Has the Church Replaced Israel?: A Theological Evaluation

This book is a thorough refutation of the idea there is no future for national Israel in God’s plans. It seems every aspect of the issue has been addressed. The idea there is no future for national Israel reminds me of the following prophecy in Jeremiah 33:23-26 (NKJV) 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them. 25 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant [is] not with day and night, [and if] I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 ‘then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, [so] that I will not take [any] of his descendants [to be] rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

Vlach engages the discussion adamantly. He logically pulls apart the arguments for and against on both sides, and comes out the other side with insights that are both biblical and yet unexpected. My only criticism is that he should have weaved many of the lengthy quotations as his own text so that rather bouncing from author-to-author for corroboration it could have read a smoother, more stream-lined text. But a minor issue. His work is both edifying, and deep. Any reader would do well to take mental notes of both the arguments and authors involved.

Although I hold to a form of the view opposed in this volume (New Covenant Theology/Fulfillment) Vlach does a fantastic job in the first portion of the book fairly representing my view and honestly presenting the case that the view he opposes was the view of the church for the past 2k years, admitting that it was the establishment of the current nation of Israel in the last century that has caused this new innovation in theology, Dispensationalism, to come about (current events are a poor reason to establish theology). The author also does a great job presenting our argument but it is when he begins to attempt to refute them that he shows his lack of grasping a difference of "replacement" and "fulfillment" and begins to construct straw men. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about the view he opposes but also for the great presentation of his own view which he lays out wonderfully and thoughtful (though I still disagree with his conclusions).

This book is sooo long overdue. It's the best ever defense AND positive presentation of of Gods' plan for Israel. God has NOT cast them off permanently. They are still in the promised covenants. This author is no slouch when it comes to research. He exegetes each text to the max & demonstrates The Amillennialist & post millennialist errors. Excellent reasoning with scripture. A very needed book as the premil position has been berated ---- BUT NO MORE. He references Fruchtenbaum on 'Israelology' Which is also an excellent treatise on Gods' unfulfilled (as yet) promises to Israel in His covenants. Excellent book. Gives you the answers for the skeptics that heretofore were absent. Get ready to be blessed if you like to reason. He is very methodical without grandiose statements. Level headed , calm & possesses cool reasoning in the scriptures. LONG OVERDUE, BUT HERE NOW. He gave me Biblical answers for the skeptics. Read it hungeringly & you will be blessed. Jesus IS coming again & His plan includes The Nation Israel. Even so come Lord Jesus!

A. Concise clear rendering of the word "church" in the Greek verses "assembly" in the Hebrew.It is not enough to read scripture for the Lover of God, but to seek out full understanding to further enhance ones relationship to God and His marvelous plan for His creation ~Here, within the pages of Michael Vlach's research, we are enlightened to the facts laid out by the Apostle Paul that God has not forsaken or forgotten His choice for a Nation, Israel. God does not make mistakes, He fulfills His plan to the minutia of every jot and tittle.

4 books came in great shape but one came water damaged.

Vlach is surprisingly generous towards the supersessionist view. He points out that many supersessionists still believe that the Jews have a future in God's plan without outlining how nonsensical that is. The Covenants are an existential matter for the Jewish people; therefore if they no longer have the Covenants, then they should not exist anymore as a distinct people group, and any talk of them having a future in God's plan would be utter nonsense. Vlach fails to point out this most obvious and fatal flaw of supersessionism, and as a result he allows them to have their cake and eat it too. If you're going to write an entire book to attack bad theology, then for God's sake, ATTACK IT.

As you can tell from one reviewer writing a book about a book, this is a volatile subject about which Christians disagree at a visceral level. My point is not to attack or defend the author's conclusions but to appreciate the integrity with which he approaches his subject. I attend a church which has the opposing view. In a world where mudslinging, even in the church, is accepted and normal, Dr. Michael Vlach has risen above that to write a responsible defense for the idea that the church is distinct from Israel. My pastor disagrees. If you are weary of reading polemic theologians, Dr. Vlach's writing style will be welcome relief, whether you agree with him or not. Able gentlemen like him help those of us who are caught in the middle work through these issues and I am grateful for this kind of help.

Excellent price, product and service.

It is always helpful to read books that make you go back to the scriptures and read them again. This is one of those books.

It's an excellent book, worth to be read and studied by all christians that want to know more about the replacement theology (supersessionism), and want to have an idea about the Israel-Church relation.

Good book