The damnable gospel of dispensationalism

Sometime ago, my daughter after having heard the gospel of Matthew played to her time and time again from my mobile device, asked me to translate her thoughts into a post, which I titled “The gospel of the Sadducees and the Pharisees,” in her blog:

The gospel of the Sadducees and the Pharisees

The passage of scripture which kept her mind occupied all the while was this:

Matthew 3:7-9 "¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

She found these words “we have Abraham to our father” troubling, because it did not go well with her, and she wanted to know the implications of saying “we have Abraham to our father.” Unbeknownst to her though, she was stumbling upon a fundamental doctrine of dispensationalism which boldly declares “different dispensation, different method of salvation.”

To the Sadducees and the Pharisees, their belief that “we have Abraham to our father” is an added essential component of their salvation, to which John the Baptist rebuked them, saying “think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Today, nearly all churches in Singapore and elsewhere teach that the way God saves a Jew is different from the way he saves a gentile. Now we know that this teaching has its origin in dispensationalism that places natural Israel in a supernaturally favourable position with God according to their corruption of Genesis 12:3.

Quoting from an article written by a man who was once an avid defender of CI Scofield:

“Perhaps one of my greatest surprises came with the realization that followers of Scofield actually represented a comparatively small minority among Christians. It was only their dogmatism, plus the fact that they were so vocal, which made them appear to be in the majority. It was a comfort to learn that Scofield's "rediscovered truths," which he had learned at the feet of John Nelson Darby, a Plymouth Brethren, differed not only from most known commentaries, but from the great majority of the church fathers, and the reformers as well. I learned, too, that most of the critics of Scofieldism had, as I had, been devoted followers at one time…” — William E. Cox

The philosophical failings of the Age of Reason sparked a religious response in the form of Christian mysticism in the 1800s. This era of highly subjective biblical interpretation saw the rise of numerous quasi-Christian cults, including Christian Scientism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh Day Adventism. None of these rose to such prominence, however, as dispensationalism, led by the Irish preacher John Nelson Darby.

A man with no training in language, translation, or epistemology, Darby taught his followers to divide biblical history into seven dispensations, culminating with the rapture of the Gentile church before seven years of tribulation, followed by a 1000-year reign of Christ and the Jews from the temple in earthly Jerusalem. This fringe viewpoint became mainstream when Dwight L. Moody adopted Darby’s theology and began preaching it. After Moody’s underling, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, published the Scofield Reference Bible by the millions in 1909, dispensationalism quickly dominated American churches.

Dispensationalism is one of the most, if not the most damaging ideology that has crept into churches in modern history. While it is not openly murderous or malicious like Marxism, but Marxism wouldn’t have found its foothold in the West without dispensationalism, which helped to turn millions upon millions of well-meaning Christians into unwitting instruments for the Devil. It is a hermeneutical Trojan Horse that has allowed toxic policies and deadly ideologies to seep into our cultural fabric, largely unchecked, for the last 120 years or so. Dispensationalism being a system of doctrine that undergirds the interpretation of scripture, it started with an errant view of scripture. There are a few aspects which William E. Cox has laid out in his article:

SCOFIELD DOWNGRADED THE CHURCH AND HER ROLE IN GOD'S PLAN

Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."

Historic Christian teaching always has been that the church was the antitype of national Israel. This teaching goes on to say that the church succeeded Israel at the first advent, and that all unfulfilled promises to Abraham will be fulfilled in and through the church. Scofield admitted that this was the historic Christian teaching, then proceeded to teach that it was erroneous. He said:

“Especially is it necessary to exclude the notion — a legacy in Protestant thought from post-apostolic and Roman Catholic theology — that the Church is the true Israel, and that the Old Testament foreview of the kingdom is fulfilled in the Church” (p. 989, Scofield Reference Bible).

Scofield began early in his footnotes to lay the groundwork for his teaching that the church will end in failure and will be replaced by national Israel, who will succeed where the church failed. For example:

On Page 8, footnote I, Scofield stated that Eve was a type of the church, and then on page 9, footnote I, Scofield said “The Adamic Covenant conditions the life of fallen man - conditions which must remain till, in the kingdom age, 'the creation also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God' (Romans 8:21).” In this, he was already fixing people’s minds that Adam and Eve represented a type of the church in a period which he presumptuously termed “dispensation of Innocence,” and they ended up in failure.

