"But there is further reason, and a pressing one today, why we should write upon our present subject, and that is to expose the modern and pernicious error of Dispensationalism. This is a device of the Enemy, designed to rob the children of no small part of that bread which their heavenly Father has provided for their souls; a device wherein the wily serpent appears as an angel of light, feigning to "make the Bible a new book" by simplifying much in it which perplexes the spiritually unlearned. It is sad to see how widely successful the devil has been by means of this subtle innovation." - by Arthur Pink

Nebuchadezzar's Statue in
its time-frame reference!

Larkin, "Dispensational Truth"

notice that the toes are as long as the rest of the body.

Nebuchadezzar's Statue in
its time-frame reference!

Larkin, "Dispensational Truth"

notice that the toes are as long as the rest of the body.

Gary DeMar
"Dispensationalists need a gap between the feet and the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's statue.."  (Last Days Madness, p. 172)

CHAMPION EMERITUS:

Hal Lindsey

"What a way to live! With optimism, with anticipation, with excitement. We should be living like persons who don’t expect to be around much longer" 

”I also said that ‘if’ a generation was forty years and ‘if’ the generation of the ‘fig tree’ (Matthew 24:32-34) started with the foundation of the state of Israel, then Jesus ‘might come back by 1988.’ But I put a lot of ifs and maybes in because I knew that no one could be absolutely certain.”

REIGNING CHAMPIONS:

Jack Van Impe
(AND REXELLA)

"Procreation still takes place during this era of time because those who survived the tribulation hour enter the Millennium with human bodies.  The believers upon the thrones possess resurrected bodies and do not bear children, but the others do."
 (Revelation Revealed, p. 239)

"By the year 2001, there will be global chaos. (It will) usher in international chaos such as we've never seen in our history.. drought, war, malaria, and hunger afflicting entire populations throughout the [African] continent..."
("On the Edge of Eternity")

"the composition of the number “666” spells the word VISA – the exact name of today’s most accepted and popular credit card” (11:59 and Counting, pp.106,107)

Jack Van Impe's 
Refutation of the Preterist view

Grant Jeffrey

"Israel could have accepted (Jesus) as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have
been crucified at some later point
to fulfill the prophecy and provide salvation of all those who repent of their sins."

- Apocalypse, p. 33,34.
  http://www.grantjeffrey.com/

Bob Larson

"I have had my physical appearance duplicated by demons."

"Our future is at stake, I'm battling the forces of darkness and I've got to know that you are there and you care about me remaining behind this microphone to deal with the devil and expose what the forces of evil are doing to destroy your home, your church, and your family so back me now!"

Richard Noone

PLANETS LINING UP! "5/5/2000: Ice, The Ultimate Disaster,'' predicted the planetary alignment would trigger a chain of events that will cause the Earth's crust to slide and poles to shift. ``It would be a geological Armageddon'

William Miller
(1782-1849) “I am fully convinced that somewhere between March 21st, 1843 and March 21^st, 1884, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come, and bring all His Saints with Him; and that then He will reward every man as his work shall be .” (1836, Evidence From Scripture and History of the Secdond Coming of Christ About the Year AD 1843)

“brethren, the Roman 1843 is past and our hopes are not realized.  Shall we give up the ship?  No, no… We do not believe our reckoning has run out.  It takes all of 457 and 1843 to make 2,300, and must of course run as far into ’44 as it began in the year 457 before Christ” (quoted in shaw , 65)

“I confess my error, and acknowledge my disspointment” (Quoted in Nichol, 170-171)

“I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door”

Jason Hommel

Full Apology - "I was one of the loudest voices on the newsgroups speaking about a "Rapture on Feast of Trumpets" this year. I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Ronald Reagan

"In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations, and it says that Lybia will be among them.  Do you understand the significance of that?   Lybia has now gone communist, and that's a sign that the day of Armageddon isn't far off." (Ronald Reagan - 1971, recounted in San Diego Magazine, 8/85, by James Mills, president pro tem, California Senate)

Apocalypse Not:

Hal Lindsey (of Late Great Planet Earth fame) recently said, "The Battle of America has begun! So be it!" Evangelist John Hagee told his congregation in San Antonio, Texas, "You can hear the Four Horsemen riding to Armageddon." New York minister David Wilkerson preached on September 16, "One network anchor declared, "Think of it, our two symbols of power and prosperity have been smitten in one hour.' Little did he know, he was quoting Revelations 18:10: "Alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.'"

"Chaotic world events have spurred an increased interest in prophecy, but critics say such teachings, when proved wrong, harm"

Dispensationalism
COMMENTARIES ON D'ISM / PROPHECIES OF D'ISM / D'ISM AND SALVATION

"Armageddon Now" Theology & Christian Zionist Politics
Pro-Dispensationalism | Dispensationalist Dementia
FOR QUESTIONS ON WHETHER EXPLORING THESE ISSUES IS ANTI-SEMITISM, REFER TO THE "ANTISEMITISM" ARCHIVE

Are you a Christian Zionist?  Take the litmus test: "Do you believe that the modern state of Israel is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy?"
Christian Zionism: The Tragedy and The Turning | How Evangelicals Became Israel's Best Friend

‘End Times’ Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon - LA Times “In Christian theology, the first thing that happens when Christ returns to Earth is the judgment of nations,” said Hagee, who wears a Jewish prayer shawl when he ministers. “It will have one criterion: How did you treat the Jewish people? Anyone who understands that will want to be on the right side of that question. Those who are anti-Semitic will go to eternal damnation.” | Dispensationalism in Transition Newsletters

Louis Berkhof (1937)
"It is not correct to say, as Premillenarians do, that it (millennialism) was generally accepted in the first three centuries.  The truth of the matter is that the adherents of this doctrine were a rather limited number."  (The History of Christian Doctrines, p. 262)

