Hello everyone, I just wanted to share this post with you all to show you that Dispensational Bible Study and Teaching was not a modern invention by Darby and Scofield. I realize that more and more people are coming out with this silly notion, idea, and claim that Dispensationalism was not taught before the time of John Nelson Darby. And because a lot of people don't do their own research and study into the matter, a lot of them end up believing the false claim that Dispensationalism wasn't around before the 1800s.
So the purpose of this post is to simply show you that Dispensational Bible Teaching was around long before the 1800s. In fact, your going to find that it was even around in the Second Century.
So to begin; here are some of the Dispensation Systems and layouts which were developed way before Darby was even born:
William Gouge who was born in 1575, developed the following the follwing 6 Dispensations Layout: Adam to Noah; Noah to Abraham; Abraham to David; David to the Captivity; the Captivity to the Birth of Christ; the Birth of Christ to the Great White Throne Judgment. Now what should be pointed out is that Gouge's system left out the Mosaic Covenant. And in regard to Gouge's layout, Dr. Peter Ruckman pointed out that his layout ended up "spiritualizing three-fourths of the Old Testament, teaching no restoration of Israel, and no Millennial Reign." (Ruckman, How To Teach Dispensational Truth, Pg.6)
Another Dispensational System and layout that was given before John Nelson Darby's time was that of Pierre Poiret (1646-1719). And Poiret gave a Premillennial System. He gave the following Dispensational System by describing the following: "The Oeconomy of the Creation; the Oeconomy of Sin; the Oeconomy of the Restoration; the Oeconomy of the Incarnation; the Oeconomy of the Cooperation of Man with the Operation of God, and the Oeconomy of Universal Providence. And Poiret's seventh Dispensation was a physical, literal, one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ (according to Arnold Ehlert; in his work, A Bibliographic History of Dispensationalism [ Grand Rapids: Baker book House, 1965], p. 35).
So to sum up Poiret's Dispensational System, he had Seven Dispensations in Six volumes.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) also discerned that there were Divisions and Dispensations in the Holy Bible, and this was his Dispensational Set up: "The Dispensation of Innocency; The Dispensation of the Covenant of Grace; The Noahical Dispensation; The Abrahamical Dispensation, The Mosaical Dispensation, and the Christian Dispensation. Now what should be obvious to point out though, Mr. Watts did miss the Davidic Covenant. Plus, he also missed the Pre-tribulation Rapture, the Tribulation (Time of Jacob's Trouble), the Restoration of Israel, and the Millennium.
And here are some more Dispensational Systems which have been developed and worked out long before John Nelson Darby's time (1800 - 1882).
John Taylor of Norwich (1694-1751), John Flechiere (1729-1785), John Priestley (1733-1804), David Bogue ( 1750-1825), Adam Clarke (1762-1832), George Faber (1773-1843), and David Russell (1779-1848).
And all these Dispensatuional Systems were worked out before John Darby, C.I. Scofied (1843-1921), and Clarence Larkin (1850-1924).
So contrary to the popular misteaching that Dispensational Bible study and Teaching was somehow first developed by Darby, the quite opposite is the truth. And the simple truth of the matter is that Dispensational Bible Study has been around for a very long time. And while Darby, Scofield, and Larkin all did a great work in the study of Dispensational Bible Study; and while they with their books and other works have surely contributed greatly to this unique and Biblical system and method of Bible Study, these three men were by no means the first to discover different ages and dispensations in God's holy word.
According to Crutchfield, Justin Martyr (AD 100-165), believed in four phases of human history in God's program.
First phase was from Adam to Abraham
Second Phase was from Abraham to Moses
The Third was from Moses to Christ
And the Fourth was from Christ to the Eternal State (Eternity).
Alongside Justin Martyr was Irenaeus (AD120-202), and his Dispensational Theme went like this:
1. From the Creation to the Flood.
2. From the Flood to the Law.
3. From the Law to the Gospel.
4. From the Gospel to the Eternal State.
So Irenaeus's Dispensational layout was quite similar to Justin Martyr's in that both of their Dispensational layouts had four ages or dispensations to them.