In another example, in the Tower of Babel incident (page 18 of Scofield Reference Bible), Scofield continued his slander-by-association that the history of Babel strikingly parallels that of the professing church. He then referred his readers to his footnote for Isaiah 13:1, where he said that Babylon means confusion and was used symbolically to refer to a type of professing church. Babylon, he said on page 725 of the Scofield Reference Bible, referred to apostate Christianity, later to be destroyed by the nations headed up under the Beast and the False Prophet.

Matthew 16:18 "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

One could go on piling footnotes on top of each other, showing how Scofield taught that the church will end up in failure, and also showing the type of “reasoning” he used in arriving at such a conclusion. Let us give one last statement to this effect: “Each of the Dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment - marking his utter failure” (C.I. Scofield, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth, p. 13). That is to imply that there is a different gospel for each dispensation.

SCOFIELD TAUGHT THAT ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH ARE TWO SEPARATE BODIES

Acts 7:37-38 "¶ This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:"

The bible tells us that Moses was in the church in the wilderness, and the church being the gathering of the children of Israel. In the teachings of Scofield, however, the “church age” did not start until the day of Pentecost was come, and hence the church was yet to be revealed and did not exist until the start of the dispensation of Grace. Scofield further taught that the “church age” is a “mystery,” a gap of unmeasured length intervening between the past era of ancient Israel, and a future era in which natural Israel will be reconstituted and its earthly glories will be restored and enhanced.

Here again, Scofield begged to differ from what the bible plainly tells us. He chose rather to accept another of John N. Darby’s “rediscovered truths” instead of sticking to what the bible says. He taught that Israel is an earthly people while the church is a heavenly people; that God has two separate plans for these two distinct peoples; and that Israel and the church have separate destinies. Israel, he said, will spend eternity on earth while the church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, will spend eternity in heaven. Facing one of the many quandaries to which this teaching naturally leads, Scofield said in page 922 of the Scofield Reference Bible that one must make a distinction between the wife of God and the bride of Christ (the church). He taught that a wife and a bride are two different things!

Consider these verses:

Galatians 3:28-29 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Ephesians 2:12-14 "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"

It would be difficult to find a language more plain than that used by Paul in the above-quoted scriptures. Paul stated clearly and emphatically that God took two peoples and made them into one people. He said that God, in effect, took two men (Jew and Gentile) and made the two of them become one man. Yet, Scofield blatantly contradicted Paul’s teaching by saying that Israel and the church are two very separate bodies.

SCOFIELD TAUGHT THAT GOD'S PROMISES TO NATIONAL ISRAEL AWAIT FUTURE FULFILLMENT

Dispensationalism’s questionable hermeneutic encouraged Christians to interpret the bible in ways it was never intended to be. Symbolic imagery became literal events in the reader’s imagination. Prophesies fulfilled became prophecies awaited. What was past became future, and passages that were once crystal clear turned cloudy and impenetrable. Faulty interpretations led to much confusion, intense conflict, and many doubts about the reliability of scripture, leaving the church open and vulnerable to spiritual infections. Infections took root and manifested as mass apostasy, doctrinal compromises, and numerous, serious heresies such as Progressive Theology and the false gospel of social justice. The cultural ramifications of these developments require no elaboration. Dispensationalism paved the way for the moral dark age of modernity.

For centuries, the church understood that the Christ’s kingdom had been established during his ministry on earth, and that it was now the church’s mission to bring the gospel to the nations like what Jesus tells us in Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” They did not anticipate the imminent return of Christ. This goal of transforming the world with the gospel not only provided the ideological foundation for successful Christian civilizations like the Puritans who settled in New England, but also the launchpad for the first global evangelical missions. Thanks to these efforts by early evangelists, millions of people came to faith in China, Africa, and India between the 16th and 19th centuries, bridging oceans and turning savage wastes into civilized communities.

Scofield, on the other hand, taught that God has future plans to re-constitute national Israel in Palestine, rebuild the Temple, and reinstitute the Old Testament economy (including the blood sacrifices). The reader might find it interesting to look at some of the typical scriptures on which Scofield built this argument. On page 157, note 2, one reads: “The feast of Trumpets, Leviticus vs. 23-25. This feast is a prophetical type and refers to the future regathering of long-dispersed Israel.”