Alan Patrick Boyd (1977)
"Perhaps a word needs to be said about the eschatological position of the writer of this thesis.  He is a dispensational premillennialist, and he does not consider this thesis to be a disproof of that system.  He originally undertook the thesis to bolster the system by patristic research, but the evidence of the original sources simply disallowed this." ("A Dispensational Premillennial Analysis of the Eschatology of the Post-Apostolic Fathers (Until the Death of Justin Martyr)" p. 91, note 2)

Dr. Robert G. Clouse (1999)
"The dominant force in prophetic teaching today is actually a variation of premillennialism.  Whereas the other strains of millennial thought all have deep roots in the history of the church, the dispensational variety is of recent origin.  It must be emphasized that all dispensationalists are premillennialists, but many premillennialists do not subscribe to the dispensationalist view of the future" (The New Millennium Manual: A Once and Future Guide, p  56)

Dr. H. Wayne House
"As a futurist, and a dispensationalist, I find the exegetical arguments for Preterism to be woefully lacking and the historical arguments from Josephus to bolster their arguments disingenuous, but is there support for this type of understanding of the Fall of Jerusalem and the predictions of Christ within the writings of the Church that follows A.D. 70? Did the Church Fathers of the ensuing centuries look back on A.D. 70 as the fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse in part, or whole? When reading the works of the theologians of the first several centuries—the patristic period ranging from the first through the eighth centuries—orthodox and heterodox,[1] none of them seemed to refer to the fall of Jerusalem as a comprehensive fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse nor did they believe that most or all of the second coming was past. Rather, they believed that the statements of Jesus in the little apocalypse (Matt 24; Mark 13) were future from their day. An examination of the writings of the ante-Nicene, Nicene, and post-Nicene Fathers of the Church reveals clearly that they looked for a future coming of Christ, cancelling out any sense a hard Preterism. If any expressed a Preterist perspective regarding the particulars of the Olivet Discourse (namely, the coming of Christ, the Antichrist and destruction of Jerusalem), it would surely only be a soft Preterism. In spite of this caveat, however, I could only find one father who might qualify (Clement of Alexandria)."

"Though he does seem to adopt a Preterist perspective regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, Clement, in Stromata, 3.6. does indicate that he believes in a future second coming of Christ when he is arguing against those who spoke against marriage. In an untranslated Latin portion of Clement in Donaldson's Ante-Nicene Fathers (Book 3), Clement says that the coming of the Lord will be a time both of humans going about daily business and a time of great distress, quoting from the Olivet Discourse:" The Understanding of the Church Fathers Regarding the Olivet Discourse and the Fall of Jerusalem

Kenneth Kanzer (1987)
"This view may be the dominant eschatological position among evangelicals today.  Commonly referred to as dispensationalism, it view the present age as one immediately leading up to the rapture of the church.  Christ will soon descend from heaven and command Christians who have died to be resurrected.  Living Christians will meet the Lord in the air and proceed in triumph to heaven.  This occasion will cause Jews to recognize Christ as their Savior, and many will be saved. Politically, a ten-nation group will be formed, the leader of which will make a seven-year pact with Israel.  During the first half of the seven years, Israel will enjoy peace with her neighbors, but will then be attacked by Russia.  Russia will be defeated supernaturally by a Middle East dictator.  That dictator will eventually rule the world, but face defeat at the final battle, the second coming of Christ.  At that time, there will be a resurrection of the martyred dead from the tribulation period and Christ will begin his one-thousand-year reign on Earth with Jerusalem as its capital." ("Our Future Hope: Eschatology and Its Role in the  Church," Christianity Today 31: 4-I)

Philip Mauro
"It is mortifying to remember that I not only held and taught these novelties myself, but that I even enjoyed a complacent sense of superiority because thereof, and regarded with feelings of pity and contempt those who had not received the ‘new light’ and were unacquainted with this up-to-date method of ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’... The time came... when the inconsistencies and self-contradictions of the system itself, and above all, the impossibility of reconciling its main positions with the plain statement of the Word of God, became so glaringly evident that I could not do otherwise than to renounce it" (ibid, pp.177,178).
 

Gary DeMar
"Dispensationalism: A novel appproach to studying the Bible that divides Scripture into seven divisions or "dispensations," each of which is a distinct redemptive era.  Dispensationalism was popularized by the notes found in the Scofield Reference Bible first published by Oxford University Press.  The unique feature of dispensationalism is that God has two redemptive plans, one for the Church and the other for ethnic Israel.   This dual redemptive plan mandates a "rapture" of the church prior to God dealing specifically with Israel again during a seven-year tribulation period."  (The Early Church and the End of the World, p. 4)

COMMENTS BY DISPENSATIONALISTS

Charles Ryrie (1995)
"The fact that something was taught in the first century does not make it right (unless taught in the canonical Scriptures), and the fact that something was not taught until the nineteenth century does not make it wrong, unless, of course, it is unscriptural. . . . After all, the ultimate question is not, Is dispensationalism--or any other teaching--historic? but, Is it scriptural?" (Dispensationalism, rev. ed. (Chicago: Mood Press, 1995), 62.)

