On Dispensationalism, First in a Series

In a series of posts, we will be reviewing the modern teaching in the church on dispensationalism. The concept has wide-reaching implications, including end-time idealistic thinking, the church’s stance on Israel, the interpretation of Scripture, and shaping the geopolitical landscape in secular governments. Dispensationalism continues to be embraced by a wide variety of believers as well as ministers. A 2004 poll found that more than half of Americans believed Christians would be raptured in a premillenial fashion. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism)

In this series of posts, we will be taking a closer look at the following topics:

• A Literal vs Figurative Interpretation of Scripture
• Problems in Isaiah
• Replacement Theology
• The Rapture: Three Assumptions
• Current Events
• The Fate of Israel (Romans 11:26)

But first, what is dispensationalism and what are its roots?

A basic definition of dispensation is that it is a span of time in which God reveals Himself through the dispensing of grace, providence, order and law. Dispensationalism is a system of beliefs centered around a specific interpretation of Scripture such that there are many dispensations, including at least one which is yet to be fulfilled. Christianity Today refers to this definition: “Dispensationalism is an evangelical theological system that addresses issues concerning the biblical covenants, Israel, the church, and end times” (Michael J. Vlach). Dispensationalism is most known for its interpretation of Scripture with respect to the end times.

From the outset, I will be honest with you about my approach to dispensationalism. It is a false teaching, and this series of posts aims to strike at the core underpinnings of dispensationalism. It is a teaching which has led the church astray en masse and captivated millions in its grasp. My approach is not simply to undermine dispensationalism, but to review the practical outcomes which will help us better understand the error of dispensationalism.

In the early to mid-1800s, this false teaching took root and began infiltrating the church. I am not a fan of new books, and a clear difference is identifiable in books written before about 1850 which were not influenced by dispensationalism and books written since then which did buy into it. There is also an identifiable difference in the messages of ministers before and after the false teaching took root.

Several of the ideas conveyed through dispensationalism have existed for centuries but were not widely held or circulated. Dispensationalism as we know it today was first introduced by John Nelson Darby around 1830 and expanded upon by C.I. Scofield (Scofield Reference Bible, which actually changed various verses in addition to providing commentary). Dispensationalism was popularized by a number of influential names at Dallas Theological Seminary as well as D.L. Moody and others at Moody Church. Some of the recent proponents include Hal Lindsey, the Left Behind series, and a variety of popular TV and radio “preachers” (e.g., John Hagee, David Jeremiah, John Macarthur (partial dispensationslist), Jerry Fallwell, Billy Graham, and others).

Before we go further, we should stop and consider that the topic I am covering has significant impacts on our current national and global political situation, particularly involving Israel. I have been interested in this topic for quite some time, and the more I gathered research, I became aware that the unfolding situation in Israel in October 2023 and the wide-ranging response is deeply intertwined with dispensationalism. What we are seeing, for example, on college campuses today is a revolt against the ideologies of dispensationalism which have become deeply ingrained in political thought in both the House and Senate through “religious” lobbyists.

The most glaring problem with all of dispensationalism is that there is no Biblical support for it without making certain assumptions. Assumptions are dangerous, especially when there is no basis for them. In this case, the assumptions required to be held in mind when reading Scripture rise to the level of usurping Christ’s authority and minimizing both His importance and His power.

Further, dispensationalism is not found in mainstream theological writings before its emergence in 1830, nor is it referenced in any of the creeds or confessions of the church dating back over the previous 1900 years. Thus, in this series of posts, I aim to uncover the teachings of dispensationalism and provide a more correct Biblical approach to counter the core teachings of dispensationalism.

One question I did consider in writing this series is how and why dispensationalism became so popular through Darby and Scofield, when their predecessors dating back to the second century never enjoyed such recognition. The simple answer appears to be two-fold. First, there was already a movement underfoot for Jews in America and Europe to have their own geographic national identity. Recall that the Holocaust had not yet occurred.

Around the same time as Darby’s ideas were being circulated, Rabbi Isaac Leeser in America had become recognized as a trusted voice among Jews. His ideas on developing a Jewish national identity were slowly becoming acceptable among the Jews. Recall that the Civil War would soon be in full swing, and during this time, southern states were increasingly hostile toward Jews.

Secondly, Darby’s ideas would likely have suffered the same fate as his predecessors were it not for D.L. Moody and the many professors and graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary taking dispensationalism to the masses.

As the ideas of dispensationalism grew in popularity, the Holocaust and the fallout afterwards created a favorable political climate for making a geographic nation of Israel a reality. Dispensationalism was a perfect system to move people to embrace the nation of Israel and made it possible for the political support in Great Britain and the United States, which were the two main countries facilitating the nation state of Israel in the 1940s – and the two countries distributing dispensationalism en masse.

Unfortunately, dispensationalism as a system of interpreting Scripture remains a falsehood with a series of significant problems. However, a quick search on YouTube and of the internet in general reveals that a large group of Christians are waking up to the falsehoods of dispensationalism. Let’s hope it’s not too late to reverse the destruction dispensationalism has caused in the church.