Category Archives: Dispensationalism

DISPENSATIONAL SCARE-MONGERING. AGAIN.

Dispensationalism July 4, 2017 Leave a comment

PMW 2017-053 by Gary DeMar (American Vision)

Once again, prophecy prognosticators are predicting Jesus is going to wrap up everything in our generation because things are so bad the end must be near. A recent article by Britt Gillette on the Prophecy News Watch website says as much:

“The signs of the Second Coming are all around us. When His disciples asked Jesus to describe the signs, He gave them several. The Jewish people back in possession of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28) … the Gospel preached throughout the world (Matthew 24:14) … the arrival of the exponential curve (Matthew 24:3-8) … and more.

“The Old Testament prophets also pointed to a number of signs. An increase in travel and knowledge (Daniel 12:4) … the rise of a united Europe (Daniel 2:42) … the rise of the Gog of Magog alliance (Ezekiel 38-39) … and more.

“Today, all these signs are either present or in the process of being fulfilled. Yet for 1,800+ years, none of these signs were present. Think about that. None of the signs. But today? Today, they’re all around us.”

Continue reading →

AN INVITATION TO YOU

Culture, Dispensationalism, Worldview August 26, 2016 Comments: 5

Bible studyPMT 2016-063 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Postmillennialism does not arise among Christians as a natural reflex — though it should if they pray the Lord’s Prayer believingly (“Your kingdom come / Your will be done, / On earth as it is heaven,” Matt. 6:10) and understand the Great Commission rightly (“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19, 20).

Our age is one of simplistic Christianity and social collapse. Neither of these problems is helpful for suggesting postmillennialism as an eschatological option. Continue reading →

THE MILLENNIAL MAZE

Amillennialism, Dispensationalism, History, Theology July 19, 2016 Leave a comment

MazePMT 2016-052 by Keith Mathison (Ligonier)

I once heard someone define the millennium as a thousand-year period of time during which Christians fight over the proper interpretation of the book of Revelation. While amusing, that definition is obviously incorrect. Christians have been fighting over the proper interpretation of the book of Revelation for two thousand years. In all seriousness, however, all of the fighting has led some Christians to adopt despairingly a position they call panmillennialism (we don’t know which view of the millennium is correct, but we know it will all pan out in the end).

The word millennium refers to the “thousand years” mentioned in Revelation 20. Because this chapter is found in one of the most difficult books of the New Testament, its proper interpretation is disputed. As a result, there are four main views of the millennium held within the church today: historic premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. Continue reading →

COVENANT THEOLOGY = REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY?

Church, Dispensationalism, Israel May 27, 2016 Comments: 4

Replacement TheologyPMT 2016-037 by R. Scott Clark

[Note: This is a helpful article by R. Scott Clark that responds to dispensational confusion regarding covenant theology.]

Recently I had a question asking whether “covenant theology” is so-called “replacement theology.” Those dispensational critics of Reformed covenant theology who accuse it of teaching that the New Covenant church has “replaced” Israel do not understand historic Reformed covenant theology. They are imputing to Reformed theology a way of thinking about redemptive history that has more in common with dispensationalism than it does with Reformed theology. Continue reading →

DOES REV 3:10 SPEAK OF THE RAPTURE?

Dispensationalism, Revelation November 4, 2015 Comments: 3

PMT 2015-132 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Romans fighting

In Rev 3:10 we read of Christ’s statement the church at Philadelphia (not the church in Cleveland or Detroit!): Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (3:10).

Because they are enduring for Christ—against all opposition, but especially from the Jews (3:9a)—he promises: “I also will keep you from the hour of testing” (3:10b). Since they kept (eteresas) his word, he will keep (tereso ) them becaus he blesses those who honor him. He will keep them from an hour of testing. Continue reading →

DISPENSATIONALISM AND THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM

Dispensationalism September 16, 2015 Comments: 2

Christ bureaucratsPMT 2015-111 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Classic dispensationalism I the most popular version of this eschatological perspective, the view held by most self-proclaimed “prophecy experts,” televangelists, and your neighbors. Therefore, it is important to analyze it as the leading competitor to postmillennialism. As I continue my critique of it I will return to elaborate on the spiritual nature of the kingdom which I briefly touched on in my last article.

Dispensationalists argue for the necessity of Christ’s physical presence if His kingdom is to come. For instance, House and Ice write in their critique of postmillennialism:

“Within the Reconstructionist framework, Messiah is in heaven and only present mystically in his kingdom. His absence from the earth during his kingdom reign robs Messiah of his moment of earthly glory and exaltation. Continue reading →

DISPENSATIONALISM AND CHRIST THE POLITICIAN

Christ, Dispensationalism September 14, 2015 Comments: 3

PMT 2015-110 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Christ President

In my previous article I began a brief study considering some of the leading errors in classic (populist) dispensationalism. I opened with a presentation of the Christological distortions inherent in the system — which is significant in that Christ lies at the very center of Christianity. I will continue my concern with those Christological distortions in this article.

One of the difficulties dispensationalists have in understanding the Messianic kingdom promised by the prophets is with regard to its fundamental nature. Several major misconceptions lead them astray in this regard. We highlight but three: they assert of the Messianic kingdom that it will (1) be a future, earthly, Armageddon-introduced, political system, (2) require the physical presence of Christ on earth, and (3) be fundamentally Jewish in purpose and character. Continue reading →