Dispensationalism is the belief that God has dispensed revelation and stewardship to man via dispensations. While there is no formalized classification structure with exacting definitions, most dispensationalists believe in some or all of seven dispensations, commonly known as innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom; although a few dispensationalists may recognize more than seven, and some only acknowledge three or four dispensations.
Dispensationalists also vary in beliefs as to whether each dispensation has a rigid time frame know as an "age", or whether they vary based on possession or non possession of specific revelations, such as the Law of Moses or the New Testament Gospels. Thus some believe different dispensations can coexist, while others do not.
One of the basic tenets of dispensationalism is a belief in premillennialism. All dispensationalists are premillennial, and teach that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to establish His Kingdom at the start of His thousand-year reign, as mentioned in Revelation 20:1-6. Most dispensationalists believe in a pre-trib "rapture", which is the teaching that the church will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air prior to the tribulation. Some also distinguish the "rapture" of 1 Thes. 4:16-17 from the resurrection of the dead mentioned in Phil. 3:11, known as the "out-resurrection".
A few dispensationalists believe in a pre-wrath, post-trib "rapture". These dispensationalists teach that the "rapture" will occur in the middle of the tribulation, after Satan has poured his wrath upon the earth, but before the Lord pours His Own wrath upon the earth. This point in time is seen as the beginning of the day of the Lord, prior to the second half of the seventieth week mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27.
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Although some critics of Dispensationalism claim that the early church fathers were Covenant Theologians, systematized Covenant Theology is actually of recent origin.
Once God's Dispensations are understood, non-Church-Age Scriptures cannot be applied to the church today; for example, Matt 24:36-44 does not refer to the Rapture.
After giving a basic definition of Dispensationalism, this study examines the seven traditionally recognized dispensations in detail, including the common Dispensational viewpoint concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel.
In-depth, detailed studies of a broad range of Bible topics are presented. Literal interpretation of Scripture is held to, and the distinction between Israel and the Church is maintained.
The major doctrine the Pentecostals and Charismatics do not understand is the dispensational truth that Christians are not in the Old Testament times, but live in a different dispensation.
Biblion College-Seminary (BCS) is a non–profit fundamental, dispensational Christian College with one purpose - to train men and women to teach the Bible in an accurate and interesting way.
Life and Works of all major authors of dispensational works, mostly Plymouth Brethren but many Presbyterian and Lutheran. With works online, more samples of works, and links to similar sites.
This treatise on the various dispensations of God's covenants is written from a fairly dispensational perspective, although its author claims to be neither a Dispensationalist nor a Covenant Theologian.
This site draws on the words of a few of the Lord’s servants, providing encouragement and instruction for believers who, above all, are following and keeping close to Jesus.
The primary focus of this paper is to discuss the glory of God, as it is seen in the dispensations.
The key to Dispensationalism lies not in defining a specific number of dispensations, but in the belief that God is working with man in a progressive way.
Various articles clarifying Dispensationalism, in view of the confused theological climate.
The six-day creation (and seventh day of rest) in Genesis perfectly portrays the seven dispensations, because each day of creation matches the corresponding dispensation, with some very interesting parallels.
This page presents evidence supporting the distinction between Israel and the church, and explains why the church could not have existed prior to Acts chapter 2.
Although normative dispensationalism has never taught anything other than a single way of salvation, its opponents often make the false claim that dispensationalism teaches two ways of salvation.
Sudden prophetic breaks, such as Christ's proclamation that only half of Isaiah 61:2 was fulfilled in Luke 4:18-20, are best explained Dispensationally; the second half pertains to a future dispensation.
Although Dispensationalists apply consistent literal interpretation "whenever possible", they realize some passages are obviously figurative; yet critics misrepresent the practice of literal interpretation by pointing to these very passages.
C. I. Scofield's explanation of the seven unequal time periods, from the creation of Adam to the new heaven and new earth, which are referred to as dispensations.
This is a non-sectarian, dispensational Bible study site, teaching God’s sovereignty, and the Scriptures rightly divided. We have nothing to sell, and nothing to join
David F. Reagan explains why "rightly dividing the word" according to 2 Tim. 2:15 is a dynamic approach to scripture, compared to the static concept of "right division".
Although some critics of Dispensationalism claim that the early church fathers were Covenant Theologians, systematized Covenant Theology is actually of recent origin.
The primary focus of this paper is to discuss the glory of God, as it is seen in the dispensations.
This site draws on the words of a few of the Lord’s servants, providing encouragement and instruction for believers who, above all, are following and keeping close to Jesus.
In-depth, detailed studies of a broad range of Bible topics are presented. Literal interpretation of Scripture is held to, and the distinction between Israel and the Church is maintained.
This is a non-sectarian, dispensational Bible study site, teaching God’s sovereignty, and the Scriptures rightly divided. We have nothing to sell, and nothing to join
This page presents evidence supporting the distinction between Israel and the church, and explains why the church could not have existed prior to Acts chapter 2.
This treatise on the various dispensations of God's covenants is written from a fairly dispensational perspective, although its author claims to be neither a Dispensationalist nor a Covenant Theologian.
Although normative dispensationalism has never taught anything other than a single way of salvation, its opponents often make the false claim that dispensationalism teaches two ways of salvation.
Once God's Dispensations are understood, non-Church-Age Scriptures cannot be applied to the church today; for example, Matt 24:36-44 does not refer to the Rapture.
The major doctrine the Pentecostals and Charismatics do not understand is the dispensational truth that Christians are not in the Old Testament times, but live in a different dispensation.
David F. Reagan explains why "rightly dividing the word" according to 2 Tim. 2:15 is a dynamic approach to scripture, compared to the static concept of "right division".
Biblion College-Seminary (BCS) is a non–profit fundamental, dispensational Christian College with one purpose - to train men and women to teach the Bible in an accurate and interesting way.
C. I. Scofield's explanation of the seven unequal time periods, from the creation of Adam to the new heaven and new earth, which are referred to as dispensations.
Sudden prophetic breaks, such as Christ's proclamation that only half of Isaiah 61:2 was fulfilled in Luke 4:18-20, are best explained Dispensationally; the second half pertains to a future dispensation.
Life and Works of all major authors of dispensational works, mostly Plymouth Brethren but many Presbyterian and Lutheran. With works online, more samples of works, and links to similar sites.
Various articles clarifying Dispensationalism, in view of the confused theological climate.
After giving a basic definition of Dispensationalism, this study examines the seven traditionally recognized dispensations in detail, including the common Dispensational viewpoint concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel.
Although Dispensationalists apply consistent literal interpretation "whenever possible", they realize some passages are obviously figurative; yet critics misrepresent the practice of literal interpretation by pointing to these very passages.
The six-day creation (and seventh day of rest) in Genesis perfectly portrays the seven dispensations, because each day of creation matches the corresponding dispensation, with some very interesting parallels.
The key to Dispensationalism lies not in defining a specific number of dispensations, but in the belief that God is working with man in a progressive way.