Dwight Wilson (1991)
"According to a fascinating account in The Sunday School Times, Mussolini himself was interviewed by two Belgian premillenarians, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Norton. Mussolini was asked: "Do you intend to reconstitute the Roman Empire?’" He answered, "One cannot revive a dead empire, nor recall it into being. We can only revive its spirit, and be governed by the same discipline." Mr. Norton began to speak to the Premier of the teaching of the Bible regarding the reforming of the Roman Empire, telling him it was predicted of God, and speaking of the alliance of northern nations that would likewise take place. Mussolini leaned back in his chair and listened fascinated, and asked, "Is that really described in the Bible? Where is it found?" (Armageddon Now, p. 120)

 Abeka Books' "Bible Doctrines For Today"
"Evidently, the new Jerusalem is the place we call "heaven." It is the "Father's house" (described in John 14:1-3) that Jesus is preparing for us. It will descend from above at the second coming of Christ and hover over earthly Jerusalem during the Millennium. From that vantage point the glorified saints will be able to rule with Christ for the thousand years. At the end of the Millennium, after the destruction of the earth, this same eternal city will move back to heaven and continue to be the eternal habitation of the redeemed throughout eternity." (Book2, p. 164)

Louis S. Bauman (1950)
"A whole world in a very frenzy of preparation for the greatest of all wars! Such is the divine revelation of the days immediately preceding the Armageddon. No human being need be told that exactly that describes our day! (The King’s Business, 1950)

"But, behold, we who now live are seeing the most significant event of all the ages—Israel revives-still spiritually dead, yet in his very deadness he stands upon his feet, awaiting the breath of God!"

L. Nelson Bell (Father-in-law of Billy Graham; First executive editor of Christianity Today, 1948)
"The solution—let the American Government issue notice to Russia that she is to start the immediate evacuation of all territories into which she has expanded since 1942. Further that at the end of one week one atomic bomb will be dropped in a sparsely settled area of European Russia and another in a like section in Siberia—to prove that we can and will carry out our ultimatum. Then, unless there is clear evidence that our demands are being carried out, at the end of five more days the next bomb will be dropped on the Kremlin with immediate and continued use of the bomb until the present Communist regime is replaced by men who are willing to comply with our demands. After that shocker, he added: We do not expect this suggestion to be put into practice but we make bold to predict that not many years hence we will wish with all our hearts that we had done just this this ("Christian Realism" The Southern Presbyterian Journal January 1, 1948).

W.E. Blackstone (1916)
"As Israel lost the rule of their land at the beginning of these Gentile times, it would seem that the first terminal date would mark some kind of a beginning of the restoration of the land. Does not this give great significance to the Zionist movement on the part of the Jews and to all that is now being said and done by Gentiles, to secure Palestine for the Jews, in the outcome of the present war?. . .

"How inspiring is the thought that, if 1915 or 1916 shall prove to be the first terminal date, then the nineteen years more to 1934 or 1935 may cover the end time with its whirl of events, including the reign of the "ten kings," the antichrist, the 7-year covenant, the complete destruction of Gentile government, the repentance, forgiveness, and new birth of Israel,—a nation born at once, restored; and under God’s grace and favor to become the center of a world-wide theocracy." ("The Times of the Gentiles" The Weekly Evangel, May 13, 1916, pp. 6-9.)

Harold Camping (1993)
"When Sept 6, 1994 arrives, no one else can become saved, the end has come" (1994?, p 533)

"You know, I’m like the boy who cried wolf again and again and the wolf didn’t come. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The interesting things is that when we tried to search the scriptures for more information, another date came up. ("The man who prophecied the end of the world, SF Chronicle, March 12, 1995)

John Cumming (1855)
Book Title - The End: The Proximate Signs of the Close of This Dispensation, published in 1855 "The Jews in London are collecting money in order to purchase Palestine at this moment: the Jews in America have collected enormous sums to build the temple again in Jerusalem. (Cumming, Signs of the Times)

"Russia will burst forth, overcome all resistance, march to Palestine; and, unsuccessful in achieving the evil thing it had set its heart upon, God will avenge his own by the most terrific judgments."

"I do not prophesy; I do not foretell the future; I only forth tell what God has said; but I do feel, that if 1864 be not the close of the age that now is, and the commencement of a better one, it will be a time unprecedented since the beginning—portentous, startling, and terrible to the enemies of God; but glorious, holy and full of joyous scenes to the people of God." (p. 73)

"I do not say our existing complications are the fulfillment; because one does not like to dogmatize; but is it not remarkable that here the prediction is that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, or Russia in all its divisions, and the descendants of Gomer, or the Germans, should coalesce, and form as one this great confederacy? Does it not look as if the fulfillment were taking place before our eyes? Is not Prussia practically allied to Russia?. . . I may ask, is it not at least, as the most skeptical before me will admit, a remarkable coincidence, that the prediction in Ezekiel, that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and all his bands, should be united together in one great confederacy, is at this moment a historical fact?" (The End, pp.264-265)

J.N. Darby
It is absolutely necessary that we should renounce everything. We shall have to do so sooner or later, either with joy by the Spirit of Christ, or with shame when the judgments of God shall break every tie that is still keeping us back. We must then leave everything, or else be burnt up with Sodom. Prophecy has a special power to separate us from this present evil world, which the patience of God can bear, because He is taking His own out of it, but which is judged already nevertheless. (Writings, II.44. Emp added.)

Jerry Falwell
" I certainly do not believe a vengeful God inspired the Roman army to surround Jerusalem and brutally slaughter hundreds of thousand of Jews. It seems to me that even then the vicious serpent of Anti-Semitism had raised its head. Satan would have liked to destroy the Jews in order to nullify God's promises to them." (Jerry Falwell and the Jews, p. 13-14)

Arno C. Gaebelein (1949)
"These defense measures being taken by the nations of the West may be the very thing that will incite Russia to war eventually . . . . In a way, the Atlantic Pact is a step toward a world of peace, but not in the manner that Mr. Truman expects; for it may easily be an instrument in bringing about the aggression on the part of the East which will precede the coming of the Lord. Actually, then, the Atlantic Pact may be, first of all, the first step toward war!?" "These defense measures being taken by the nations of the West may be the very thing that will incite Russia to war eventually . . . . In a way, the Atlantic Pact is a step toward a world of peace, but not in the manner that Mr. Truman expects; for it may easily be an instrument in bringing about the aggression on the part of the East which will precede the coming of the Lord. Actually, then, the Atlantic Pact may be, first of all, the first step toward war!?" "These defense measures being taken by the nations of the West may be the very thing that will incite Russia to war eventually . . . . In a way, the Atlantic Pact is a step toward a world of peace, but not in the manner that Mr. Truman expects; for it may easily be an instrument in bringing about the aggression on the part of the East which will precede the coming of the Lord. Actually, then, the Atlantic Pact may be, first of all, the first step toward war!?" (Our Hope, LVI (1949-50), 160, 162.)

