What is dispensationalism?

[TMS]

What is Dispensationalism?
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions defines dispensationalism as a "Millennial scheme of biblical interpretation. It divides history into seven ‘dispensations’, in which God deals differently, and progressively, with humanity."
Do you believe in it or is it a false teaching?

 

[BenFTW]

I don't know, I am just happy He is dealing with us by grace. lol

 

[crossnote]

What is Dispensationalism?
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions defines dispensationalism as a "Millennial scheme of biblical interpretation. It divides history into seven ‘dispensations’, in which God deals differently, and progressively, with humanity."
Do you believe in it or is it a false teaching?

The marks of Dispensationalism is that
1. It has a more literal approach to Scripture than most other hermeneutics.
2. It sees a clearer distinction between the Church and Israel...most other approaches blur that line.

I find it one of the most helpful approaches to seeing the Scriptures as a whole and it makes sense of the Church's place in God's plan. The above dictionary definition is more of a 'Scofieldism' rather than classical dispensationalism.

 

[ladylynn]

The marks of Dispensationalism is that
1. It has a more literal approach to Scripture than most other hermeneutics.
2. It sees a clearer distinction between the Church and Israel...most other approaches blur that line.

I find it one of the most helpful approaches to seeing the Scriptures as a whole and it makes sense of the Church's place in God's plan. The above dictionary definition is more of a 'Scofieldism' rather than classical dispensationalism.

Very much agree with that definition. Not sure why when people hear the word "dispensation" they get all hot and bothered.

 

[crossnote]

Very much agree with that definition. Not sure why when people hear the word "dispensation" they get all hot and bothered.

This may sound crazy but I believe it ties in with the same hatred you see with antisemites, all because it takes a more pro Israel stance than most other approaches.

 

[TMS]

can i show you why it is wrong? A lie and deception of the devil, i don't get hot, but it dose bother me when i see people being deceived by this lie.

 

[TMS]

In the 1500's a Jesuit priest Francisco Ribera wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation that explained prophecy through a futurist interpretation and his goal was to convince Protestants that the papal system is not the Antichrist.
Ribera's book was a succeeded and from his early work arose dispensationalist thinking, a method of Bible interpretation that is common to nearly every Protestant church today (which does not mean it is right).

Am i right in saying that dispensationalists insist their interpretation is literal, supported by the history and grammar in Scripture. They come to Scripture expecting to see a secret rapture, a seven-year tribulation for the Jews, and a third coming of Christ to establish an earthly thousand-year reign from Jerusalem.
This doctrine creates false hope of a second chance. How many poor souls will be unprepared when Christ returns because they are expecting a secret rapture as an early warning to get serious with God?

 

[tanakh]

In the 1500's a Jesuit priest Francisco Ribera wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation that explained prophecy through a futurist interpretation and his goal was to convince Protestants that the papal system is not the Antichrist.
Ribera's book was a succeeded and from his early work arose dispensationalist thinking, a method of Bible interpretation that is common to nearly every Protestant church today (which does not mean it is right).

Am i right in saying that dispensationalists insist their interpretation is literal, supported by the history and grammar in Scripture. They come to Scripture expecting to see a secret rapture, a seven-year tribulation for the Jews, and a third coming of Christ to establish an earthly thousand-year reign from Jerusalem.
This doctrine creates false hope of a second chance. How many poor souls will be unprepared when Christ returns because they are expecting a secret rapture as an early warning to get serious with God?

That just about sums it up. Just add that Scofield has a lot to answer for, also Finius Dake.

