"Our interpretive starting point will determine how we understand the Bible. Most people do not consistently apply any interpretive principle, yet we should all stive for interpretive consistency. The Reformed or covenantal principle of interpretation holds that we must read the Bible as one book that progressively reveals God's one redemptive purpose. We need to assume continuity and unity in God's revelation. Unless God himself has explicitly changed some aspect of his redemptive dealings with his people, we should continue to follow what he has already revealed. Because the children of believers were always included in the covenant of grace in the Old Testament, and God nowhere rescinds his command to include them in the covenant of grace, we must assume taht they are still to be included under the new covenant and are to receive the covenant sign of baptism" (italics not in the original) --Robert R. Booth, Children of the Promise, 156.
Although Booth writes a whole chapter on this issue ("The Pivotal Point: How Should We Interpret the Bible?"), I thought that this quote was a good summation of his discussion in that chapter. I would love to hear your comments, especially regarding the sentence that I italicized. If you disagree, what interpretive principle do you suggest we use...the dispensational one? Let you thoughts be known.
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