This is a follow-up to my post about the lack of young people at the Pre-Trib Conference. I promised to write a kind of follow up to my musing about the disturbing absence of young people from the Pre-Trib Conference. In this post I try to interact with some of the comments that were made and to do a bit of diagnosis of the problems I think I see within “The Dispensational Camp.” In one of his comments on my …
Category: Dispensationalism
I have recently returned from attending the 2010 Pre-Trib Conference in Irving, TX. Among the speakers were Michael Vlach, Wayne House, David Larsen, Paul Wilkinson, Andy Woods, Mike Stallard, and Barry Horner. Each presentation from these speakers was of high quality. In my opinion the two most noteworthy presentations were by Wilkinson and Horner. This is not to criticize the other men mentioned above, but just to say that Wilkinson’s excellent lecture about the disturbing rise of Anti-Israelite Christian Palestinianism …
As some of you know, I am Founder of Veritas School of Theology, an online seminary dedicated to educating God’s people in solid dispensational and presuppositional theology at a low cost. This ministry also provides me with an outlet for my ongoing development of what I call “Biblical Covenantalism” (see here, and here): a more far-reaching and theologically balanced type of Dispensationalism. One of the things we do at VST is to place a lot of emphasis on understanding the …
Here are some further thoughts on the 95 Theses Against Dispensationalism. I could wish that these criticisms of Dispensationalism were less hapless. The system itself is open to more piercing critical analysis than has been demonstrated by the “Nicene Council.” I do not really care whether I am this or that kind of theologian; I do care about being biblical! So if I am “dispensational” in my outlook rather than leaning to Covenant Theology so be it. As I have …
When I began answering the ‘Nicene Council’s’ 95 Theses Against Dispensationalism I did so to help myself and other readers think through our position. I do not want to stand before God as a dispensationalist if God is against Dispensationalism. And as a very fallible human being I hope I shall always be open to correction and reproof on that score. Nonetheless, after trying to respond fairly in a concise but adequate fashion to the objections of these men I …
90. Despite the dispensationalists’ affirmation of the gospel as the means of salvation, their evangelistic method and their foundational theology, both, encourage a presumptive faith (which is no faith at all) that can lead people into a false assurance of salvation when they are not truly converted, not recognizing that Christ did not so quickly accept professions of faith (e.g., when even though “many believed in His name,” Jesus, on His part, “was not entrusting Himself to them.”—John 2:23b-24a). Response: …
86. Despite the tendency of some dispensationalist scholars to interpret the Kingdom Parables negatively, so that they view the movement from hundredfold to sixty to thirty in Matt 13:8 as marking “the course of the age,” and in Matt 13:31-33 “the mustard seed refers to the perversion of God’s purpose in this age, while the leaven refers to the corruption of the divine agency” (J. D. Pentecost), Christ presents these parables as signifying “the kingdom of heaven” which He came …
82. Despite the dispensationalists’ commitment to the Jews as important for the fulfillment of prophecy and their charge of “anti-Semitism” against evangelicals who do not see an exalted future for Israel (Hal Lindsey), they are presently urging Jews to return to Israel even though their understanding of the prophecy of Zech 13:8 teaches that “two-thirds of the children of Israel will perish” (Walvoord) once their return is completed. Response: Two things: in the first place while some people like Lindsey …
80. Contrary to dispensationalism’s teaching that a physical temple will be rebuilt, the New Testament speaks of the building of the temple as the building of the Church in Christ, so that “the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:21); the only temple seen in the book of Revelation is in Heaven, which is the real and eternal temple of which the earthly temporary temple was, according to the book of …
I have lately had the pleasure of doing some theological fencing with a good Christian man named Andrew Suttles. Andrew has raised a number of pertinent questions about Dispensational interpretations of Israel and the Church which I would like to address in this (and another post). Once again I want to state that I think “Dispensationalist” is a lousy and inaccurate name for this type of theology. Firstly because dispensations are largely theologically mute. Secondly, because the real crux of …