Furthermore, Irenaeus taught that there were four zones of the world and of mankind. He saw a connection between the four zones, the faces of the four living creatures, the four gospels, and the four dispensations.
And to conclude, I will include here a quote by Crutchfield in a study he did in regard to the very early Dispensational Layouts of Martyr and Irenaeus in comparison to the modern Dispensational Systems:
"Some Fathers set forth only four such dispensations, others came very close to making nearly the same divisions modern dispensationalists do, Irenaeus, Victorinus of Petau, and Methodius' number of dispensations is artificially restricted to four ... the dispensations are most often spoken of the early fathers in terms of the prominent persons (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Christ). Dispensational divisions were customarily made along the boundaries of these five men's lives and times." - Crutchfiled concludes in his own study on the history of Dispensational Bible Study and Teaching.
So again, don't believe the false statement that Dispensationalsm only recently came about by Darby and Larkin. This falsehood and lie is continually made by those who simply refuse to be dispensational and who refuse to obey the command given in 2 Timothy 2:15. Hence, false prophets like Steven Anderson who fails to rightly divide the word of truth, are constantly attacking the Biblical system of Dispensational Bible Study and Teaching.
And for those of you out there who are interested in taking a look into Dispensational Bible Teaching and Study, I recommend Larkin's book: Dispensational Truth, Dr. Doug Stauffer's One Book Rightly Divided, and also Dr. Peter Ruckman's book: How To Tach Dispensational Truth.
There is also a wealth of good sermons out there on Dispensational Truth that you can find simply by going onwww.Sermonaudio.com
Bryan Denlinger does a couple of sermons on this subject, as does Gregory A. Miller, Alan Cairns, and Elder Ronald Lawrence. I highly recommend all of them.
Well everyone, I hope this helped. And please prayerfully consider in studying this matter. It is so important for students of the Bible to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. To learn how to discover the ages and different dispensations in the Holy Scriptures. The different Dispensations which God has clearly placed in His word. And to acknowledge that those divisions, ages, and dispensations are there.
So the purpose of this post is to simply show you that Dispensational Bible Teaching was around long before the 1800s. In fact, your going to find that it was even around in the Second Century.
So to begin; here are some of the Dispensation Systems and layouts which were developed way before Darby was even born:
William Gouge who was born in 1575, developed the following the follwing 6 Dispensations Layout: Adam to Noah; Noah to Abraham; Abraham to David; David to the Captivity; the Captivity to the Birth of Christ; the Birth of Christ to the Great White Throne Judgment. Now what should be pointed out is that Gouge's system left out the Mosaic Covenant. And in regard to Gouge's layout, Dr. Peter Ruckman pointed out that his layout ended up "spiritualizing three-fourths of the Old Testament, teaching no restoration of Israel, and no Millennial Reign." (Ruckman, How To Teach Dispensational Truth, Pg.6)
Another Dispensational System and layout that was given before John Nelson Darby's time was that of Pierre Poiret (1646-1719). And Poiret gave a Premillennial System. He gave the following Dispensational System by describing the following: "The Oeconomy of the Creation; the Oeconomy of Sin; the Oeconomy of the Restoration; the Oeconomy of the Incarnation; the Oeconomy of the Cooperation of Man with the Operation of God, and the Oeconomy of Universal Providence. And Poiret's seventh Dispensation was a physical, literal, one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ (according to Arnold Ehlert; in his work, A Bibliographic History of Dispensationalism [ Grand Rapids: Baker book House, 1965], p. 35).