Leviticus 23:23-25 "¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD."

This footnote goes on to state that trumpets are always symbols of testimony and that they are connected with the re-gathering and repentance of Israel after the church, or pentecost period is ended. Remember now, that this conclusion was based on Leviticus 23:23-25, and on this passage, and others equally unrelated, Scofield based his doctrine of the re-gathering of Israel to Palestine. Now, with the nation of Zionist Israel established immediately after World War 2, the church now imagines all those terrifying prophecies as a future Great Tribulation awaiting the whole world.

Dispensationalism teaches that the gentile church will be secretly raptured away before the seven-years of tribulation comes, so that national Israel can now become the focus to God, and after the seven years of tribulation, Christ will come and establish a Jewish kingdom on earth, and that the Jews will rule as king-priests (immortal gods) for a thousand years, a period of time which they termed “dispensation of the Kingdom.” This doctrine further promises an inevitable downward slide of the gentile church into persecution, destruction, and defeat. It teaches that the world will only get worse no matter how far the gospel spreads, and the only escape for the gentile church is when Christ secretly raptures us away. It sealed the future for the gentile church as an eschatology of fatalism and failure, denying God’s divine vision of victory, all the while excusing the Jews’ rejection of the Messiah and eventually secures to them an earthly kingdom by which they shall rule as a super-race for a thousand years.

SCOFIELD MISHANDLED MANY CLEAR VERSES OF SCRIPTURE

In this passage of scripture, Paul exhorts that born again believers should renounce the things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully:

2 Corinthians 4:1-2 "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God."

Unfortunately, this could not be said of Scofield who posited his teachings craftily on manufactured premises, then handled the word of God deceitfully in order to support those premises. For one, Scofield taught that the world history timeline is divided into seven artificially created periods, and that God has a different plan in each of these so-called “dispensations.” Why seven periods? Where did he get it from? How did Scofield arrive at this number? This alone should have raised a red flag in the mind of a spiritually-discerning Christian. Consider the next example:

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."

How were the Old Testament saints saved? Hebrews 11 plainly tells us that:

• By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

• By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.

• By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.

• By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed.

• By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Without faith in the word of God, it is impossible to please God. That also applies to the Old Testament saints. Yet on page 1115, note 2 of the Scofield Reference Bible, these words appear:

“As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 3:24-26; 4:24,25). The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as a fruit of salvation…”

On page 1011, note 2, he spoke on this same subject:

“The new message of Jesus. The rejected King now turns from the rejecting nation and offers, not the kingdom, but rest and service to such in the nation as are conscious of need. It is a pivotal point in the ministry of Jesus.”

Here, Scofield laid himself open to the charge levelled against him, that he had more than one plan of salvation in his system. Note his words “no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation?” In that, he plainly implied:

1. before Christ came, “dispensation of Law” and earlier, people were saved by good works (legal obedience);

2. now that Jesus has come, starting from the “dispensation of Grace,” they are saved through faith in Christ; and

3. good works now are a fruit of salvation, whereas before they were the means of salvation.

Well, if Jesus offered people one thing in the old dispensations while offering something else in the current dispensation of Grace, what other conclusion can be drawn except that he offered two plans of righteousness? What is a “dispensation?” Scofield defined the word dispensation as:

“… a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture…” — Scofield notes for Genesis 1:28

Paul defines the word “dispensation” in this passage of scripture:

Ephesians 3:1-5 "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;"

The word “dispensation” (noun) comes from the word “dispense” (verb), which according to the Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1828), means “to divide out in parts or portions; to distribute.” Ephesians 3-5 defines for us what “dispensation” is according to scripture. Simply said, dispensation has to do with how the knowledge in the mystery of Christ was to be distributed unto the body of believers. This knowledge which was first revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit of God, was to be dispensed in written form unto the church: “… wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:3)

Therefore, the word “dispensation” has to do with the method of distributing the knowledge of the mystery of Christ, and that is, in written form. The Pauline Epistles, for example, are a dispensation from the Spirit of God to the church. Dispensation is NOT a period of time by which men are tested in respect of their obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God dispensed to them during that period in the timeline of world history. Thinking Christians have taken dispensationalism to present various means of salvation for different times, as evident in the report adopted by the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. That report, adopted by this assembly in May, 1944, was in part as follows:

