Pauline Dispensationalism

[Big Daddy]

Good stuff! I'm glad to see you look up these things. How does the two differ?Can you tell us?

[BlessedinHim]

Modern Dispensationalism:

As a current theology among many Protestant and other Conservative Christian groups, Dispensationalism is a form of premillennialism which teaches biblical history as a number of successive economies or administrations, called dispensations, each of which emphasizes the discontinuity of the Old Testament covenants God made with His various people.

In the context of Christianity, dispensationalism is an interpretive or narrative framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible, and is frequently contrasted with an opposing interpretation: supersessionism (also referred to as Covenant Theology, see also New Covenant (theology)). In simple terms, supersessionism teaches that the Christian Church has been established for the salvation of "the Jews first, and also to the Gentiles", and that there is one people of God joined in unity through Jesus Christ. Since the Jews have largely refused to accept Christ - "the Messiah of Israel" - and he is their means to salvation, those individual Jews that reject him - that is, reject the merits of his atoning sacrifice for sins - in effect reject the only provision God has offered for divine forgiveness, and are therefore no longer in the true Israel. Christians have become the "New Jews". This view is also often referred to as "replacement theology"; in that according to this theology, the Church from it's very inception has replaced the Jewish people and National Israel as God's "chosen people" and "holy nation", now and forever. One of the scriptures often cited as a basis for this theology is; .

In contrast, dispensationalism teaches that the Christian Church is a "parenthesis" in God's dealings with the Jews, when the Gospel began to go to the Gentiles instead of the Jews, but that God's continued favor of the Jews will be revealed after the Church Age (or Dispensation), when the Jews will be restored to their land and will accept Jesus as their Messiah. Hence, dispensationalists typically believe in a Jewish restoration.


Dispensationalism was first introduced to North America by John Inglis (1813–1879), through a monthly magazine called Waymarks in the Wilderness (published intermittently between 1854 and 1872)[citation needed]. In 1866, Inglis organized the Believers' Meeting for Bible Study, which introduced dispensationalist ideas to a small but influential circle of American evangelicals. After Inglis' death, James H. Brookes (1830–1898), a pastor in St. Louis, organized the Niagara Bible Conference to continue the dissemination of dispensationalist ideas. Dispensationalism was boosted after Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) learned of "dispensational truth" from an unidentified member of the Brethren in 1872. Moody became close to Brookes and other dispensationalists, and encouraged the spread of dispensationalism, but apparently never learned the nuances of the dispensationalist system. Dispensationalism began to evolve during this time, most significantly when a significant body of dispensationalists proposed the "post-tribulation" Rapture. Dispensationalist leaders in Moody's circle include Reuben Archer Torrey (1856–1928), James M. Gray (1851–1925), Cyrus I. Scofield (1843–1921), William J. Erdman (1833–1923), A. C. Dixon (1854–1925), A. J. Gordon (1836–1895) and William Eugene Blackstone, author of the bestseller of the 1800s "Jesus is Coming" (Endorsed by Torrey and Erdman). These men were activist evangelists who promoted a host of Bible conferences and other missionary and evangelistic efforts. They also gave the dispensationalist movement institutional permanence by assuming leadership of the new independent Bible institutes such as the Moody Bible Institute (1886), the Bible Institute of Los Angeles—now Biola University (1907), and the Philadelphia College of the Bible—now Philadelphia Biblical University (1913). The network of related institutes that soon sprang up became the nucleus for the spread of American dispensationalism.

The energetic efforts of C. I. Scofield and his associates introduced dispensationalism to a wider audience in America and bestowed a measure of respectability through his Scofield Reference Bible. The publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909 by the Oxford University Press was something of an innovative literary coup for the movement, since for the first time, overtly dispensationalist notes were added to the pages of the biblical text. The Scofield Reference Bible became the leading bible used by independent Evangelicals and Fundamentalists in the U.S. for the next sixty years. Evangelist and bible teacher Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952), who was strongly influenced by C. I. Scofield, founded Dallas Theological Seminary in 1924, which has become the flagship of dispensationalism in America. The so-called "Grace Movement", which began in the 1930s with the teaching ministries of J.C. O'Hair, Cornelius R. Stam, Henry Hudson and Charles Baker has been mischaracterized as "ultra" or "hyper" dispensationalism (an actual misnomer according to the etymology of the Greek word base for "dispensation"). The contrasts between law and grace, prophecy and mystery, Israel and the church, the body of Christ were energized by Scofield, Barnhouse and Ironside in the hearts of these men and studied and proclaimed by O'Hair, Stam and a host of other "grace" teachers. Dispensationalism has come to dominate the American Evangelical scene, especially among nondenominational Bible churches, many Baptists, Armstrongists, and most Pentecostal and Charismatic groups.