Dan Gilbert (1944)
"A study of Soviet diplomacy indicates that Stalin is now in the process of building the very Empire outlined in Ezekiel 38-39." (Russia’s Next Move: In /he Light of Prophecy, pp. 9-10.)

Billy Graham (1984)
"Anybody who's anybody believes that global war is imminent" (Charisma 4/84).

D. P. Holloway (1949)
"That we are nearing the great battle of Armageddon there can be very little doubt." (The Pentecostal Evangel, 1949).

Dave Hunt (1990)
"Somewhere, at this very moment, on planet Earth, the Antichrist is almost certainly alive - biding his time, awaiting his cue.  That likelihood is based upon a sober evaluation of current events in relation to Bible prophecy.  Already a mature man, he is probably active in politics, perhaps even an admired world leader whose name is almost daily on everyone's lips." [Global peace and the rise of the Antichrist, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1990), 5.]

Harry A. Ironside (1938)
(On Rev. 16:12)"Who are these kings? It is not necessary to guess. The word for "East" is simply "sun-rising." The kings of the sun-rising! Japan has been known as the empire of the rising sun for a millennium. . . . The puppet king of Manchukuo, possibly Japanese-controlled rulers in other northeastern Chinese territories, perhaps at last an alignment with China itself, and there you have the kings of the sun-rising-all in readiness for the great day of God Almighty-the Armageddon conflict.

"The tocsin of doom is sounding. The yellow peril becomes more and more ominous. The preparation of the day of the Lord goes on apace. Christian, lift up your head. Your redemption draweth nigh." (The King’s Business, January, 1938)

"Has not this almost taken shape already? Now look at the northern part of the stage. Is there no significance in the apparent determination of Russia to dominate Germany? Take the Church of God out of the world tomorrow, and that confederation might spring into existence at once." ["Setting the Stage for the Last Act of the Great World Drama," Our Hope, LVI (1949-50), 22.]

William T. James (1997)
"..the indicators strongly suggest than we stand at the very precipice of that horrific period that Jesus called the great tribulation.." [Foreshocks of Antichrist (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 1997), p. 382]

Grant Jeffrey
"When Jesus Christ came to earth two thousand years ago He presented to both the Jews and Gentiles a genuine, bona fide offer of the Kingdom of heaven on earth if they would accept Him as their Messiah-King. If they had chosen to accept Jesus and crown Him as their Messiah on Palm Sunday, A.D. 32, He would have entered the Eastern Gate and announce the restitution of all things, the cancellation of all debts and the proclamation of liberty to the captives. It was a genuine possibility that Israel could have accepted Him as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have been crucified at some later point to fulfill the prophecy and provide salvation of all those who repent of their sins. (Apocalypse, p. 33-34, emphasis added)

(On The 'peace' of the 'Millennium')
"The final test of man obedience to God will occur when Satan is released to tempt the men and women born during the first one thousand years of Paradise under the rule of the Messiah. Hundreds of millions born in the Millennium will choose to accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord. There will be open sin during the Millennium because Christ "will rule with a rod of iron." Any open rebellion and sin will be dealt with instantly by Christ, the Righteous Judge. Through this final test the Lord will demonstrate that, even under ideal conditions of Paradise under the Messiah's rule in Jerusalem, a great portion of mankind will still harbor rebellious resentment in their hearts.. Satan will be released from the abyss to actively tempt men. These sinners will manifest their rebellion by Joining in Satan's attack on the city of God." (Apocalypse, p.258, emphasis added)

Salem Kirban (1977)
"We are already living in the AGE OF ANTICHRIST! The world is on the threshold of catastrophe. Scientific advances are really scientific tragedies that will spell chaos, confusion and terror. Within the next 5 years . . . DESIGN YOUR OWN CHILD by going to the "genetic supermarket." YOUR MIND WILL BE PROGRAMMED without your knowing it! Within the next 10 years . . . YOUR BRAIN WILL BE CONTROLLED by outside sources! YOUR MEMORY WILL BE TRANSFERRED into a live embryo. (The Rise of the Anti-Christ, Back Cover)

"Based on these observations, it is my considered opinion, that the time clock is now at 11:59. When is that Midnight hour . . . the hour of the Rapture? I do not know!" (Countdown to Rapture (1977). p. 188)

"if the coming of Jesus is as imminent as most of us think, it would seem reasonable to assume that the Anti-Christ is here.. It cannot be denied that a 'wild beast' has arisen up out of the sea of turbulent humanity and captured world attention and the admiration of revolutionaries. He is closer to the biblical pattern of the Antichrist than anyone who has appeared upon the world scene in the last decade. While we would not go so far as to call Kaddafi the Anti-Christ, he could well play some very important role in the windup of the ages." (Christ for the Nations, Oct. 1981)

Peter and Paul Lalonde
"The return of Christ is very near… this faith and this great hope are not built on a few random and isolated prophecies… It is built simply on reading the Word of God and then looking at all of the major news events of our day. You don’t need a handful of ph.d.s to do that." (The Mark of the Beast, 186)

David Allen Lewis (1966)
"This is it! We are living in the final era of earth’s history. Soon will come the visible, manifest Kingdom of God" ("Creation and the End Times" Prophecy Watch International, 1996, 3)

"The Rapture will be a spiritual shock-quake producing almost unimaginable trauma in the terrified minds of those who are left on earth. The fear of the great unwashed massed will drive many to insanity, and many more to suicide" (Signs of his coming, ’97, 43)

Hal Lindsey
"What a way to live! With optimism, with anticipation, with excitement. We should be living like persons who don’t expect to be around much longer" (The Late Great Planet Earth [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], p. 145).

