Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Revising Simplicity
by Ken Gentry, Th.D., Director, NiceneCouncil.com

NiceneCouncil.com will soon be publishing a new biography on Scofield, titled: The Praise of Folly: The Enigmatic Life & Theology of C. I. Scofield. This work is a much needed follow-up to Joseph C. Canfield’s The Incredible Scofield and His Book. It corrects come mistakes in Canfield and introduces some newly discovered materials on Scofield.

Lutzweiler writes with authority as a former long-time dispensationalist. He was a graduate of Moody Bible Institute (1956) and Wheaton College (B.A. in Bible and Theology, 1960). He served on the editorial staff of The Alliance Witness (now Alliance Life), official organ of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, from 1962 to 1964, at the invitation of Dr. A. W. Tozer. From 1964–72 he was Administrative Assistant to Dr. Spiros Zodhiates at AMG International.

In his careful and compelling detective work, Lutzweiler exposes some of the more shady sides of Scofield. Dispensationalist readers will be disappointed in Scofield’s life, just as non-dispensationalist readers are disappointed in his doctrine.

One aspect of Lutzweiler’s study shows some of the doctrinal errors in the Scofield Reference Bible. Before he does so, he reminds his reader that the first biography of Scofield was by Charles G. Trumbull, a personal friend of Scofield. In his work Trumbull wrote the famous, oft-quoted line that the Scofield Reference Bible was "God-planned, God-guided, God-illuminated, and God-energized" (Trumbull, The Life Story of C. I. Scofield, p. 114).  CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING....

NEWS APRIL 30, 2009

The long-awaited critical review of dispensational theology has finally arrived: a bit Later than expected, yet even Greater as well. In this information-packed, two-hour DVD, Late Great Planet Church, host and producer Jerry Johnson of NiceneCouncil.com and ApologeticsGroup.com interviews several scholars and leads you through an eye-opening review of dispensationalism’s little-known (and sometimes dark) history and beliefs.

At first, after noticing the two-hour duration listed on the back, I anticipated the documentary would endure too long, especially since a Volume Two remains in production yet. How in the world did they fill up two hours and not get half of the info in there? So I wondered. The presentation greatly surprised me. Not only did it hold my attention the whole time, but it ended leaving me wishing I already had the second volume. Jerry does what any good presentation should do: he leaves you wanting more.

Perhaps Jerry most grabbed my attention early on in the film when he emphasizes that the argument over dispensationalism does not merely pertain to one doctrine in the way that, say, arguments over baptism, or church government, etc., have limited effects. Instead, the dispy system has universal implications for the Christian faith. It, in fact, has impacted the fate of Western Civilization. This claim jerked me to reality, mainly because—it’s absolutely correct and so absolutely important. From this point on, he had me hooked.

I watched and listened as Jerry and his several guest theologians and pastors unfolded and criticized the wide impact that dispys have had. This impact includes a knee-jerk reaction against scholarship (much of which, but not all, had gone liberal) which placed the movement’s entire following under the shadow of anti-intellectualism. Worse yet, the focus on an any-moment secret rapture of the church has stifled dispys from even engaging in, let alone fulfilling, a crucial portion of the Great Commission: that of discipling (not just “soul-winning”) the nations with all of what Jesus commanded us (Matt. 28:20). That the greatest historical waning of Christian influence throughout the world has occurred parallel to the rise of dispensationalism, I believe, is no mere coincidence. Cultural retreatism has its consequences. Late Great Planet Church further elaborates on some of the reasons for this.

Along with its subversive doctrines, the dispy parade has included some ironic hypocrisies. For example, while engaged in their anti-intellectual and anti-seminary mentality, many of their prominent leaders adopted the title “Dr.” for themselves despite having no formal education. Some never even attended college, and yet wielded the badge of the pinnacle of academia to lend credibility and authority to their own writings. Likewise, even though some of the more radical doctrines—such as the two-salvations view that argues Old Testament saints were saved by law-keeping while New Testament Christians find salvation in grace through accepting Christ—find clear documentation in the early leaders (even early editions of the Scofield Bible), many modern dispensationalists ignore or even outrightly deny that dispensationalism has ever held such views. The evidence speaks loudly that they did, and the DVD exposes these problematic issues.

Not only did the full show hold my attention, I actually learned a great deal that I did know (and I thought I knew most of the story behind dispensationalism). The history behind Darby, Scofield, Chafer and others puts the emergence of the dispy system in a new light, helping the viewer see how and why the system grew so popular in American culture, while at the same time showing some of its numerous deficiencies. I appreciated one insight that puts dispensationalism in its peculiar historical context: it belongs historically to the era in which individualistic prophecy experts appeared all over, pronouncing themselves as “raising up the true church” once again. Most of these groups we today mark clearly as “Cults,” including Joseph Smith’s Mormonism, William Miller’s millenarianism, and Charles Taze Russell’s Jehovah’s Witnesses. The lumping of these types with Darby’s novel dispensationalism by no means equates them, but to see their similarities in emergence and methodology provides a helpful insight into their appeal and success.