Dispensationalist theology
Dispensationalism seeks to address what many see as opposing theologies between the Old Testament and New Testament. Its name comes from the fact that it sees biblical history as best understood in light of a series of dispensations in the Bible. The precise list of dispensations varies between authors, but the most common list of dispensations is taken from the notes to the Scofield Bible:

the dispensation of innocence (–), prior to Adam's fall,
of conscience (–), Adam to Noah,
of government (–), Noah to Abraham,
of patriarchal rule (–), Abraham to Moses,
of the Mosaic Law (–), Moses to Christ,
of grace (– – except for Hyperdispensationalists), the current church age, and
of a literal, earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom that has yet to come but soon will (–).[citation needed]
Each dispensation is said to represent a different way in which God deals with man, often a different test for man. "These periods are marked off in Scripture by some change in God's method of dealing with mankind, in respect to two questions: of sin, and of man's responsibility," explained C. I. Scofield. "Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment—marking his utter failure in every dispensation."

An alternative to this popular “seven-dispensations” approach comes with a rather simple and helpful observation from reading through the Bible with this careful question: How and by whom is God evangelizing lost men and women at any given time of human history even into the future? God through the ages has chosen to use people to evangelize other people with His gospel of redemption and salvation. An interesting pattern can be traced through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation: Beginning with only various Gentile Nations; then Israel (through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Christ); then The Church, (our present age); then Israel for 7 years more (in the future); and then a Millennial, Earthly Kingdom of Christ –

the dispensation or age of Gentile Nations (), from Adam to Abraham’s Call;
of Israel ( – ), from Abraham’s Call to Pentecost in ;
of The Church ( – ), from Pentecost in to the end of The Church Age;
of The (missionary) Tribulation of Israel (), A yet-future Seven-year period;
of a literal, earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom with a rebuilt temple and reinstituted animal sacrifices and O.T. rituals that has yet to come but soon will (–6).

[BlessedinHim]

Influence of dispensationalist beliefs

Dispensationalism has had a number of effects on Protestantism, at least as it is practiced in the United States. By consistently teaching that the Beast of Revelation, or the Antichrist, is a political leader, dispensationalism has weakened the traditional Reformation-era identification of that figure with the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church with the ***** of Babylon, however only in a minor way. While the Pope has been portrayed as an Antichrist in Protestant literature for hundreds of years (even before their official designation as Protestants during the Reformation), the Pope is still usually identified with one of the three main Agents of Satan who implement global deception during the Great Tribulation. Modern Dispensationalism has led many evangelical Christians in the U.S. to separate their traditional anti-Catholicism and anti-papal perspective from their own much more empathetic perspective towards lay Catholics. Some dispensationalists, usually of the Fundamentalist variety, have continued to teach that a pope (or an antipope) will be the Antichrist or the False Prophet of the book of Revelation.

Dispensationalism rejects the notion of supersessionism. It tends to go hand in hand with a very protective attitude toward the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel. John Nelson Darby taught, and most subsequent dispensationalists have consistently maintained, that God looks upon the Jews as his chosen people even if they remain in rejection of Jesus Christ and continues to have a place for them in the dispensational, prophetic scheme of things. While many traditions of Christianity teach that the Jews are a distinct people, irrevocably entitled to the promises of God (because, in the words of the epistle to the Romans, "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance"), dispensationalism is unique in teaching that the Church is a provisional dispensation, until the Jews finally recognize Jesus as their promised Messiah during the trials that dispensationalists envision coming upon the Jews in the Great Tribulation. Darby's prophecies envision Judaism as continuing to enjoy God's protection, parallel to Christianity, literally to the End of Time, and teach that God has a separate track in the prophecies for Jews apart from the Church. However, dispensationalists hold that God does not recognize Jew or Gentile today:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. (, KJV)

Dispensationalism and Judaism
Christian Dispensationalists sometimes embrace what some critics have pejoratively called Judeophilia—ranging from support of the state of Israel, to observing traditional Jewish holidays and practicing traditionally Jewish religious rituals. (See also Jewish Christians and Judaizers.) At any rate, dispensationalists are typically, in practical terms, Zionists and allies of the Jews and enthusiastic popularizers of Judaica, and foes of anti-Semitism (in the conventional sense).