 

[TMS]

Scholars and ministers spread dispensationalism across America in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century. John Nelson Darby, “the father of dispensationalism,” was a founder of the Plymouth Brethren movement. His most influential contribution was his promotion of dispensationalism and the secret rapture.
Darby, born in London, made seven trips to North America between 1862 and 1877, throughout and after the Civil War. Many saw his message of Christ’s return as hope in a dark world. James Inglis published Darby’s ideas in his journal Waymarks in the Wilderness. Brothers Paul and Timothy Loizeaux, part of the Plymouth Brethren movement in the United States, also helped to distribute Darby’s interpretations of Scripture.
Darby greatly influenced a Presbyterian minister named Dr. James H. Brookes, who developed the Niagara Bible Conference that met every summer from 1875 to 1897. The Bible studies held there were devoured by many eager young students—one of which was Cyrus Ingerson Scofield. Even to this day, Scofield is famous for his Scofield Reference Bible, which has dispensationalist footnotes.

I could write more but you get the point and there is nothing here to prove it is wrong but I just want you to see it’s origins and how it grew. If it is truth than praise God for these men and it’s growth but if it’s error than it needs to be exposed.

"Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous." ~ H.A. Ironside

 

[TMS]

[FONT=&quot]Dispensationalismis the background for the blockbuster Left Behind series. It proposes that therapture of the Church will occur at the secret coming of Christ, before theAntichrist rules the earth for a seven-year tribulation period.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]TheRyrie Study Bible says that the seven-year tribulation period "is the 70[SUP]th[/SUP] week of Daniel and is therefore ofseven-years’ duration" (Daniel 9:27).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thisstatement illogically separates the 70[SUP]th[/SUP]week from the preceding 69 weeks. The seven years are placed over2000 years into the future, to the time of Antichrist. A prophecy referring toChrist is twisted to refer to the Antichrist instead.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bystating that the Antichrist is an individual, dispensationalism ignores theBible. The Antichrist is more than an individual. 1 John 2:18 says, “even now are there many antichrists;whereby we know that it is the last time.” These “antichrists” came out of theChurch as apostate believers. (Eventually, this Antichrist power found a home ina geo-political religious system, the papal system. It has harassed the Churchfor centuries, and is still a threat to believers in our time.)[/FONT]

 

[ladylynn]

This may sound crazy but I believe it ties in with the same hatred you see with antisemites, all because it takes a more pro Israel stance than most other approaches.

No it doesn't sound crazy because the people who I've mentioned "dispensations" to who were those who got all bothered are the same who usually believe God is all done with the Jewish nation.

 

[Angela53510]

So you ask the question "What is dispensationalism?" And then proceed to bash it?

It would have been more honest to come through the front door!

Oh yes, I am in no way, shape or form a dispensationalist! Too many Sciptures taken out of context, and bad exegesis!

 

[TMS]

So you ask the question "What is dispensationalism?" And then proceed to bash it?

It would have been more honest to come through the front door!

Oh yes, I am in no way, shape or form a dispensationalist! Too many Sciptures taken out of context, and bad exegesis!

sorry My intention was to discuss it as a subject. It seemed like a good subject heading. And should i say sorry to dispensationalism for bashing it?

 

[TMS]

No it doesn't sound crazy because the people who I've mentioned "dispensations" to who were those who got all bothered are the same who usually believe God is all done with the Jewish nation.

Dispensationalism creates an artificial difference between the Church and Israel. According to this view, the Church consists of those trusting Christ, while Israel consists of the physical descendants of Jacob. Israel receives the benefit of the Abrahamic covenant because it is still God’s chosen people.
Dispensationalist Cyrus Scofield wrote, “The Jew was promised an earthly inheritance, earthly wealth, earthly honour, earthly power. The Church is promised no such thing, but is pointed always to heaven as the place where she is to receive her rest and her reward.”
Dispensationalists say “the Kingdom” refers to the Jewish earthly kingdom, while the “Church” is composed of believers in Christ with a heavenly inheritance. Even conservative dispensationalist John Walvoord taught that Daniel 9:24-27 predicts the Antichrist rebuilding the temple to fulfil a covenant with the Jewish people in Israel.
This may help the government of Israel obtain American foreign aid, but it is at the expense of the truth of God’s Word. Dispensationalists link the destinies of the secular state of Israel with the spiritual Israel—the Church.
What does the Bible teach?
Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world...” (John 18:36). Paul emphasized that both Jew and Gentiles become children of God when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek...for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29).
Using an olive tree to represent Israel, Paul tells believing Gentiles not to be boastful because “...if God spared not the natural branches [i.e. Jews who did not believe], take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Romans 11:21). In God’s eyes a Gentile who has faith in Christ becomes part of Israel—while a Jew who believes in Christ returns to the “natural olive tree” (See Rom 11). Both the root and the branches are part of the same Israel.

 

[ladylynn]

In the 1500's a Jesuit priest Francisco Ribera wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation that explained prophecy through a futurist interpretation and his goal was to convince Protestants that the papal system is not the Antichrist.
Ribera's book was a succeeded and from his early work arose dispensationalist thinking, a method of Bible interpretation that is common to nearly every Protestant church today (which does not mean it is right).

Am i right in saying that dispensationalists insist their interpretation is literal, supported by the history and grammar in Scripture. They come to Scripture expecting to see a secret rapture, a seven-year tribulation for the Jews, and a third coming of Christ to establish an earthly thousand-year reign from Jerusalem.
This doctrine creates false hope of a second chance. How many poor souls will be unprepared when Christ returns because they are expecting a secret rapture as an early warning to get serious with God?

When I was first saved, the church that taught us about the Bible taught us about the dispensations and they also liked the Scofield Bible too. Over the years since 1982 I've read the Bible myself and heard many different teachers who I have both agreed and disagreed with the things we were first taught and I no longer go to that church. Regardless of who first noticed the "dispensational truths" in the Bible (and the word dispensation IS in the Bible) the facts remain the same. I hold to the pre-trib rapture of the Church and the 7 yr. tribulation. Jesus comes back a 2nd time to the earth no more a lamb but a Lion. There is no false hope or second chance. It's a sure hope and we know all judgment was taken on by the Son so those who are born again will not be judged again since in Christ we are made righteous. No more judgment remains for us. So don't worry if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior. He took all of God's wrath for our sin upon Himself. It was not in vain.
If you have received Jesus as Savior you already got serious with God and you are sealed until the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit.

 

[ladylynn]

Dispensationalism creates an artificial difference between the Church and Israel. According to this view, the Church consists of those trusting Christ, while Israel consists of the physical descendants of Jacob. Israel receives the benefit of the Abrahamic covenant because it is still God’s chosen people.
Dispensationalist Cyrus Scofield wrote, “The Jew was promised an earthly inheritance, earthly wealth, earthly honour, earthly power. The Church is promised no such thing, but is pointed always to heaven as the place where she is to receive her rest and her reward.”
Dispensationalists say “the Kingdom” refers to the Jewish earthly kingdom, while the “Church” is composed of believers in Christ with a heavenly inheritance. Even conservative dispensationalist John Walvoord taught that Daniel 9:24-27 predicts the Antichrist rebuilding the temple to fulfil a covenant with the Jewish people in Israel.
This may help the government of Israel obtain American foreign aid, but it is at the expense of the truth of God’s Word. Dispensationalists link the destinies of the secular state of Israel with the spiritual Israel—the Church.
What does the Bible teach?
Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world...” (John 18:36). Paul emphasized that both Jew and Gentiles become children of God when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek...for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29).
Using an olive tree to represent Israel, Paul tells believing Gentiles not to be boastful because “...if God spared not the natural branches [i.e. Jews who did not believe], take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Romans 11:21). In God’s eyes a Gentile who has faith in Christ becomes part of Israel—while a Jew who believes in Christ returns to the “natural olive tree” (See Rom 11). Both the root and the branches are part of the same Israel.

No need for apologies. I've discussed this with different people who believe as you do over the years. Based on the principles of grace and the finished work of Christ on the cross I still come to the same conclusions. In my reading of the Bible one of the major ways to not get confused or worried is to hold fast to the grace that was first given. Our salvation is based on Christ and not our feeble human abilities. I've seen it be true time and time again that Jesus saves and that there is salvation in no other name.

 

[TMS]

Regardless of who first noticed the "dispensational truths" in the Bible (and the word dispensation IS in the Bible) the facts remain the same. I hold to the pre-trib rapture of the Church and the 7 yr. tribulation. Jesus comes back a 2nd time to the earth no more a lamb but a Lion. There is no false hope or second chance. It's a sure hope and we know all judgment was taken on by the Son so those who are born again will not be judged again since in Christ we are made righteous. No more judgment remains for us. So don't worry if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior. He took all of God's wrath for our sin upon Himself. It was not in vain.
If you have received Jesus as Savior you already got serious with God and you are sealed until the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit.

Yes there is no doubt that Jesus is coming again and that we are sealed by Believing in Jesus and what he has done for us. My problem is with the way people interpret the scriptures, (Gods word). You are sure it is a truth and a fact but i can't find any evidence for that in the Bible and the fact that it's origins are in a ploy to change the protestant thinking, i believe it's worth researching.
Consider these verses;
Dispensationalists say that the rapture of God's people will come first, followed by the destruction of the Antichrist at the Second Coming. During this supposed seven-year period, the Jewish people will go through the tribulation and will come to accept Christ.
However, the truth is that typology in the Bible always points to something greater. The symbolic lamb points to Christ—the latter being so much greater than the former. Literal Babylon points to end-time Babylon, comprising all the forces that reject God. Literal Jerusalem is a type of end-time spiritual Jerusalem, comprising the redeemed of all the ages. Despite this, dispensationalists await a literal reconstruction of Babylon and Israel, which would be the same as awaiting the return of a literal lamb.
According to the dispensationalist view, the end-time tribulation is for literal Israel only. This is not a Biblical teaching. The trials and tribulations are rather designed to purge and cleanse God’s faithful people around the world (1 Thes 3:3).

And one of the elders answered, saying to me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:13-14).

Contrary to dispensational doctrines, God's people—those who have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb—have to go through the tribulation. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).


Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (2 Thes 1:6-8).
According to these texts, relief for the accepters of God and recompense for the rejecters of God take place at the same time—at the return of Christ.
This is what Jesus told His disciples about the end- time tribulation:

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:41-43 NKJV).

Just like the wheat and the tares Jesus describes in Mat 13, everyone will stay together until the return of Christ. When Old Testament Israel was delivered from the bondage of Egypt, the plagues did not fall when the Israelites were already gone. They were present and witnessed the events, being subjected to the first three plagues themselves (Exo 8-12).

God divinely protected the Israelites from the effects of the last seven plagues in Egypt, just as He will divinely protect His people from the effects of the last seven plagues at the end of time (Rev 3:10-13). God's people are urged to hold on until He comes. They will not be taken to heaven before these events.
The glory of Christ's Second Coming leaves no hint of secrecy. Everyone will be judged at the same time. The return of Christ is the blessed hope of the people of God: Jesus is to be revealed (1 Cor 1:7, 1 Pet 1:7,13; 4:13).

 

[TMS]

I'm not debating the love and power of Christ to save. This is about wheather dispensationalism is truth or error, Sorry if i've been hard and long winded, just wanted to disscuss what i believe is truth. Time for me to go to sleep, zzzz

 

[phil36]

Personally, I a not a diispensationalist. It is, in the scheme of things a johnny come lately system of theology. Basically, those who 'found' or 'designed' it where premillenialist (historic) which is significantly diifferent to dispensationalism.

It really became 'pop' culture with christians in the states (/(US) Started in the UK, and popularised in the states)), and has spread from there like wildfire.

I don't believe it to be a correct system of theology..it does read like good science fiction though

 

[Stephen63]

I'm not a complete dispensationalist myself, but I do believe in a literal interpretation of scripture. For instance, the thousand year reign is completely literal. It's wording leaves no reason to symbolize it. Just because it can't be found in OT prophecy doesn't mean anything..... lots of things can't be found there.