"I don’t like cliches but I’ve heard it said, ‘God didn’t send me to clean the fish bowl, he sent me to fish.’ In a way there’s a truth to that" ("The Great Cosmic Countdown," Eternity, Jan. 1977, p. 21 ).

"The decade of the 1980’s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it." (The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon, p. 8 (emphasis is his); cf. pp. 12, 15.)

"Jesus said "this generation shall not pass, till all these things come to pass." What generation ? The generation that would see all these signs. We are that generation! I believe you cannot miss it. Were that generation, and I believe were rapidly moving toward the coming of Christ." (Apocalypse Planet Earth videotape, 1990, HLM)

"Obstacle or no obstacle, it is certain that the Temple will be rebuilt.  Prophecy demands it." (The Late Great Planet Earth [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], p. 56).

J.L. Martin (1877)
(On Rev. 9:16) "We have a few more than one billion inhabitants on the earth (in 1873).But of that billion about five hundred millions (one-half) are females, leaving an average population of male inhabit-ants of about five hundred millions; and of that number about one-half are minors, leaving about two hundred and fifty mil-lions of adult males on the earth at a time. But of that number of adult males about one-fifth are superannuated – too old to fight. These are statistical facts. This leaves exactly John’s two hundred millions of fighting men on earth. And when we prove a matter mathematically, we think it is pretty well done. (The Voice of the Seven Thunders: oc Lectures on the Apocalypse (Bedford, IN: James M. Mathes, Publisher, sixth cd., 1873), pp. 149f)

(On Rev. 9:17-19) "John is pointing to the modern mode of fighting on horse-back, with the rider leaning forward, which, to his sight, and to the sight of one looking on at a distance, would appear as the great mane of the lion; the man leaning on his horse’s neck. He would, in fighting with firearms, have to lean forward to discharge his piece, lest he might shoot down his own horse that he was riding. In John’s day the posture was very different. . . . Now, I want to ask my friendly hearers if it is not as literally fulfilled before our eyes as anything can be? Are not all nations engaged in this mode of warfare? Do they not kill men with fire and smoke and brimstone? . . . Do you not know that this is just ignited gunpowder? . . . Could an uninspired man, in the last of the first century, have told of this matter? (Ibid., pp. 151f.)

Christabel Pankhurst (1923)
"Current international events are assuredly finger posts to Armageddon." (The Lord Cometh, 1923)

Randall Price
"Two Temples have been built and destroyed in Israel's past.  According to prophecy, two more will yet be built in the future.' (Jerusalem in Prophecy, 255) ['Ezra's temple too modest?' Newcombe]

Ronald Reagan
"In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations, and it says that Lybia will be among them.  Do you understand the significance of that?   Lybia has now gone communist, and that's a sign that the day of Armageddon isn't far off."

"For the first time ever, everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.  It can’t be too long now.  Ezekiel says that fire and brimstone will be rained upon the enemies of God’s people.  That must mean that they will be destroyed by nuclear weapons.”(Ronald Reagan - 1971, recounted in San Diego Magazine, 8/85, by James Mills, president pro tem, California Senate)

Charles Ryrie
"How do we make sense out of all those beasts and thrones and horsemen and huge numbers like 200 million? Answer: Take it at face value. " (The Living End, p. 37.)

("face value" hermeneutic of Revelation 9:1-12 (the locusts from the abyss):
"John’s description sounds very much like some kind of war machine or UFO.. Demons have the ability to take different shapes, so it is quite possible that John is picturing a coming invasion of warlike UFOS. Until someone comes up with a satisfactory answer to the UFO question, this possibility should not be ruled out."

Raymond Schafer (1977)
"At all times Satan has had to have one or more Antichrist candidates waiting in the wings, lest the Rapture come suddenly and find him unprepared. That is why so many malevolent world leaders have had names whose letters added up to 666 when combined in certain ways. (Depending on which 666 formula is used, at any given moment there are several hundred thousand men in the world whose names added up to 666. It is from this large pool of candidates that Satan has traditionally chosen his ‘man of the moment’)" (After the Rapture [Santa Ana, CA: Vision House, 1977], p. 55).

Scofield Reference Bible (1909)
‘At hand’ is never a positive affirmation that the person or thing said to be ‘at hand’ will immediately appear, but only that no known or predicted event must intervene." ( p. 998, note 3.)

Lehman Strauss (1963)
"We are witnessing in this twentieth century the collapse of civilization. It is obvious that we are advancing toward the end of the age. Science can offer no hope for the future blessing and security of humanity, but instead it has produced devastating and deadly results which threaten to lead us toward a new dark age. The frightful uprisings among races, the almost unbelievable conquests of Communism, and the growing antireligious philosophy throughout the world, all spell out the fact that doom is certain. I can see no bright prospects, through the efforts of man, for the earth and its inhabitants." ("Our Only Hope," Biblotheca Sacra Vol. 120 (April/June 1963), p. 154.)

Jack Van Impe
(the year 2001 will) "usher in international chaos such as we've never seen in our history." ("On the Edge of Eternity")

"drought, war, malaria, and hunger afflicting entire populations throughout the [African] continent...By the year 2001, there will be global chaos." ("On the Edge of Eternity")

John F. Walvoord (1959)
"the expression 'the day of the Lord' is an extensive time period which includes not only the tribulation and the judgments taking place at the second advent, but which includes also the entire millennial reign of Christ.." (The Millennial Kingdom, p. 273)

"Today we see precisely this setup: Russia about to move on the Middle East; Israel in its place, regathered; the wealth, the spoil of the nations there; the need for possessing the Middle East perfectly obvious to Russia; and the only thing deterring her the fear of our military might." (Moody Monthly, 1959)

Edgar Wheisnant (1988)
(On The Rapture)
"it’s going to be this September.. These events were never restricted from our knowledge, but only the day and hour of our Lord's return for the Church, and that event was limited only to the day and hour, and not the week, month or year."  (88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988, p. 2)

"Only if the bible is in error and I wrong, and I say that unequivocally. There is no way biblically that I can be wrong and I say that to every preacher in town." (88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988, p. 2)

"I forgot about the extra year in zero A.D. It’s going to be in September, 1989."

