Dispensationalism, the second form of Premillennialism, is the view of Christ’s return usually held by those Churches which advertise as “Premillennial.” It is by far the most popular view of Christ’s return, and also the most complex and even confusing.

Dispensationalism has been popularized in America in recent years through the writings of Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth and There’s A New World Coming, among other publications), Salem Kirban, John F. Walvoord (of Dallas Theological Seminary), the late M. R. DeHaan (for years the speaker on The Radio Bible Class), Charles C. Ryrie, and the ever–popular Scofield Reference Bible (which in 1967 was revised—the revision becoming known as The New Scofield Reference Bible to distinguish it from the earlier edition).

Origin and Spread

Though there were some earlier, inconspicuous seeds of Dispensationalism, the father of the movement is considered to be John Nelson Darby (18001882). He began as a clergyman in the Established Church—the Anglican Church –in Ireland. Soon he became disenchanted with the Establishment because of the apostasy he saw there. The spiritual vacuum which he sensed in the Establishment was filled for him as he met with a group of “Brethren” (though they were not called that until later) who met in a Dublin house on Sundays for “the breaking of bread” and Bible study. After continuing in the Establishment for a time Darby finally withdrew since he could no longer view it as the true church. From his new understanding of the church he proceeded eventually to develop an eschatology.

Perhaps Darby’s system of teaching would be little known today were it not for Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843–1921). Scofield, a Congregational minister, had been introduced to Darby’s dispensational views soon after his conversion in 1879. In 1903, he set out to systematize his understanding of Scripture for the general reader by means of notes to be published in an edition of the King James Version of the Bible. This became the well–known Scofield Reference Bible of today. The result was that many who had never heard of John Nelson Darby were suddenly introduced to and instructed in his rather unique teaching.

A host of names from many denominations have been connected with this movement. Lutherans like Joseph A. Seiss (who provided the movement with some scholarly lectures on the Book of Revelation), the Methodist W. E. Blackstone, the Reformed George S. Bishop, Presbyterians such as W. J. Erdman and Charles R. Erdman, and also many Baptists were caught up in Dispensationalism. Even the great English Congregationalist G. Campbell Morgan got into the act with his God’s Methods With Man, a study of the Dispensational view of Scripture. Later he repudiated this view. He wrote in a letter to a Paul G. Jackson:

. . . further study so convinced me of the error of this teaching that I actually went to the personal expense of buying the plates of that book from my own publisher and destroying them. The idea of a separate and secret coming of Christ to remove the church prior to his coming in power and glory is a vagary of prophetic interpretation without any Biblical basis whatsoever (C. B. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism, footnote 12, p. 17).

As the movement has grown, systematic theologies have been published from a Dispensational point of view. Those of Lewis S. Chafer and Henry C. Thiessen are notable. Bible Schools across the United States have officially adopted this viewpoint and theological schools, notably Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas, have taught it as the truth.

Dispensationalism is a powerful movement in the American church world and we cannot ignore it, even if we do not agree with it.

What, Really, is Dispensationalism?

Dispensationalism is more than just a view of the last things. It is a total view of theology and Bible interpretation. To understand what it is we must first see it as a system of thought.

According to the Scofield Reference Bible (p. 5), “A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture.” Scofield, in his Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth (p. 18) adds: “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. 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.”

Commenting on these words, Louis Berkhof wrote:

The word “dispensation” (oikonomia), which is a Scriptural term (cf. Luke 16:2–4; I Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25; I Tim. 1:4) is here used in a on-Scriptural sense. It denotes a stewardship, an arrangement, or an administration, but never a testing time or a time of probation (Systematic Theology, p. 290).

The most popular dispensational system is that of Scofield with its seven parts, though the number of other dispensational systems varies anywhere from five to eight.

Scofield’s arrangement of how God has dealt with and judged men, and how He will continue is laid out as follows:

1) The dispensation of Innocence which was in power from the creation of Adam until the Fall. Adam, who had been created innocent, was “subjected to an absolutely simple test” (Scofield Bible, p. 5) and he deliberately fell. Judgment came when Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise.

2) Next came the dispensation of Conscience continuing from the Fall to the Flood. After expulsion from the Garden, men were responsible to abstain from evil because they knew the difference between good and evil through their consciences. This knowledge was sufficient enough to bring them back; but man was wicked (Gen. 6:5) and God judged with the flood.

