Kenneth Gentry: Difference between revisions

{{nomore footnotes|date=July 2009}}

'''Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.''' (3 May 1950) is a [[Calvinism|Reformed]] [[theologian]], and an ordained minister in the [[Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly]]. He is particularly known for his support for and publication on the topics of [[orthodox preterism]] and [[postmillennialism]] in [[Christian eschatology]], as well as for [[theonomy]] and [[Young Earth creationism]]. He holds that each of these theological distinctives are logical and theological extensions of his foundational theology, which is Calvinistic and Reformed.

He received his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in [[Biblical Studies]] from [[Tennessee Temple University]] (1973, cum laude). After graduating he enrolled at [[Grace Theological Seminary]] in [[Winona Lake, Indiana]]. After two years at Grace Seminary (1973–1975) he left [[dispensationalism]], having become convinced of a [[Covenant Theology|covenant]] and [[Reformed theology]]. He transferred to [[Reformed Theological Seminary]] in [[Jackson, Mississippi]] (1975–1977). Upon completing studies at [[Reformed Theological Seminary]] he was awarded the [[Master of Divinity|M.Div.]] in 1977. After several years of pastoral ministry, he earned a [[Master of Theology|Th.M.]] (1986) and a [[Doctor of Theology|Th.D.]] (1987, magna cum laude) from [[Whitefield Theological Seminary]], both in the field of [[New Testament]].

While at Reformed Theological Seminary he studied under [[Greg L. Bahnsen]], a leading [[presuppositional apologetics|presuppositional apologist]]. Though Gentry initially resisted the distinctive ethical and eschatological views of Bahnsen, he was eventually persuaded of both theonomic ethics and postmillennial eschatology and became a staunch co-defender of them with Bahnsen. Over the years he developed a close friendship with Bahnsen, often lecturing with him in conferences, co-writing a book with him (''House Divided: The Break-up of Dispensational Theology''),<ref>{{cite book |last1=LaHaye |first1=Tim F. |last2=Ice |first2=Thomas |title=The End Times Controversy |year=2003 |publisher=Harvest House Publishers |isbn=978-0-7369-0953-2 |page=42 |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/The_End_Times_Controversy/DGKY59jebNUC?hlid=en&gbpv=1DGKY59jebNUC&dq=%22Kenneth+Gentry%22&pg=PA438&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref> eventually joining the staff of Bahnsen's Southern California Center for Christian Studies, and finally contributing to the [[festschrift]] in honor of Bahnsen, titled: ''The Standard Bearer.''

Gentry retired from full-time pastoral ministry in 2016 after serving more than thirty-five years in three conservative and Reformed denominations: The Presbyterian Church in America, The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and The Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Assembly. He is the Director of GoodBirth Ministries, a non-profit religious educational ministry, "committed to sponsoring, subsidizing, and advancing serious Christian scholarship and education" (GoodBirth website: www.GoodBirthMinistries.com).

Gentry is the leading contemporary theological expositor of the early-date of Revelation (prior to A.D. 70) by the Apostle John. The [[Preterism#Partial preterism|partial preterist]] paradigm is a different eschatology than that held by most American [[Dispensationalist]] Christians, who maintain that the Great Tribulation hasn't yet occurred.

Gentry has completed a two-volume academic [[bible commentary|commentary]] on Revelation titled: ''The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation''. It is currently being proofed and typeset by Tolle Lege Press and is scheduled for release inby 2020September 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Revelation Commentary Update (May 1231, 20202023)|url=httphttps://www.kennethgentry.com/blog/revelation-commentary-update-may-1231-20202023/|access-date=20202023-0906-1121|website=KennethGentry.com|language=en}}</ref> According to preliminary studies he has released ("The Wrath of God and Israel", Fountain Inn, SC: 2007), he will be presenting evidence that "[[Babylon (New Testament)|Babylon]]" ({{bibleverse||Rev.|16:19-19:2}}) is a metaphor for 1st century Jerusalem, and that the book's author [[John of Patmos|John]] is following the pattern of the [[Old Testament]] [[prophet]]s in denouncing [[Jerusalem|Jerusalem's]] unfaithfulness by such images (see especially {{bibleverse||Jer.|2-3}} and {{bibleverse||Ez.|16}}).

Gentry holds that the theme of Revelation is [[Jesus|Christ's]] judgment-coming against those who pierced him ({{bibleverse||Rev|1:7}}), and presents the "slain Lamb" ({{bibleverse||Rev|5:8,13}}; etc.) as wreaking vengeance upon 1st-century Jerusalem. He argues that the seven-sealed scroll is God's [[divorce]] decree against his unfaithful Old Testament wife (Israel) so that he might take a new bride, the Church (Rev. 21-2221–22). Thus, Revelation dramatizes the transition from the old covenant, [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]]-based, [[Jew|Judaic]] economy to the [[New Covenant]], spiritual economy that includes all ethnicities, not just Jews.

*"Agony, Irony and the Postmillennialist" and "Victory Belongs to the Lord" in ''Thine Is the Kingdom: A Summary of the Postmillennial Hope'', ed. by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (Ross House, 2004). {{ISBN|1-891375-22-9}}

*"Pauline Communion v. Paedocommunion" in Joseph A. Pipa, Jr. and C. N. Willborn, eds., ''The Covenant: God’s Voluntary Condescension'' (Presbyterian Press, 2005). {{ISBN|1-931639-06-X}}