Our Hope (August 1916)
"The time cannot be far off when Russia’s millions, augmented by the armies that she will gather from these other nations, will be thrown by their rulers into Palestine in order to destroy the nation of the Jews."

The King's Business (1922)
"The manner of this invasion is given in verse 9, "Thou shalt ascend, and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." And down in verse 16 we have "Thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land.". . . In half a dozen or a dozen years more (I don’t think it will be a dozen years), some fine morning the inhabitants of Jerusalem will see a great cloud—in a few minutes the cloud will develop a great cloud of airplanes landing tens of thousands of men on the soil of Palestine. Note the expression "they shall ascend."’ How that describes the rising of a fleet of planes." (Thomas M. Chalmers, "Palestinian Mandate Approved? The King's Business, XIII (November, 1922), 1137.)

The Prophetic News and Israel's Watch (1888)
"Russia has for ages meditated on the conquest of Asia and India and China. Great Britain, with the United States, stands face to face with this Russian power, and these two sides will come into one final awful struggle. We judge that the tide of Russian conquest will flow on to the frontiers of China . . . . We believe, from the place assigned to Russia in the Word of God, that her legions will sweep over the plains and mountains of Asia and become the dominant power over all the East until she falls forever on the mountains of Judea." (Walter Scott, June 1888)

The Sunday School Times
"Is the United States to be the next nation to fall from her present exalted position through her failure to help Israel in this crucial hour when she is surrounded by foes bent on her destruction?" (George T. B. Davis, 1957)

The Weekly Evangel
"We are not yet in the Armageddon struggle proper, but at its commencement, and it may be, if students of prophecy read the signs aright, that Christ will come before the present war closes, and before Armageddon . . ..The war preliminary to Armageddon, it seems, has commenced.’ (April 10, 1917)

"The Third Temple as outlined by Ezekiel will assuredly be rebuilt in our own generation." (Evangel, March 26, 1949, P. 10.)

"With so much military activity in and around Palestine it seems that the nations are hastening on to their last great conflict at Armageddon." (March 9, 1940, p. 11.)

"Nine countries of Eastern Europe are already united. The stage is setting for the great battle of Armageddon." ("God and the World Crisis," April, 1948)

"Atomic war will start on, before, or at least by January 1953." (Evangel, May 21, 1949, p. 2.)

United Evangelical Action
"Joe Stalin is running true to form. He is letting the United Nations know, in unmistakable terms, that he purposes to manage eastern Europe to suit himself. We had all better smile meekly and let him do it; he will anyway. By and by he will decide to run all of Europe and then the world. Let’s hope for at least a decade of peace before he is ready. When it comes, the present conflict will resemble a Methodist love feast in comparison." (As cited in Evangel, February 26, 1944, p. 8.)

Separate Salvation Covenant with the Jews

"As regards the significance of Christ and his Church in the world we are agreed: Nobody comes to the Father but through him. Nobody comes to the Father - it is different, however, for the one who needs no more to come to the Father because he is already with him."

Clarence Lakin (1918)
(the statements of the Sermon on the Mount) "have no application to the Christian, but only to those who are under the Law, and therefore must apply to another Dispensation than this" (Dispensational Truth, p. 26).

J. Dwight Pentecost (1958)
"This view holds that there are two new covenants presented in the New Testament; the first with Israel in reaffirmation of the covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 and the second made with the church in this age. This view, essentially, would divide the references to the new covenant in the New Testament into two groups. The references in the gospels and in Hebrews 8:7-13 and 10:16 would refer to the new covenant with Israel, and Hebrews 12:24 would refer, perhaps, to both" (Things to Come, p.124)

H.J. Schoeps (1979)
"(God) spoke to the Jew at Sinai and to the Gentiles in Jesus Christ. The word spoken to Israel is not for the Gentiles, and the word meant for the Gentiles is not of Israel." (p. 317)

"As regards the significance of Christ and his Church in the world we are agreed: Nobody comes to the Father but through him. Nobody comes to the Father - it is different, however, for the one who needs no more to come to the Father because he is already with him." (Quoted by Jakob Jocz in The Jewish People and Jesus Christ  p. 317)

John F Walvoord (1977)
"Most premillenarians (Darby excepted) would agree that a new covenant has been provided for the church, but not the new covenant for Israel." (The Millennial Kingdom, p. 214)

 

 

What is Dispensationalism?

By Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D.

 

Introduction

 

Since the mid-1800s, the system of theology known as dispensationalism has exerted great influence on how many Christians view the doctrines of ecclesiology and eschatology. In this article, we will survey the history of dispensationalism and look at the key beliefs associated with the system.

 

History of Dispensationalism

 

Theologians continue to argue over the historicity of dispensationalism. Those who are dispensationalists argue that the basic beliefs of dispensationalism were held by the apostles and the first generation church. Those who are not dispensationalists often argue that dispensationalism is a new theology that began in the 19^th century. Whether the ideas associated with dispensationalism are found in the New Testament or not is heavily debated. What is clear, though, is that dispensationalism, as a system, began to take shape in the mid-1800s.

