A Way of Reading the Whole Bible
Many believers have heard the word dispensationalism, and fewer could explain it. It is not a denomination, a secret code, or a chart you must memorize. It is a way of reading the whole Bible: taking God's words in their plain sense, noticing the stages in which He has unfolded His plan, keeping His program for Israel distinct from His program for the church, and trusting Him to keep every promise He has made.
A framework for reading Scripture that interprets the Bible in its plain, grammatical, and historical sense, sees God ordering His household through distinct stewardships (dispensations) across history, keeps God's program for Israel distinct from His program for the church, and expects every promise to be kept as God gave it, to the praise of His glory.
A Foundation and a Framework
Every Christian who reads the whole Bible has to decide how its parts fit together. How do Moses and Paul relate? What happened to the sacrifices? Who receives the promises God made to Abraham and to David? Among Christians who hold the Bible to be God's Word, two broad frameworks answer those questions: dispensationalism and covenant theology. Both stand on the same foundation, the authority of Scripture, which many call sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).
A framework is more specific than a foundation. It works like the guardrails on a mountain road. The guardrail does not drive the car, but it keeps the driver from going over the edge into readings the Bible does not allow. A good framework also helps us set difficult passages in their larger setting, so that we can see why they are there and what they are for.
A framework can be a real help, but no one needs one to be saved or to obey Christ. Many faithful believers have never heard the word dispensation. Every framework, ours included, must face the Bereans' question about everything they heard: whether those things were so (Acts 17:11).
This series teaches dispensationalism as our view. It also names its weaknesses honestly, and it treats covenant theologians as brothers who read this part of Scripture differently. Many of them are careful and faithful expositors of God's Word, and we have learned from them.
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For Deeper Study
- Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common MythsAmazon Michael J. VlachA short, clear introduction that explains what dispensationalists believe and answers common misunderstandings, including the charge of two ways of salvation.
- DispensationalismAmazon Charles C. RyrieThe standard explanation of the system, revised and expanded in 2007 from his Dispensationalism Today (1965).
- There Really Is a Difference! A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational TheologyAmazon Renald E. ShowersA readable side-by-side comparison of the two frameworks from a dispensational teacher.
- Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship Between the Old and New TestamentsAmazon John S. Feinberg, editorCovenant and dispensational scholars write side by side on the same questions. Read it to hear covenant theologians in their own words.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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A Plain Reading of Scripture
A dispensationalist reads every part of the Bible in its plain, grammatical, and historical sense, receives later revelation as adding to earlier revelation without changing its meaning, and so expects God's promises to be kept as He gave them.
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