Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics to Focus on ‘Israel, War, and Antisemitism’

The 19th Annual Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics will be held at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry headquarters in Westville, N.J., on Wednesday and Thursday, September 16 and 17.

It will be the first time that this conference will not be hosted by an educational institution. Instead, visitors will be able to see FOIGM’s newly expanded facilities, including its state-of-the-art recording studio.

This is a conference that I had long desired to join, but was never able to attend until 2024. This will now be the third straight year in which I will have had the privilege of presenting a paper of my own.

Dr. Mike Stallard, vice president for international ministries with FOIGM, is the executive director of CDH. He shared that CDH is an academic study group, established in 2008 to promote theological discussion among traditional dispensationalist theologians, pastors and students.

“In light of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, followed by a rise of antisemitism throughout the world, and the United States-Israel war against Iran, this year’s theme—’Israel, War, and Antisemitism’—will prove to be pivotal,” Stallard said. “We will discuss these things in light of Biblical teaching.”

The conference will entail two very full, information-packed days, with many different options for attendees.

“There will be 19 presentations, the most in the history of CDH,” Stallard explained.

Due to that large number of presentations, most of them will be offered in breakout session tracks, and the discussion time that follows the papers will sometimes cover more than one paper.

“A new feature in light of the theme is a panel where Jewish rabbis will discuss the relationship between Jewish people and evangelicals with the council,” Stallard said. That will take place during lunch on Wednesday.

The traditional pastors’ panel will be held during lunch on Thursday, and will cover the same topic. It will include the following pastors: Mike Dellaperute, Calvary Baptist Church, Little Egg Harbor, N.J.; Ed Muska, Mount Calvary Union Church, Runnemede, N.J.; Jason Parmer, Faith Bible Church, Vineland, N.J.; and Wayne Slusser, Bible Baptist Church, Buffalo, Mo.

Here are the regular presentations, in alphabetical order by presenter’s last name:

• Ian Bacon, Calvary University – “The Character of God Vindicated Through the Restoration of Israel on Their Land: An Examination of Ezekiel 36:22-36”
• Joshua Bailey, Tyndale Theological Seminary – “Examples of Practical Application of the Biblical Covenants for Israel Within Both the Old and New Testaments”
• Jason Coke, Dallas Theological Seminary – “The Literary Argument of Galatians and ‘The Israel of God’”
• James Fazio, Southern California Seminary – “From Jesuit Aberration to Mystical Apparition: A Consideration of the Intellectual Influences on J. N. Darby’s Rapture Doctrine”
• David Gunn, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry – “Modern Israel and Biblical Israel: A Case for Continuity”
• Paul Himes, Baptist College of Ministry – “Did the Jewish People Commit Genocide? One More Look at the Syntax of Esther 8:11”
• Elliott Johnson, DTS (retired) – “An Overview of a Pauline System of Dispensationalism”
• Cory Marsh, SCS – “From Election to Reception: Toward a Dispensational Israelology from Romans 9-11”
• Mark McGinnis, Chafer Theological Seminary & Liberty University – “An Uncomfortable but Biblical Response to Antisemitism from Psalm 83”
• Olivier Melnick, Shalom in Messiah Ministries – “Collateral Antisemitism: A Heavy Price for Being a Dispensational Christian Zionist”
• Paul Miles, CTS – “Antisemitism in Russian Political Theory: Translating Ruscist Views on Dispensationalism, Replacement Theology, and the Pentateuch”
• Ray Mondragon, CTS – “The Roots of Antisemitism”
• Brian Overholtzer, FOIGM – “The Literal and Consistent Use of the Messianic Psalms in the New Testament”
• Randall Price, World of the Bible Ministries – “Biblical and Hermeneutical Support for the Modern State of Israel Within God’s Prophetic Plan”
• Lucas Ramirez, SCS – “The Recipients of Old Testament Covenantal Promises and Consequences: Interpreting Romans 9:4 and Assessing Antisemitic Implications of Competing Theological Frameworks”
• A. Jacob W. Reinhardt, The New York Theologian – “Evaluating Criticisms of the Nation of Israel for Antisemitism”
• Paul Scharf, FOIGM – “Luther and Antisemitism Revisited”
• Tim Sigler, Ariel Ministries – “Israelology Among the ‘-ologies’: To What Extent Should Israelology Be Used as a Category in our Systematic Theologies?”
• Mike Stallard, FOIGM – “Should Dispensationalists Be Christian Zionists?”

Previous conferences have been held at Baptist Bible Seminary (Clarks Summit, Pa.), Calvary University (Kansas City, Mo.), College of Biblical Studies (Houston, Texas), Faith Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary (Ankeny, Iowa), Shepherds Theological Seminary (Cary, N.C.) and Southern California Seminary (El Cajon, Calif.).

Since the closing of BBS, CDH has taken over publishing The Journal of Ministry and Theology, which the school previously produced. It is published online, and often includes papers delivered at the annual CDH conferences. JMAT can be found on the CDH website at dispensationalcouncil.org.

Papers from previous years’ conferences, going back to 2020, are also available on the CDH website, and many videos of presentations are included from the years since 2021.

Registration for this year’s CDH is $25, and that price includes three catered meals at the FOIGM headquarters.

For the updated schedule or to register to attend in person or online, visit dispensationalcouncil.org.