 

1.  John Nelson Darby The beginning of systematized dispensationalism is usually linked with John Nelson Darby (1800—1882), a Plymouth Brethren minister. While at Trinity College in Dublin (1819), Darby came to believe in a future salvation and restoration of national Israel. Based on his study of Isaiah 32, Darby concluded that Israel, in a future dispensation, would enjoy earthly blessings that were different from the heavenly blessings experienced by the church. He thus saw a clear distinction between Israel and the church. Darby also came to believe in an “any moment” rapture of the church that was followed by Daniel’s Seventieth Week in which Israel would once again take center stage in God’s plan. After this period, Darby believed there would be a millennial kingdom in which God would fulfill His unconditional promises with Israel.¹ According to Paul Enns, “Darby advanced the scheme of dispensationalism by noting that each dispensation places man under some condition; man has some responsibility before God. Darby also noted that each dispensation culminates in failure.” ²   Darby saw seven dispensations: (1) Paradisaical state to the Flood; (2) Noah; (3) Abraham; (4) Israel; (5) Gentiles; (6) The Spirit; and (7) The Millennium. By his own testimony, Darby says his dispensational theology was fully formed by 1833.

 

2.  The Brethren Movement Dispensationalism first took shape in the Brethren Movement in early nineteenth century Britain. Those within the Brethren Movement rejected a special role for ordained clergy and stressed the spiritual giftedness of ordinary believers and their freedom, under the Spirit’s guidance, to teach and admonish each other from Scripture. The writings of the Brethren had a broad impact on evangelical Protestantism and influenced ministers in the United States such as D. L. Moody, James Brookes, J. R. Graves, A. J. Gordon, and C. I. Scofield.³

 

3.  The Bible Conference Movement Beginning in the 1870s, various Bible conferences began to spring up in various parts of the United States. These conferences helped spread Dispensationalism. The Niagara conferences (1870—early 1900s) were not started to promote dispensationalism but dispensational ideas were often promoted at these conferences. The American Bible and Prophetic Conferences from 1878—1914 promoted a dispensational theology.

 

4.  The Bible Institute Movement In the late 1800s, several Bible institutes were founded that taught dispensational theology including The Nyack Bible Institute (1882), The Boston Missionary Training School (1889), and The Moody Bible Institute (1889).

 

5.  The Scofield Reference Bible C. I. Scofield, a participant in the Niagara conferences, formed a board of Bible conference teachers in 1909 and produced what came to be known as, the Scofield Reference Bible. This work became famous in the United States with its theological annotations right next to the Scripture. This reference Bible became the greatest influence in the spread of dispensationalism.

 

6. Dallas Theological Seminary After World War I, many dispensational Bible schools were formed. Led by Dallas Theological Seminary (1924), dispensationalism began to be promoted in formal, academic settings. Under Scofield, dispensationalism entered a scholastic period that was later carried on by his successor, Lewis Sperry Chafer. Further promotion of dispensationalism took place with the writing of Chafer’s eight-volume Systematic Theology.

 

Foundational Features of Dispensationalism ⁴

 

1.  Hermeneutical approach that stresses a literal fulfillment of Old Testament promises to Israel Though the issue of “literal interpretation” is heavily debated today, many dispensationalists claim that consistent literal interpretation applied to all areas of the Bible, including Old Testament promises to Israel, is a distinguishing mark of dispensationalism. Dispensationalists usually argue that the progress of revelation, including New Testament revelation, does not cancel Old Testament promises made with national Israel. Although there is internal debate concerning how much the church is related to the Old Testament covenants and promises, dispensationalists believe national Israel will see the literal fulfillment of the promises made with her in the Old Testament.

 

2.  Belief that the unconditional, eternal covenants made with national Israel (Abrahamic, Davidic, and New) must be fulfilled literally with national Israel Although the church may participate in or partially fulfill the biblical covenants, they do not take over the covenants to the exclusion of national Israel. Physical and spiritual promises to Israel must be fulfilled with Israel.

 

3.   Distinct future for national Israel  “Only Dispensationalism clearly sees a distinctive future for ethnic Israel as a nation.”⁵   This future includes a restoration of the nation with a distinct identity and function.

 

4.  The church is distinct from Israel The church does not replace or continue Israel, and is never referred to as Israel. According to dispensationalists, the church did not exist in the Old Testament and did not begin until the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Old Testament promises to Israel, then, cannot be entirely fulfilled with the church. Evidences often used by dispensationalists to show that the church is distinct from Israel include: (a) Jesus viewed the church as future in Matthew 16:18; (b) an essential element of the church—Spirit baptism—did not begin until the Day of Pentecost (compare 1 Cor. 12:13 with Acts 2); (c) Christ became Head of the church as a result of His resurrection (compare Eph. 4:15; Col. 1:18 with Eph. 1:19-23); (d) the spiritual gifts associated with the church (cf. Eph. 4:7-12; 1 Cor. 12:11-13) were not given until the ascension of Christ; (e) the “new man” nature of the church (cf. Eph. 2:15) shows that the church is a NT organism and not something incorporated into Israel; (f) the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ and the New Testament apostles and prophets (cf. Eph. 2:20); (g) the author, Luke, keeps Israel and the church distinct. On this last point, Fruchtenbaum states, “In the book of Acts, both Israel and the church exist simultaneously. The term Israel is used twenty times and ekklesia (church) nineteen times, yet the two groups are always kept distinct.”⁶

 

5. Multiple senses of “seed of Abraham” According to Feinberg, the designation “seed of Abraham” is used in different ways in Scripture. First it is used in reference to ethnic, biological Jews (cf. Romans 9—11). Second, it is used in a political sense. Third, it is used in a spiritual sense to refer to people, whether Jew or Gentile, who are spiritually related to God by faith (cf. Romans 4:11-12; Galatians 3:7). Feinberg argues that the spiritual sense of the title does not take over the physical sense to such an extent that the physical seed of Abraham is no longer related to the biblical covenants.

