One of my readers (Justin) wrote to ask me if I might say a few things about this post by former Dispensationalist Grover Gunn. I don’t have time or inclination to respond to the whole paper, but I shall at least try to address Justin’s specific problem. Before commenting let me reproduce Justin’s question: The Question: “Hello Paul. Thanks indeed for this. I have a question relating to this. I’m sorry the text I’ve copied below is long. Perhaps when …
Category: Dispensationalism
You can read the previous articles in the series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. In these posts I have tried to demonstrate how the kind of hermeneutical processes involved in bringing an individual to espouse dispensational premillennial eschatology will cause him (or her) NOT to espouse 5-Point Calvinism, or its companion, regeneration prior to faith. I have done this by using a grid or filter for checking doctrines based on comparing theological propositions with the Bible. I believe that I …
Here is a selection of articles on certain aspects of Dispensational Theology On Method: Biblical Theology and (Dispensational) Theological Method (1) Biblical Theology and (Dispensational) Theological Method (2) Biography: Reflections After Reading An Old Autobiography (A.C. Gaebelein) Israel and the Church: A Response To Some Questions About Israel and the Church ‘Reluctant’ Dispensationalism: Some Mud That Sticks: A Little Insider Criticism of the Face of Dispensationalism Where Are All The Young People? The Pre-Trib Conference 2010 Diagnosing the Dispensational Malaise: …
We come to the final letter in TULIP: ‘P‘ = Perseverance of the Saints. Again our question is not technically whether this doctrine is correct or incorrect, but whether the standard Reformed understandings of the doctrine can be sustained on the basis of dispensational hermeneutics. Some Clarification Much confusion arises because of the similarity of this teaching to what is known as “Eternal Security” which most dispensationalists hold tenaciously. It could also be construed as close to what is often …
Limited Atonement, with its intentional combining of the accomplishment of the atonement with its application, thereby making the atonement itself effectual, paves the way for this next letter of TULIP. Irresistible (or effectual or efficacious) grace is also a necessary corollary to the particular (I don’t say “peculiar”) understanding of Total Depravity usually maintained in Reformed theology. It is closely related with “Effectual Calling” and is often included under that heading in Reformed Confessions and books. In fact, if it …
This is the third article on the subject of whether a dispensationalist; one who advocates getting doctrines through exegesis using consistent plain-sense hermeneutics, can come to amicable terms with the 5 Points of Calvinism as they have been expounded in the Reformed Confessions and standard works on the subject. I know that some well read and solid men who are dispensational premillennialists in their eschatology do say their belief in TULIP comes about via the same interpretive base as their …
Introduction: My goal here is the same as in the post on Total Depravity. I want to ask whether a Dispensational Theology built on its own principles can endorse the 5 points of Calvinism, especially as they are defined by Reformed theologians themselves in their classic works. I am not concerned with a full scale exposition of the doctrine of election. I am only asking whether certain expositions sit within the hermeneutical modus operandi of dispensationalism. Of all the five …
Introduction In this series of posts I will try to answer the question as to whether Dispensational Theology (DT) can be assimilated with TULIP. It is important to note that the definitions of the 5 points I have in mind are those associated with the classic Confessions of Reformed theology and reproduced in the standard works. I have decided I shall limit my Reformed sources to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, the Westminster Confession, the Canons of Dordt, …
In this last installment of this little series I want to try to offer some thoughts on a few things which would redress the present stalemate that much of Dispensationalism finds itself in. If you don’t agree with me that DT is not what it ought to be – i.e. that it has yet to realize what it is capable of – then these posts would not have done much for you. But if you have been thinking along the …
In this post I want to push the debate on a bit by examining various definitions of Dispensationalism and Dispensational Theology (DT) which dispensationalists themselves have put forward. These definitions will be assessed in terms of their ability to describe what DT is really about. I shall then comment on why I think these definitions are unsatisfactory and, in fact, may be detrimental to the movement itself. In the final post I shall then offer a definition which, I believe, …
