.

The Catholic Church rejects the sharp distinctions made by Dispensationalism between Israel and the Church, as it breaks the unity of God’s plan for salvation. While the Church acknowledges certain “economies” in the way God interacted with humanity (e.g., the Mosaic Law, the New Covenant), it does not see these as separate dispensations but as part of a single, continuous divine economy. The Church is also wary of any eschatology that expects a future, literal fulfillment of Old Testament promises in a geopolitical Israel, as this can undermine the belief in Christ’s fulfillment of all the promises in His death and resurrection.

Covenant Theology is rooted in Reformed Protestantism and views salvation history in terms of two or three overarching covenants: the Covenant of Works (with Adam before the Fall), the Covenant of Grace (with believers after the Fall), and sometimes the Covenant of Redemption (within the Godhead before creation). Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity between the Old and New Testaments, seeing the Church as the spiritual continuation of Israel. According to this view, the promises made to Israel are fulfilled in Christ and His Church, which now includes both Jews and Gentiles.

Covenant Theology is closer to Catholic teaching in its emphasis on continuity between the Old and New Covenants. The Catholic Church sees the covenants with Israel as types or foreshadowings of the New Covenant established by Christ. However, Covenant Theology’s tendency to minimize the distinctiveness of the Old Testament’s specific promises to Israel can sometimes obscure the historical reality of God’s relationship with the Jewish people, which the Catholic Church insists must be respected.

Supersessionism (sometimes called Replacement Theology) is the belief that the Church has replaced Israel as the people of God. In its most basic form, Supersessionism teaches that because the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, they have forfeited their role as God’s chosen people, and the Church has taken their place. This view has been held in various forms throughout Christian history and has influenced the way many Christians, including early Church Fathers, interpreted the Old Testament.

However, the Catholic Church has nuanced its position on this matter, particularly in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The Church teaches that while the New Covenant is universal and open to all peoples, including both Jews and Gentiles, this does not mean that God’s covenant with Israel has been revoked. In its document Nostra Aetate (1965), the Church explicitly rejects the idea that Jews are cursed or rejected by God. Instead, the Church affirms that the Jewish people remain in a special relationship with God, as the covenant made with Abraham is irrevocable (cf. Romans 11:29).

Catholic teaching today is careful to avoid any form of Replacement Theology that suggests the Church simply replaces Israel. Instead, the Church views itself as grafted onto the promises made to Israel (Romans 11:17-24). The Church Fathers, such as Augustine and Jerome, tended to interpret the Church’s relationship with Israel in a way that aligns with supersessionist thinking, but the Church today clarifies that these views must be understood in the context of God’s ongoing fidelity to the Jewish people. The Church holds that while Christ fulfills the promises of the Old Covenant, this fulfillment does not negate God’s ongoing relationship with Israel.

Paul and Judaism

St. Paul’s writings on Judaism, particularly in the letters to the Romans and Galatians, have been a key source of theological reflection for both the early Church and modern Catholic theology. Paul, himself a Jew, wrestled with the question of how the New Covenant in Christ related to the Jewish law (the Torah). In Paul’s view, justification comes through faith in Christ and not through the works of the Law (Galatians 2:16). This led many early Christians, and later theologians, to view Paul as rejecting Judaism entirely.

However, modern Catholic interpretation of Paul, particularly following the work of theologians such as Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), has emphasized the continuity in Paul’s thought. Paul did not reject Judaism but argued that the Mosaic Law had a temporary role, which was fulfilled in Christ. The Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine, also interpreted Paul in this light, seeing the Law as a “schoolmaster” that prepared humanity for the coming of Christ (cf. Galatians 3:24).

The Catholic Church today teaches that Paul’s writings must be understood in the context of salvation history. Paul’s emphasis on faith in Christ does not mean that the Law was bad or that Judaism was invalidated; rather, the Law was preparatory, guiding the people of Israel toward the fullness of revelation in Christ. Paul’s critique of the Law is thus a critique of reliance on the Law for salvation, not a rejection of the Law itself or of the Jewish people.

The early Church Fathers played a crucial role in developing the Catholic understanding of salvation history. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 AD) is an essential figure in this regard. His work Against Heresies emphasizes the unity of salvation history, arguing that the Old and New Testaments tell one coherent story. Irenaeus wrote that God’s covenant with Israel was part of a larger divine plan that culminates in Christ. He viewed the different covenants in salvation history as stages in God’s pedagogical plan for bringing humanity into communion with Him. For example, Irenaeus wrote:

“There is therefore one and the same God, who from the beginning to the end is working in all men, and thus works in a way that is suitable and compatible with each age” (Against Heresies, 4.9.3).

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) also had a profound impact on Catholic theology. His understanding of salvation history, particularly in his work The City of God, presents the Church as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Augustine wrote extensively about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, seeing Christ as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel. However, Augustine did not teach that the Jewish people were cursed or abandoned by God. Instead, he saw the Jews as witnesses to God’s covenantal faithfulness, even in their rejection of Christ.

Augustine viewed salvation history as a process in which God educates humanity through stages, leading from the Old Covenant to the New. In his Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, Augustine writes:

“The Old Testament is therefore a prophecy of the New; and the best demonstration of this lies in the fact that what was predicted in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New.” (Enchiridion, 56).

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