3) Then God worked with men in a new way: the dispensation of Human Government. This covers the history from the flood to the call of Abraham. Man was responsible to govern the world for God. But men ruled for themselves and set up the Tower of Babel. God’s judgment came in the confusion of tongues.

4) From the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai the way God tested men is called the dispensation of Promise. God graciously gave to Abraham and his descendents the promise. However, Israel had to stay in Canaan to receive it. Finally Jacob went to Egypt and ultimately judgment came in the form of bondage. Scofield wrote: “The Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law” (Ex. 19:8) (Scofield Bible, p. 20). She should have pled God’s grace.

5) Next, from Sinai to Calvary, God worked in the dispensation of Law. Though Israel promised to do all that God had said, the sad fact is that she was disobedient Israel conspired against God’s way and finally conspired to do away with Jesus. “The testing of the nation by law ended in the judgment of the Captivities, but the dispensation itself ended at the Cross” (Scofield Bible, p. 94).

6) Then came the age in which we find ourselves: the dispensation of Grace. During the period of history from the death of Christ until the ushering in of the Millennium God is now dealing with the Gentiles instead of the Jews. This is the Church Age. “The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as a fruit of salvation” (Scofield Bible, p. 1115). However, as this age progresses, wickedness abounds. Man is not interested in grace. Thus, God will take His church to Himself leaving the world to experience the intense tribulation which shall bring an end to this age.

7) Finally, there will be the dispensation of the Fulness of Times. In it Christ will rule and finally all His enemies will be put down. That this may happen, Satan will be loosed a short time and then judgment will come. Only then will there be the New Heavens and Earth—the New Creation—where sin will not be.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Earlier it was said that Dispensationalism is a new and different way of interpreting the Bible. What really makes it different?

First, Dispensationalism is characterized by an intensely literalistic approach to the Scripture. “Dispensationalists will not interpret the obviously literal as literal, and the obviously symbolic as symbolical. Everything must be literal” (C. B. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism, pp. 23, 24). Historical, doctrinal and prophetic passages all are to be understood literally. This, naturally, colors how they understand some key passages.

Second, Dispensationalism has a very different understanding of the church. The church is, as it were, an interruption in God’s plan necessitated by the Jewish rejection of His Kingdom. It was not originally part of God’s plan. Thus there is not one church in the Old and New Testaments. Rather, there are two different groups, and God has a different reason for the existence of each. The church is of and for heaven, while Israel is of and for the earth, according to Scofield (cf. Scofield Bible Correspondence Course, Moody Bible Institute, pp. 23–25). For Israel there is the hope of an earthly Kingdom which will come in literal fulfillment of the prophecies.

Third, there is in their system of teaching a Jewish Concept of the Kingdom. They look for a restoration of the Jewish Kingdom. They do not see it as being present now and finally fully seen in the cataclysmic events of the Last Day. They distinguish between the Kingdom of God (the rule of God in any dispensation; see Scofield Bible, p. 1003) and the Kingdom of Heaven (the Messianic Kingdom promised to David; hence, a special rule in the Millennium). This Kingdom of Heaven includes the throne of David restored, the restoration of the temple and even the re-institution of the sacrifices.(Compare, however, Matt. 19:14 and Mark 10:14, Matt. 13:31 and Mark 4:30, 31, Matt. 10:7 and Luke 9:2.)

Fourth, Dispensationalism makes an un-Biblical distinction between Law and Grace, creating two ways in which God deals with men. Legal obedience was the way of salvation in the Old Testament, and will be the way of salvation in a more perfect way in the Millennium, while salvation is by grace alone right now during the Church Age. Does this not mean that there are two gospels? (It must be said, however, that recent Dispensationalism has tried to distance itself from this, somewhat.)

Fifth, the dispensations of Scripture—arbitrary divisions, to say the least—create a series of compartments. The result of this is that when a passage located in one dispensational section of Scripture seems to contradict one located in another section, the final word must be had from passages dealing with this present dispensation. No passage in Scripture can really be applied in two different dispensations. Indeed, certain parts of the Bible, then, have no real application for us in this Church Age.

Sixth, the focus of the Millennium will be on the Jew since it “is to be a literal fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy” (Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism, p. 43).

Dispensationalism, then, is a system of thought with a distinct method of interpreting Scripture. This method of interpreting Scripture results in a very different way of viewing Christ‘s return. Dispensationalists are premillennium because they believe Christ will return before the Millennium. However, there are very few other similarities with historic Premillennialism. The dispensational view of the return of Christ we will consider next.