Few Christians in North America, at least among those who follow developments in the churches, are unfamiliar with the writings of Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth), the Scofield Reference Bible or an institution like Moody Bible Institute. More of them are probably familiar with the subject of the “rapture,” as it is known in short-hand, than any group of Christians […]

No evaluation of dispensational premillennialism may ignore its teaching of a two-phased return of Christ, the first phase of which is commonly known as the rapture. This feature of dispensationalism is its most popular and widely known aspect. Popularized by such bestselling books as Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth, the film “The Return,” […]

In an earlier summary of the millennial view known as dispensationalism, I noted that one of the principal tenets of this view is the strict separation drawn between God’s earthly people, Israel, and His heavenly people, the church. It could even be argued that this separation between Israel and the church is the root principle […]

GOD’S ONE PURPOSE OF SALVATION FOR HIS PEOPLE The basic reason dispensationalism wrongly speaks of the church as a “parenthesis” in history or of the “postponement” of the kingdom, is that it fails to see that God has one purpose of salvation for His people in the old and new covenants. Contrary to the dispensationalist […]

One of the characteristic features of dispensationalism is its insistence upon a “literal” reading of the Bible. In the history of dispensationalism, many of its advocates have alleged that alternative millennial views reflect a low view of the Scripture’s authority because they do not follow a literal hermeneutic.1 Especially when it comes to the prophecies […]

(Continued from the April issue, 1997) PROPHECY, PROMISE AND FULFILLMENT The first problem area in the application of a literal hermeneutic relates to dispensationalism’s treatment of biblical prophecies or promises and their fulfillment. Here the dispensationalist insistence upon a “literal” reading of the biblical texts, especially the prophecies, actually masks the more basic claim that […]