Did God treat Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden exactly the same as after they were expelled from the garden?
Was everybody treated the same, and under the same laws, up to the time of the Great Flood?
What about after the Flood till the time of Abram?
From Abram to Exodus?
From Exodus till Jesus?
After Jesus resurrection till today?
Dispensationalism is an attempt to simplify or explain differences (or perceived difference, or hoped for exceptionalism?) in the Bible, down through the ages.
Most Dispensationalists understand the Bible to be organized into seven dispensations:
- Innocence (Genesis 1:1—3:7),
- Conscience (Genesis 3:8—8:22),
- Human Government (Genesis 9:1—11:32),
- Promise (Genesis 12:1—Exodus 19:25),
- Law (Exodus 20:1—Acts 2:4),
- Grace (Acts 2:4—Revelation 20:3), and the
- Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:4–6).
Others see only 3 Dispensations:
- before Jesus' ministry (from creation in Gen. 1:1 to Jesus' baptism);
- Jesus' 3.5 year ministry, after Jesus' resurrection; and
- after the Battle of Armageddon (ie. Wedding supper of Lamb, Millenial Kingdom, and eternity in New Jerusalem)
There is
- Classic dispensationalism,
- Ultradispensationalism (Bullingerism),
- Hyperdispensationalism (Mid-Acts dispensationalism),
- Revised dispensationalism,
- Progressive dispensationalism,
- Covenant (3 step),
- Minimalist (3 step),
- 4 Step,
- 7 Step, and
- 8 Step.
Each dispensation includes a recognizable pattern of how God worked with people living in the dispensation. That pattern is:
- a responsibility,
- a failure,
- a judgment, and
- grace to move on.
Progressive Dispensationalism
"Progressive Dispensationalism arose in the 1980's and 90's as a recent refinement of the older Traditional (or Classic) Dispensationalism.
Though often misrepresented, Progressive Dispensationalism owns the following hallmarks, many of which are shared by Traditional Dispensationalists."
"Dispensationalism itself is a hermeneutical framework used to guide biblical interpretation. Although often presented as a series of administrations enumerating God's major dealings with mankind, the interpretive center of Dispensationalism is actually a distinction between Israel, the Church, and the Millennial Kingdom. The opposing viewpoint found in Reformed theology is Covenant theology."
References:
Theopedia
https://www.gotquestions.org/dispensationalism.html
https://www.bible.ca/rapture-origin-john-nelson-darby-1830ad.htm
Origins of Dispensationalism
Dispensation was likely invented by John Birchensa when he published "The History of Scripture" in 1660 AD, then added to by Poiret in 1687 AD, John Nelson Darby in 1830 AD, and Philip Mauro who coined the phrase "dispensationalism" in his 1928 AD book.
See: "Dispensationalism Before Darby", by William C. Watson (Professor of History at Colorado Christian University specializing in 17th and 18th century English history), 374 pages, Lampion Press, 2015, ISBN-13: 978-1942614036
https://www.amazon.com/Dispensationalism-Before-Darby-William-Watson/dp/1942614039
Book review: http://midwestapologetics.org/blog/?p=1882
Application of Dispensationalism to Supersede Obedience
I posted about the need for obedience to God's laws by all Christians
https://et-manitoulin.blogspot.com/2024/01/obedience.html
Some who have read the above suggest I have mis-interpreted the Bible due to different Dispensations, and therefore they allege that none of the Bible verses presented in the above link, calling Christians to obedience, apply to this current Dispensation (2024 AD).
In response, I'd like to point out that there are 9 different classes of Dispensationalism (see above).
Each of these 9 major classes of Dispensationalism is further splintered into dozens of sub-categories by the various Christian denominations.
My response is that God is not the author of confusion.
The Dispensationalists don't even agree amongst themselves.
Now that we are in End Times, the scriptures have been opened by God, the Holy Spirit has provided additional wisdom down through the centuries, and therefore we can now see more clearly.
I therefore suggest that the majority of Dispensationalism is now antiquated theology, and was always man's religion, never God's Word, and is more akin to "Customs of the Elders" for the Pharisees that so upset Jesus.
As the best I've been able to determine as I slowly pieced this together over the last 7 years, Biblical proofs for Dispensationalism are weak at best, mainly use eisegesis (ie. inserting one's own biases and pre-suppositions into the Bible when trying to interpret, leading to corruption and mis-interpretation), and cannot be reasonably justified.
I therefore reject Dispensationalism as a religious invention of humans, and is not from God, and is a mislead misinterpretation of the Bible.
However, if you have a rock-solid Bible-based proof for Dispensationalism, and your proof also makes all the above Bible verses in favor of obedience to be null and void, I am eager to learn, and change my mind.
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