Seven Dispensations
Dispensationalism believes that history is divided into distinct dispensations, each with unique rules of how God governs human behaviour. God then reveals His plan gradually over these dispensations.
- Innocence (Garden of Eden)
- Conscience (Fall to Flood)
- Human Government (Noah to Babel)
- Promise (Abraham to Exodus)
- Law (Moses to Christ)
- Grace (Church Age)
- Kingdom (Millennium)
According to Scofield, God "deals with man upon a plan different from the plan of the other dispensations," meaning there is no mingling of methods of salvation during these periods. So, "grace" is confined to the dispensation from Moses to the Cross, there's no "law" in the Church Age, and the forthcoming "kingdom" age has nothing to do with the Church Age as it belongs to the Jewish people.
Against the 7 Dispensations
Rather than self-contained, distinct dispensations, the Bible presents an organic unfolding of history as the Bible traces out the flow of redemptive history. The New Testament speaks of "the covenants (plural) of the (singular) promise" (Eph 2:12) and uses metaphors that require the unity of redemptive history; accordingly, the New Testament people of God are one olive tree rooted in the Old Testament (Rom 11:17-24).
Lack of Scriptural Basis for Specific Dispensations
There is no scriptural mention of a "Dispensation of Conscience" before the Flood or a "Dispensation of Human Government" during the period from the Flood to Abraham. Assigning specific dispensations without clear biblical evidence risks adding to Scripture (Deut 4:2, Rev 22:18). Dispensationalism fragments Scripture into disconnected parts. Instead, we should approach the Bible as an interconnected narrative revealing God's unified plan of redemption. God's character and purpose remain consistent throughout Scripture (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8), and His dealings with humanity reflect this unchanging nature.
Unity of God's Redemptive Plan
The Bible consistently emphasises the unity of God's redemptive plan across all ages. Salvation has always been by grace through faith, not by different methods in different dispensations. Hebrews 11 talks about how even Old Testament heroes who were justified by faith, not some other way. The idea that different dispensations had different methods of salvation contradicts the consistent biblical theme that salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Law was a tutor to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24), not an alternative means of salvation. This demonstrates that grace and faith have always been central to God's redemptive plan. Galatians 3:28-29 affirms that in Christ, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile," underscoring the unity of believers across all eras.
The Old and New Covenants
Scripture establishes the basic divisions of redemptive history into the Old Covenant and the New Covenant (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8; 9:15), even declaring that the The New Covenant has made the first obsolete: "But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). This is a transition and fulfilment rather than a complete shift or separation in God's plan.
Misinterpretation of Key Scriptures
Dispensationalism often misinterprets key scriptures to support its framework. For instance:
- Ephesians 2:12 refers to "the covenants of the promise," highlighting multiple covenants leading to a single promise, not separate dispensations with distinct methods of salvation.
- Romans 11:17-24 uses the olive tree analogy to demonstrate Gentiles being grafted into the existing people of God, not forming a separate entity.
The Arrogance of Dispensationalism
Because the dispensational structuring of history was unknown to the Church prior to 1830, the claim to be "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" by structuring history this way implies that no one until then had "rightly divided" God's word. History & Influence of Dispensationalism.
The Kingdom and Israel
The New Testament portrays the Church as the fulfilment of God's promises to Israel. 1 Peter 2:9-10 apply titles once given to Israel directly to the Church, indicating continuity rather than separation. Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is already inaugurated through His ministry (Luke 17:20-21), suggesting there is no separate "Kingdom Age" exclusively for the Jewish people apart from the Church.
Sources
- Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Dispensationalism Today. Moody Publishers.
- Explains traditional dispensationalism's structure of history and defends its separate dispensations.
- Blaising, C. A., & Bock, D. L. (1993). Progressive Dispensationalism. Baker Academic.
- A "progressive" view of dispensationalism that incorporates a more continuous unfolding of God’s plan.
- Poythress, V. S. (1995). Understanding Dispensationalists. P&R Publishing.
- Critique of dispensationalism, arguing for a unified interpretation of Scripture that aligns with covenant theology.
- Beale, G. K. (2011). A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New. Baker Academic.
- Focused on the unity of Scripture - salvation history as a single, coherent narrative instead of isolated dispensations.
- Goldsworthy, G. (2000). Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching. Eerdmans.
- Advocates for an integrated biblical narrative, arguing against fragmenting the Bible and emphasises Christ’s pivotal role in redemptive history.
Scriptures
12. remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
18. do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
19. Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
20. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
21. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
23. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
20. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
25. In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
6. who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
8. For he finds fault with them when he says: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
13. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.