So to sum up Poiret's Dispensational System, he had Seven Dispensations in Six volumes.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) also discerned that there were Divisions and Dispensations in the Holy Bible, and this was his Dispensational Set up: "The Dispensation of Innocency; The Dispensation of the Covenant of Grace; The Noahical Dispensation; The Abrahamical Dispensation, The Mosaical Dispensation, and the Christian Dispensation. Now what should be obvious to point out though, Mr. Watts did miss the Davidic Covenant. Plus, he also missed the Pre-tribulation Rapture, the Tribulation (Time of Jacob's Trouble), the Restoration of Israel, and the Millennium.
And here are some more Dispensational Systems which have been developed and worked out long before John Nelson Darby's time (1800 - 1882).
John Taylor of Norwich (1694-1751), John Flechiere (1729-1785), John Priestley (1733-1804), David Bogue ( 1750-1825), Adam Clarke (1762-1832), George Faber (1773-1843), and David Russell (1779-1848).
And all these Dispensatuional Systems were worked out before John Darby, C.I. Scofied (1843-1921), and Clarence Larkin (1850-1924).
So contrary to the popular misteaching that Dispensational Bible study and Teaching was somehow first developed by Darby, the quite opposite is the truth. And the simple truth of the matter is that Dispensational Bible Study has been around for a very long time. And while Darby, Scofield, and Larkin all did a great work in the study of Dispensational Bible Study; and while they with their books and other works have surely contributed greatly to this unique and Biblical system and method of Bible Study, these three men were by no means the first to discover different ages and dispensations in God's holy word.
According to Crutchfield, Justin Martyr (AD 100-165), believed in four phases of human history in God's program.
First phase was from Adam to Abraham
Second Phase was from Abraham to Moses
The Third was from Moses to Christ
And the Fourth was from Christ to the Eternal State (Eternity).
Alongside Justin Martyr was Irenaeus (AD120-202), and his Dispensational Theme went like this:
1. From the Creation to the Flood.
2. From the Flood to the Law.
3. From the Law to the Gospel.
4. From the Gospel to the Eternal State.
So Irenaeus's Dispensational layout was quite similar to Justin Martyr's in that both of their Dispensational layouts had four ages or dispensations to them.
Furthermore, Irenaeus taught that there were four zones of the world and of mankind. He saw a connection between the four zones, the faces of the four living creatures, the four gospels, and the four dispensations.
And to conclude, I will include here a quote by Crutchfield in a study he did in regard to the very early Dispensational Layouts of Martyr and Irenaeus in comparison to the modern Dispensational Systems:
"Some Fathers set forth only four such dispensations, others came very close to making nearly the same divisions modern dispensationalists do, Irenaeus, Victorinus of Petau, and Methodius' number of dispensations is artificially restricted to four ... the dispensations are most often spoken of the early fathers in terms of the prominent persons (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Christ). Dispensational divisions were customarily made along the boundaries of these five men's lives and times." - Crutchfiled concludes in his own study on the history of Dispensational Bible Study and Teaching.
So again, don't believe the false statement that Dispensationalsm only recently came about by Darby and Larkin. This falsehood and lie is continually made by those who simply refuse to be dispensational and who refuse to obey the command given in 2 Timothy 2:15. Hence, false prophets like Steven Anderson who fails to rightly divide the word of truth, are constantly attacking the Biblical system of Dispensational Bible Study and Teaching.
And for those of you out there who are interested in taking a look into Dispensational Bible Teaching and Study, I recommend Larkin's book: Dispensational Truth, Dr. Doug Stauffer's One Book Rightly Divided, and also Dr. Peter Ruckman's book: How To Tach Dispensational Truth.
There is also a wealth of good sermons out there on Dispensational Truth that you can find simply by going onwww.Sermonaudio.com
Bryan Denlinger does a couple of sermons on this subject, as does Gregory A. Miller, Alan Cairns, and Elder Ronald Lawrence. I highly recommend all of them.
Well everyone, I hope this helped. And please prayerfully consider in studying this matter. It is so important for students of the Bible to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. To learn how to discover the ages and different dispensations in the Holy Scriptures. The different Dispensations which God has clearly placed in His word. And to acknowledge that those divisions, ages, and dispensations are there.
