Both are probably to be listed in the fatal flaws category, as any biblical theology that cannot account for every text of Scripture is fatally flawed. So far, every one I've seen is. I am not offering an alternative, but I am eagerly awaiting some glimmers that I've seen during my studies under a handful of the men who are working in that regard. They are paid to research at that level, alas, I am not. This study is one of those "life-works" sort of deals, the way I see it. No mere statement of fact will handle it simply and efficiently. The reconciliation with Scripture process is all-encompassing!
FWIW, I "admire" (even if I do not believe or hold as valid) the work that men have done in the past to arrive at either dispensational or covenantal theology. Both systems took some men their lifetimes to formulate, and they have been modified (as admitted above) numerous times as difficulties have come their way, i.e., how do you fit "that" into your theological framework...
How much better if we, with the advent of computer-aided Bible study, can actually derive a true framework for a biblical theology that can and does encompass the entirety of the Scripture, dealing with pre-Israel, Israel, the church, and eternity as does the entire Bible! But, as we have seen so often in the history of the church, moving men from where they stand into a fuller understanding that deals with more (or more adequately with) Scripture is always a trial, and there will be lots of fall-out while it happens. Alas, such seems to be our lot, when protecting carved-out positions means more than the ultimate search for truth based on a rightly-divided Word of truth.
