Dissecting Dispensationalism: Prologue

Dissecting Dispensationalism: Prologue

Yet another topic thanks to Bro LA Marzulli's blog (and Sandie). Sandie had asked me to address dispensationalism, and linked me a few things that are all addressed after this.

I apologize that I'm not 100% clear on the issue, at first glance, some of the things I saw appeared to be unrelated. Once i started digging though, things coalesced and things started falling into place.

This topic is from a hotly debated subject, that is: Dispensationalism, Israel, the Millenial reign of Christ, Ezekiel 37 and the Jews.

This also entails the fact that there's something of a divide among some Christians that: either the current nation of Israel is God's chosen people (fulfilling Ezekiel 37), is equivalent to the ancient nation of Israel and (some believe) should have carte blanche to do anything, and the opposing view that Israel is not necessarily Biblical Israel but is actually part of a Jewish plot to take over the world. the second group also tends to lean towards replacement theology and that there is no Millenial Reign of Christ.

That is the debate, as near as I figure, in a nutshell. I'm sure I've made everyone angry, but for simplicity's sake, i had to generalize.

Part of the debate is posted here:

http://www.thewatchmanforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1314

And some general background info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._I._Scofield


(From the below linked article)

"Dispensationalists believe that the nation of Israel (not necessarily the same as the state of Israel) is distinct from the Christian Church,and that God has yet to fulfill His promises to national Israel. These promises include the land promises, which in the future world to come result in a millennial kingdom and Third Temple where Christ, upon His return, will rule the world from Jerusalem[3] for a thousand years. In other areas of theology, dispensationalists hold to a wide range of beliefs within the evangelical and fundamentalist spectrum."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism

My Presuppositional Bias:

Without fully realizing it , i guess i fall in with this general idea i quoted. So, you know the bias i start from. The reason being, is that if you read certain prophecies in the Bible, there are a number yet to be fulfilled (like Zechariah 14; Book of Revelation). I don't think anyone in their right mind could say that those have happened yet. So, I believe Christ has yet to return and will reign literally and visibly for 1000 years. I believe God also has promises to keep to Israel. But will this change in the coming weeks?


Who's right?

I'm inclined to look at Scofield skeptically. We're not concerned with him in any event right now, other than to acknowledge he made the theory of dispensationalism popular.

I also see the danger in dispensationalism. If you read the wiki, the section of Judaism is where I think some Christians go a tad too far.

This is a huge HUGE topic, one not easily addressed.

We can start to unravel some of this topic by looking at dispensationalism and its components. These sort of all fit into the dispensationalism bag.

Here's a breakdown of topics for the coming weeks

1) The protocols of the Elders of Zion

2) The Star of David

3) Ezekiel 37 and the nation of Israel

4) What do the Jews think?

5) Jesus' return and 1,000 year reign