“It is the unanimous opinion of your Committee that dispensationalism is out of accord with the system of doctrines set forth in the Confession of Faith, not primarily or simply in the field of eschatology, but because it attacks the very heart of the theology of our Church. Dispensationalism rejects the doctrine that God has, since the Fall, but one plan of salvation for all mankind and affirms that God has been through the ages administering various and diverse plans of salvation for various groups…”

A gospel which depart from every word of God is a false gospel. Any gospel that teaches a salvation apart from salvation by grace through faith in the 66 books of the Holy Bible is a false gospel and a “doctrine of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1-2) Dispensationalism is like Hymenaeus and Philetus who taught that the resurrection is past already when in fact it is still in the future!

2 Timothy 2:17-18 "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

These kind of teachings will have a modification effect on the gospel, and their words are like cancer. Notice how false teachings that target the timing of the resurrection, such as dispensationalism, are capable of overthrowing the faith of some? It is no wonder why the bible calls it a doctrine of devils.

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

This is one verse that dispensationalists will always bring up to condemn those who disagree with their doctrines. In the words of A.W. Pink, dispensationalists have very little or nothing to say about the first two clauses of 2 Timothy 2:15, but on the third one, that is, “rightly dividing the word of truth,” this is what they believe: "correctly partitioning the scriptures unto the different peoples to whom they belong.” Indeed, these mutilators of the Word tell us that all of the Old Testament from Genesis 12 onwards belongs entirely to Israel after the flesh, and that none of its precepts (as such) are binding upon those who are members of the church which is the body of Christ, nor may any of the promises found therein be legitimately appropriated by them.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Not satisfied with their determined efforts to deprive us of the Old Testament, these wannabe super-expositors dogmatically assert that the four Gospels are Jewish, and that the Epistles of James and Peter, John and Jude are designed for a “godly Jewish remnant” in a future “tribulation period,” that nothing but the Pauline Epistles contain “church truth.” They further assert that those who decline their doctrine of dividing the scripture are to be regarded as untaught and superficial, yet God himself has not uttered a single word to that effect.

The system of doctrine in dispensationalism is to cut up the 66 books of the Holy Bible into sets of scripture that are applicable for different people born in different dispensations (think Delilah!). For example, when asked about their view on the timing of the rapture according to Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24, a typical dispensationalist reply would be “No, those verses are not applicable to the church.” This has perhaps led to the splintering out of a group of dispensationalists who called themselves “hyper-dispensationalists” and argued that only the writings of Paul are applicable to the church, but the rest of the Holy Bible are not.

How has the definition of “dispensation,” a noun used to describe God’s method of dispensing knowledge to the body of Christ, become a period of time in world history by which men are tested for their obedience to God’s will dispensed to them in that specific period? Who is the liar?

1 John 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."

It is obvious. Clearly, CI Scofield was a liar and a false teacher who hijacked and perverted the words of the LORD by introducing confusion through corruption of the word “dispensation” and by subscribing to it a foreign meaning that has no place in the inerrant and immutable word of God. It can be anything according to the vain imaginations of men. Scofield was an antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.

The consequences of this warped eschatology may not be obvious, but they are devastating. Millions of Christians, convinced of Christ’s return at any moment to rescue the gentile church from the tribulation, are just waiting out the clock instead of warring against evil. They believe Christ is coming anytime soon because they see their world getting darker every day. Every news headline and natural disaster only strengthens their assurance in the rapture’s imminency. They point to humanitarian horrors as heralds of the coming tribulation. But they do not realize that it was their own passivity that permitted many of the very tragedies that they use to justify their eschatology. Dispensational Christians have taken their hands off the steering wheel, thinking that the race is almost over, while the globalists gleefully took a grip on that steering wheel and made a hard left turn. Relying on the imminent return of Christ in a secret rapture as a means to escape from the tribulation has led the church, and hence the rest of the world, on a fast track to ruin. These unfaithful servants will die in relative comfort and prosperity, thinking their children will surely see the return of Christ in their lifetimes. Sad to say, their great-great-grandchildren will live to suffer the consequences of their ancestors’ inaction and passivity.

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