Dispensational
Theology
Dispensational theology
is a method of interpreting the Bible, looking specifically
at how God interacts with man. It stands in contrast to
covenant theology. While covenant theology recognizes that
God works in the Bible under two covenants – the covenant of
works and the covenant of grace – dispensational theology
sees numerous different dispensations or eras in which God
works differently.
While some
dispensational thought has been around since the time of the
early church, dispensational theology has not been
formalized as a concept until recently. While John Edwards
and John Darby both espoused dispensational ideas, C.I.
Scofield did the most in popularizing the idea. Scofield’s “Scofield
Reference Bible” did much to push dispensational theology
into the mainstream. It has since been promoted by notable
theologians such as J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, and
John Walvoord, along with many others, particularly those
associated with Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dispensationalism
breaks the Bible into different eras based on how God and
man interact, most importantly how God’s grace is extended
to humanity in each era. Although the number of
dispensations are not important as much as just the
recognition of different eras, there are seven commonly
accepted dispensations that Scofield originally presented.
1. Innocence
2. Conscience
3. Human government
4. Promise
5. Law
6. Church
7. Kingdom
In the article
“Dispensations and Covenants” each dispensation will be
discussed more in depth. They will be linked to various
covenants in the Bible as well. For the discussion on dispensationalism, it is simply important to recognize that
different dispensations exist.
In each dispensation,
man had certain requirements which, if met, would cause God
to extend His grace to him. Meeting these requirements
would, in effect, allow a person to be saved. In the age of
innocence all Adam needed was to not sin and he would not
die. In the era of conscience, man needed to follow his
conscience, do what was right, and present blood sacrifices.
Later when the law was given, the sacrificial system was
better spelled out as were the laws that man was to follow.
In each dispensation,
man has the option to follow God and approach Him by the
grace that God extends. And in each dispensation, man fails
and has no right to approach God. Some may obey God’s
commands but as a whole, humanity fails and the next
dispensation is ushered in. Finally in the church era grace
is extended through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Faith in Jesus is required in order to be saved from sin.
Some argue that in each
dispensation a person is saved in a different manner but
this is not so. In each dispensation, grace is extended by
God to humanity is order that salvation may be attained.
Individuals are then required to act in faith to whatever
revelation God has given man at the time. Adam only had the
command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
and failed. Abraham was asked to leave his land and acted in
faith and it was credited to him as righteousness as we are
told in Genesis 15:6 and Paul repeats numerous times in
Romans 4. This faith was a saving faith. It worked in the
same way for those under the Mosaic law who followed the
sacrifices that God had commanded but did not understand
that they pointed to Jesus. They simply responded in faith
to what God had revealed to them at the time. In the church
era, we’re called to have faith in Jesus and this is what
saves us. We have the benefit of fulfilled prophecies that
the patriarchs before us did not. In the end though, it
still came down to faith, regardless whether that faith was
in anticipation of Jesus the Messiah or looking back to Him
as we do today.
Biblical
interpretation in Dispensationalism
Dispensational
theologians hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible.
This is the approach taken by all conservative theologians
but where they differ is in the area of prophecy. Covenant
theologians and other nondispensationalists maintain that
prophecy should not be interpreted literally because it was
not written literally, often using figurative language.
Dispensationalists
recognize the use of figurative language in the Bible
however and interpret prophecy as figurative where it is
obviously figurative but literal wherever they can. The
support for a literal interpretation of prophecy is that
prophecy has been fulfilled literally concerning Christ’s
first coming. Dispensationalists believe that there is no
reason that it should not be taken literally in reference to
future prophecies concerning Christ’s second coming.
Dispensational
theology and Israel
Because dispensational
theology views prophecy as literal, the biggest difference
between it and nondispensational theology concerns the
nation of Israel. While covenant theology sees the promises
concerning Israel to be passed on to the church,
dispensational theology believes that God is not finished
with Israel and thus prophecies to Israel will still be
fulfilled in regard to Israel and not the church. Needless
to say, Israel’s return as a nation in 1948 gives this view
more credence than it had for centuries because most
believed that the nation had been punished and God was
through with it.
Because of the beliefs
about Israel, dispensational theologians generally have a
premillennial view of the
Millennial Kingdom and believe in
a pretribulation rapture.
Premillennialism and
dispensational theology
Premillennialism holds
that Jesus will return to earth at the beginning of the
Millennial Kingdom and reign on earth. This is a fulfillment
of the Davidic covenant in which David is told in 1 Samuel
7:16 that his “kingdom will endure before Me forever, and
your throne will be established forever.” In order for this
prophecy to be fulfilled literally, Jesus must return to
earth and establish an earthly kingdom as is described in
Revelation 20. Other views of the Millennial Kingdom
spiritualize this view. Likewise, if God is done working
with Israel, these promises of God must be spiritualized
because they cannot be fulfilled literally in the church.
Pretribulationism and dispensational theology
Belief in a pretrib
rapture is not a requirement for belief in dispensational
theology but follows in the same line of thinking as
dispensationalism. The first and perhaps most important
evidence for this is the fact that the church does not
appear in the book of Revelation after chapter 3. The
tribulation that falls upon the earth is never mentioned to
strike the church, but Israel is a part of it. If the church
is spiritual Israel, then we will endure the tribulation. If
the two are separate, there is an argument from silence that
the church is raptured because the church is not mentioned.
The second reason that
dispensational theology and pretribulationism go together is
that because of the promises to Israel that are yet to be
fulfilled the church must be removed from the picture. This
allows God to focus on calling Israel to repentance in
preparation for the Millennial Kingdom. Romans 11 tells us
that all Israel will be saved and this is the period in
which God causes it to happen. The tribulation will cause
Israel to open its eyes and realize that they have missed
Jesus.
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