[BlessedinHim]

Dispensationalism and Messianic Judaism
Dispensationalists tend to be energetically evangelistic, with special interest in the Jews because they are "God's chosen people." Dispensationalist beliefs are widespread in many forms of Messianic Judaism, for example, which seeks to convert Jews to a form of Christianity mixed with Jewish culture and tradition. In some dispensationalist circles, the Jewish converts to Christianity are sometimes referred to as "completed Jews". Thus, while it is at odds with traditional supersessionism (which discourages directly carrying over Jewish practice into the Christian Church), dispensationalism generally is markedly at odds with modern religious pluralism, which is typified by the view that proselytism of the Jews is a form of anti-Semitism.

Dispensationalism and United States politics
Political analyst Richard Allen Greene has argued that dispensationalism has had a major influence on the foreign policy of the United States. This influence has included support for the state of Israel

Dispensationalism and fiction
Dispensationalist themes form the basis of the successful Left Behind series of books. However, not all dispensationalists agree with the theology of authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

[BlessedinHim]

The following individuals have been associated with dispensationalism:

Sir Robert Anderson (1841–1918), "Anglicanized Irishman of Scottish extraction", 1863 entered the Irish Bar; Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police in Scotland Yard; lay preacher and defender of the Faith; saw difference between Israel and the Church; authored 19 books on the Bible.
Charles F. Baker (1905–1994), author (A Dispensational Theology), and founder of Grace Bible College, Grace Movement pioneer.
Hoyle Bowman, Professor at Piedmont Baptist College.
James H. Brookes (1830–1897), minister, writer, and theologian. Cyrus I. Scofield was one of his students.
John Hagee pastor Cornerstone Church , writer, and theologian. Founder of John Hagee Today tv and radio program.
Clarence Larkin (1850–1924), author of many pamphlets and books around 1918 containing extensive graphical dispensational charts with commentary[3]
Jack Chick (b. 1924), controversial fundamentalist cartoonist and founder of Chick Publications.
John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), British preacher, Plymouth Brethren co-founder, and considered by many as the "father of dispensationalism."
Arnold Fruchtenbaum (b. 1943), writer and theologian
Mark Hitchcock, pastor and author[4]
Thomas Ice, writer
Harry A. Ironside (1876–1951), pastor of The Moody Church, Chicago, and author of more than 60 books.
Tim LaHaye (b. 1926), minister, author of the "Left Behind" novel series, and speaker.
Hal Lindsey (b. 1929), evangelist and author of "The Late Great Planet Earth" and other books advocating a dispensationalist and fundamentalist understanding of Christianity.
J. Dwight Pentecost (b. 1915), writer and theologian
Charles Caldwell Ryrie (b. 1925), Christian writer and theologian. Better known for his "Ryrie Study Bible", which is known to teach dispensationalism.
Cyrus I. Scofield (1843–1921), minister, scholar, and theologian. Better known for his influential Scofield Reference Bible (published in 1909) that popularized dispensationalism.
Miles J. Stanford (1914–1999), Christian author and Pauline dispensationalist.
Charles Stevens, founder of Piedmont Baptist College.
Henry C. Thiessen, author of Lectures in Systematic Theology and taught at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Jack Van Impe (b. 1930), televangelist known for interpreting current events in light of a dispensationalist approach to biblical prophecy.
John F. Walvoord (1910–2002), longtime president of Dallas Theological Seminary and leading proponent of dispensationalism in the late 20th century.
Kenneth Wuest (1893–1962), New Testament Greek (Κοινή) scholar.

Yes, I confess,:shocked I copied and pasted, but you asked for the info. It isnt that hard to find on the net.:) but here it is for your ease.:)

Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism

[BlessedinHim]

with all that info up there,and by the time this thread is said and done, we will all have learned what Pauline Dispensationalism is. And we will all know the difference.

Just for the record, this is the first I have done a major study on this, so, I will be learning new about this as well. I hope all this helps us grow into the truth we all crave. Gods word will always be truth. Let us pray that the truth to be revealed in this study. Let us see if what this says is true. The Berean call.

Let us lay down our pre suppositions, and ask God to open our eyes, and open our ears, and open our minds to God's Word, so we can know the truth.

[Sing4Him]

Thank you so much.:thumb

'have always leaned towards Pauline Disp. Nothing else makes much sense.:nod

[lisa]

Saved_by_Grace06, your questions in this thread have a tone of condecension, and they also feel like bait, like you are trying to prove a point on someone else's back/footwork. Please treat others the way you'd like to be treated.

[HeIsEnough]

Oh boy!

While I am a dispensationalist, I am first a Berean. (ya well, I guess I'm hard to satisfy) There are several places I would disagree with PD. Good thread though, it is good to look into these things. :thumb

:hat BIH

[Sing4Him]

it is good to look into these things.

YES!
It's SOOOO Much!!! :faint