 

6. Philosophy of history that emphasizes both the spiritual and physical aspects of God’s covenants According to John Feinberg, “nondispensational treatments of the nature of the covenants and of Israel’s future invariably emphasize soteriological and spiritual issues, whereas dispensational treatments emphasize both the spiritual/soteriological and the social, economic, and political aspects of things.” ⁷

 

Other significant, although not necessarily exclusive features of dispensationalism, include: (1) the authority of Scripture; (2) belief in dispensations; (3) emphasis on Bible prophecy; (4) futuristic premillennialism; (5) pretribulationism; and (6) a view of imminency that sees Christ’s return as an “any-moment” possibility.

 

Variations Within Dispensationalism

 

The above features characterize the beliefs of those within the dispensational tradition. However, as Blaising writes, “Dispensationalism has not been a static tradition.” ⁸  There is no standard creed that freezes its theological development at any given point in history. Blaising offers three forms of dispensational thought:

 

1. Classical Dispensationalism (ca. 1850—1940s) Classical dispensationalism refers to the views of British and American dispensationalists between the writings of Darby and Chafer’s eight-volume Systematic Theology. The interpretive notes of the Scofield Reference Bible are often seen as the key representation of the classical dispensational tradition.⁹

 

One important feature of classical dispensationalism was its dualistic idea of redemption. In this tradition, God is seen as pursuing two different purposes. One is related to heaven and the other to the earth. The “heavenly humanity was to be made up of all the redeemed from all dispensations who would be resurrected from the dead. Whereas the earthly humanity concerned people who had not died but who were preserved by God from death, the heavenly humanity was made up of all the saved who had died, whom God would resurrect from the dead.” ¹⁰

 

Blaising notes that the heavenly, spiritual, and individualistic nature of the church in classical dispensationalism underscored the well-known view that the church is a parenthesis in the history of redemption.¹¹  In this tradition, there was little emphasis on social or political activity for the church.

 

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DISPENSATIONALIST FUTURISM Dispensationalist Charts at Google

Clarence Larkin's Representation of Nebuchadnezzar's Statue Clarence Larkin Charts End Times 7-Year Period Notes by Ron Craig, Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church

Dispensationalism at a Glance The Seven Dispensations The Seven Dispensations Arab & Israeli "Covenant of Peace" Dispensational Premillennialism World History Chart (Millennium Starts in 2000) Comparison of Millennial Views Comparison of Millennial Views "A Tribulation Map" (Modified by Bible.ca) Abeka Books' Representation of the New Jerusalem       CRITICAL OF DISPENSATIONALISM Flowchart From Egyptian Mystery Religions to Dallas Theological Seminary!

Key theologians : John Nelson Darby, C. I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer

 

2. Revised or Modified Dispensationalism (ca.1950—1985) Revised dispensationalists abandoned the eternal dualism of heavenly and earthly peoples. The emphasis in this strand of the dispensational tradition was on two peoples of God—Israel and the church. These two groups are structured differently with different dispensational roles and responsibilities, but the salvation they each receive is the same. The distinction between Israel and the church, as different anthropological groups, will continue throughout eternity.

Key theologians : John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, Charles Feinberg, Alva J. McClain.

 

3. Progressive Dispensationalism (1986—present) What does “progressive” mean? The title “progressive dispensationalism” refers to the “progressive” relationship of the successive dispensations to one another.¹²   Charles Ryrie notes that, “The adjective ‘progressive’ refers to a central tenet that the Abrahamic, Davidic, and new covenants are being progressively fulfilled today (as well as having fulfillments in the millennial kingdom).” ¹³

“One of the striking differences between progressive and earlier dispensationalists, is that progressives do not view the church as an anthropological category in the same class as terms like Israel, Gentile Nations, Jews, and Gentile people. The church is neither a separate race of humanity (in contrast to Jews and Gentiles) nor a competing nation alongside Israel and Gentile nations. . . . The church is precisely redeemed humanity itself (both Jews and Gentiles) as it exists in this dispensation prior to the coming of Christ.”¹⁴

 

Progressive dispensationalists see more continuity between Israel and the church than the other two variations within dispensationalism. They stress that both Israel and the church compose the “people of God” and both are related to the blessings of the New Covenant. This spiritual equality, however, does not mean that there are not functional distinctions between the groups. Progressive dispensationalists do not equate the church as Israel in this age and they still see a future distinct identity and function for ethnic Israel in the coming millennial kingdom.

 

Key theologians : Craig A. Blaising, Darrell L. Bock, and Robert L. Saucy

 

^1. See Floyd Elmore, "Darby, John Nelson," Dictionary of Premillennial Theology, Mal Couch, ed., (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996) 83-84.

^2. Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody, 1989) 516.

^3. See Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism (Wheaton: Victor, 1993) 10.

^4. These essentials of Dispensationalism are taken from John S. Feinberg's, "Systems of Discontinuity," Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship Between the Old and New Testaments, ed. John S. Feinberg (Wheaton: Crossway, 1988) 67-85. At this point we acknowledge the well-known sine qua non of Dispensationalism as put forth by Charles C. Ryrie. According to Ryrie, Dispensationalism is based on the three following characteristics: (1) a distinction between Israel and the church; (2) literal hermeneutics; and (3) A view which sees the glory of God as the underlying purpose of God in the world. See Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995) 38-40.

^5. Feinberg, 83.

^6. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology. Tustin: Ariel, 1994) 118.

^7. Feinberg, 85.

^8. Blaising and Bock, 21.

^9. Blaising and Bock, 22.

^10. Blaising and Bock, 24.

^11. Blaising and Bock, 27.

^12. Blaising and Bock, 49.

^13. Charles C. Ryrie, "Update on Dispensationalism," Issues in Dispensationalism, John R. Master and Wesley R. Willis, eds. (Chicago: Moody, 1994) 20.

^14. Blaising and Bock, 49.

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Anti-Gentile Theology