Today, as Late Great Planet Church correctly points out, few academics—even from the very schools dispensationalists themselves founded specifically for their view—still promote classic dispensational views. In those schools, “progressive dispensationalism” has emasculated the key tenets of the old doctrine, and has brought the system ever closer to a covenantal view. Yet the old dispy system remains strong at the popular and local church level purely due to lack of teaching and the sensationalized hype of works of fiction such as the Left Behind series. The hype built by the works of Lindsey and LeHaye, the DVD mentions, command most of the remaining cultural force behind old-school dispensationalism. I do not think this bodes well for its future.

A greater force, however, looming over dispensationalism’s final demise would be the wide dissemination of this DVD. Even only this first volume provides enough eye-opening information to provoke average pew-dwellers to ask important questions like, “Did the church really not truly understand the Bible until 1830?” And, “Why does this new true understanding of the Bible essentially require Christians to dismiss, as irrelevant to Christians, most of what the Bible teaches?” I hope this video gets out, and I hope these questions start to roll from dispy lips across the world.

I also cannot wait for NiceneCouncil.com’s second installment. I appreciate this first dispensation; I eagerly await the coming of the second half.

NEWS APRIL 13, 2009

In 1830 Margaret MacDonald had a vision about the end of the world and when she came out from under her trance, she wrote it down. This account attracted the attention of Edward Irving and his church later claimed Margaret has one of their own prophetesses. Irving is regarded as the forerunner of the charismatic movement because of his emphasis on healing and tongues. Irving also had an interest in prophecy and held prophetic conferences. The historian of Irving's church claimed that Margaret was the first person to teach a two stage second coming of Christ.

The Birth of Dispensationalism

John Darby traveled to Scotland to visit the MacDonald home. Darby was a lawyer until a year after his conversion when he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. Soon after entering the ministry he became disillusioned with the institutional church and started the Brethren movement in Plymouth, England. Darby became known as the father of dispensationalism, the first eschatology to incorporate the "prophecy" of Margaret MacDonald. Darby continued to develop this new view by becoming the first to make a radical distinction between Israel and the Church. Darby taught that God has two special groups of people (or two brides) and a separate plan for each of them. This meant Christ would have to return twice. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

“It is my conviction that many who are presently disposed toward Dispensationalism would not be victims of the system if they were better acquainted and informed about the system and its history - its theological roots and the doctrinal errors it has spawned.”  -- The Late Ernest Reisinger, Pastor Emeritus, Grace Baptist Church, Coral Springs, FL

Many Christians today read their Bibles through the lens of pop-prophecy books like The Late Great Planet Earth and the Left Behind series.  They naively believe the prophetic schemes and theological presuppositions expressed in these and other fictional writings represent the doctrinal positions that Christians down through the centuries have embraced. However, that is far from the truth.

Volume One of The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism is the first documentary of its kind. It exposes this erroneous system of thought as breaking continuity with history --- and even the very Word of God.  In this first volume we will examine the beginnings, beliefs, and motivations of this innovative movement by focusing on its relatively recent development, stormy history and its most influential proponents.

Hosted by Jerry Johnson, President of NiceneCouncil.com and The Apologetics Group, this documentary features pastors, theologians, and historians, who at one time were strongly committed dispensationalists.  Several of these men even trained at dispensational academic institutions before abandoning the system. They have since rejected this system as thoroughly unbiblical, viewing it as a stumbling block to the Church and a distraction from the Great Commission.

"Dispensationalism has thrown down the gauntlet; and it is high time that covenant theologians take up the challenge and respond to them Biblically." -- Dr. Robert L. Reymond, author, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Is the Dispensational hermeneutic a literal hermeneutic?  What is the supposed “law of first mention?”  Who is true Israel?  How does one become a Jew?  Was the formation of the “new” state of Israel in 1948 fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? Does the Bible teach that there is a future temple yet to be built?  Has dispensationalism broken continuity with the Word of God and Church history?  Has dispensationalism in its history taught different ways of salvation?

NiceneCouncil.com’s 2008 Conference, Against Dispensationalism: Israel, the Church & Bible Prophecy, was held October 4-5 and the conference DVD features Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (Th.D.), Kenneth G. Talbot (Ph.D.) and Jerry Johnson (M. Phil.) covering these and other topics.  This two DVD set is divided into seven segments totaling nearly seven hours in length.  The lecture titles are: