Josheb
Reformed Non-denominational
- Joined
- May 19, 2023
- Messages
- 4,476
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- 1,946
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- 113
- Location
- VA, south of DC
- Faith
- Yes
- Marital status
- Married with adult children
- Politics
- Conservative
The Lack of Accountability Within Dispensational Premillennialism
We all know we can turn on the television or radio (or internet) and hear a Dispensationalist tell us some current event is a sign of some pending prophesy becoming fulfilled and/or evidence their eschatology is correct. Those of you who are Dispensationalists who don’t believe this is true should start listening for this because it happens routinely. One of the defining features of Dispensationalism is the degree to which it is a theology defined by eschatology and the degree to which the eschatology is a primary doctrine. Those two aspects were attended to in the op on Dispensationalism as a new and different theology. Because of this difference whereby eschatology is given primacy we are able to hear the routine claims being made about current events being prophetic and not merely providential.
In the 1970s and 80s there were several books written by well-known and well-established leading Dispensationalists like the president of Dallas Theological Seminary, John Walvoord, the founder of the Calvary Chapel sect, Chuck Smith, and of course the renown Dispensationalists who Dispensationalists frequently love to disown, like Hal Lindsay. These men and others all made very specific predictions about when the rapture, the tribulation, or Christ’s return would occur. One of the most common beliefs was that a “generation” in the Bible should be understood as forty years and Christ’s return would occur within the generation that saw Israel’s return. Therefore, since Israel was reconstituted in 1948 and a generation equals 40 years….. Jesus was coming back in 1988. Those of us old enough to have lived in the 70s and 80s teachings and the prevalence with which they occurred. Every single one of these men (and women) who taught this were wrong.
Not a single one of them was ever asked to account for this erroneous prediction or the methods by which those predictions were reached.
What did happen was an emphasis was placed on the “no one will know the day or hour” of Matthew 24 and instead of “date-setting” the practice of using contemporary events to predict prophecy fulfilled was adjusted to “time-frame-setting," such that the teachers could avoid giving specific dates but still teach a false kind of imminence imagining this was an improved alternative even though it proves to be just as erroneous in practice….. because not a single one of these predictions ever comes true either…..
Not a single one of these teachers is ever asked to account for their errors, the religious institutions governing them never sanction the practice, and those misled by the teachings never receive correct teaching, comfort for the misbelief, restitution for losses suffered, or witness justice from within for wrongdoing. Preachers like Gary Hamrick, Alistair Begg, John MacArthur, Michael Youseff, David Jeremiah, Dan Sexton, Jack Hibbs, Jack Graham, and many others routinely interject their daily broadcasts with comments about how they believe some event is an indication of some end-times prophecy.
Dispensationalism was invented in the mid-1800s by John Darby and ever since its inception there have been false prognosticators. Not a single one of them have ever been true and not a single one of them has ever been held to account for their errors or the effects the false teachings have had on others. There is a 100% fail-rate within Dispensationalism. No one has ever done anything of substance about it.
When John Darby first formalized Dispensational Premillennialism many leaders within mainstream Christianity, like Spurgeon and Hodges, spoke out about the teachings. Teachings like the separation between Israel and the Church, the separation of covenant from dispensation, this discontinuity of scripture, strict literalism, and the separation of the rapture from Christ’s final return were decried, as well as the existing corruption of the Church and its inevitable future impotence. Darby wrote, "It is positively stated (2 Tim. 3) that the church would fail and become as bad as heathenism," and "The Christian is directed to turn away from evil and turn to the Scriptures, and Christ (Rev. 2 and 3) is revealed as judging the state of the churches.” The problem is the scriptures do NOT positively state the Church will fail and become as base as heathenism. No one within Darby’s circles tried to hold him accountable and those within the larger Brethren movement were disregarded. Darby ended up forming his own sect! Darby, believe it or not, subscribed to the doctrines of predestination and election! However, he taught Israel would be saved by works and then belief in Christ, not the other way around. No one within his circle held him accountable. Problems with Darby’s demand for purity did eventually cause so severe a conflict between Darby and his immediate peers that he was forced out.
When Bertran Russel wrote his infamous book, “Why I am not a Christian” one of his arguments was his disbelief was justified because Jesus said he’d return in the first century and he didn’t. Jesus was either mistaken or lied and Christianity continues to perpetuate the malfeasance. It was the apocalyptic theologies like Dispensationalism that Russel had been reading, not historical Christian doctrines. In other words, the apocalypticism of the restoration movements bore a false witness that was then exploited by atheists to justify unbelief and that persuaded thousands. A poor witness was born and not a single Dispensationalist ever thought to address the matter in house. In contemporary times these teachers have become exceedingly wealthy teaching imminent rapture that never happens and no one holds them accountable for the false teaching or the enormous riches gained from falsehood. To clarify: I fully support open market capitalism and fiscal fruit-bearing, but not off false teachings.
Lastly, when these observable facts are pointed out those who make note of the problems are usually attacked. In other words, the lack of internal accountability manifests further Church division both on an individual level and an institutional level. We’ll likely see it in this very thread as the conversations unfold. My making note of it here and now will not stop it from happening. Scripture is clear and uniform about how believers should conduct themselves in both hierarchical and peer-oriented relationships when matters of wrongdoing occur but there is an enormous lapse between word and practice in this area. If, for example, a fellow monergist makes a mistake or posts something in error, something inconsistent with mainstream monergism I seek to have the error corrected, first by the one making the error (self -correction), and if not there then by the content of my own posts. If a Presbyterian leader (such as R. C. Sproul, jr.) does wrong I stand with others both within and outside of the Presbyterian denomination asking for his removal from leadership and authority over others until the problem and its consequences are addressed. Dispensationalists don’t treat false teachings with the same magnitude they do adultery! Even though teaching falsely can and often does have much more egregious consequences both within and outside of the Church.
There is no accountability within Dispensationalism when it comes to false end-times teachings.
We all know we can turn on the television or radio (or internet) and hear a Dispensationalist tell us some current event is a sign of some pending prophesy becoming fulfilled and/or evidence their eschatology is correct. Those of you who are Dispensationalists who don’t believe this is true should start listening for this because it happens routinely. One of the defining features of Dispensationalism is the degree to which it is a theology defined by eschatology and the degree to which the eschatology is a primary doctrine. Those two aspects were attended to in the op on Dispensationalism as a new and different theology. Because of this difference whereby eschatology is given primacy we are able to hear the routine claims being made about current events being prophetic and not merely providential.
In the 1970s and 80s there were several books written by well-known and well-established leading Dispensationalists like the president of Dallas Theological Seminary, John Walvoord, the founder of the Calvary Chapel sect, Chuck Smith, and of course the renown Dispensationalists who Dispensationalists frequently love to disown, like Hal Lindsay. These men and others all made very specific predictions about when the rapture, the tribulation, or Christ’s return would occur. One of the most common beliefs was that a “generation” in the Bible should be understood as forty years and Christ’s return would occur within the generation that saw Israel’s return. Therefore, since Israel was reconstituted in 1948 and a generation equals 40 years….. Jesus was coming back in 1988. Those of us old enough to have lived in the 70s and 80s teachings and the prevalence with which they occurred. Every single one of these men (and women) who taught this were wrong.
Not a single one of them was ever asked to account for this erroneous prediction or the methods by which those predictions were reached.
What did happen was an emphasis was placed on the “no one will know the day or hour” of Matthew 24 and instead of “date-setting” the practice of using contemporary events to predict prophecy fulfilled was adjusted to “time-frame-setting," such that the teachers could avoid giving specific dates but still teach a false kind of imminence imagining this was an improved alternative even though it proves to be just as erroneous in practice….. because not a single one of these predictions ever comes true either…..
Not a single one of these teachers is ever asked to account for their errors, the religious institutions governing them never sanction the practice, and those misled by the teachings never receive correct teaching, comfort for the misbelief, restitution for losses suffered, or witness justice from within for wrongdoing. Preachers like Gary Hamrick, Alistair Begg, John MacArthur, Michael Youseff, David Jeremiah, Dan Sexton, Jack Hibbs, Jack Graham, and many others routinely interject their daily broadcasts with comments about how they believe some event is an indication of some end-times prophecy.
Dispensationalism was invented in the mid-1800s by John Darby and ever since its inception there have been false prognosticators. Not a single one of them have ever been true and not a single one of them has ever been held to account for their errors or the effects the false teachings have had on others. There is a 100% fail-rate within Dispensationalism. No one has ever done anything of substance about it.
When John Darby first formalized Dispensational Premillennialism many leaders within mainstream Christianity, like Spurgeon and Hodges, spoke out about the teachings. Teachings like the separation between Israel and the Church, the separation of covenant from dispensation, this discontinuity of scripture, strict literalism, and the separation of the rapture from Christ’s final return were decried, as well as the existing corruption of the Church and its inevitable future impotence. Darby wrote, "It is positively stated (2 Tim. 3) that the church would fail and become as bad as heathenism," and "The Christian is directed to turn away from evil and turn to the Scriptures, and Christ (Rev. 2 and 3) is revealed as judging the state of the churches.” The problem is the scriptures do NOT positively state the Church will fail and become as base as heathenism. No one within Darby’s circles tried to hold him accountable and those within the larger Brethren movement were disregarded. Darby ended up forming his own sect! Darby, believe it or not, subscribed to the doctrines of predestination and election! However, he taught Israel would be saved by works and then belief in Christ, not the other way around. No one within his circle held him accountable. Problems with Darby’s demand for purity did eventually cause so severe a conflict between Darby and his immediate peers that he was forced out.
When Bertran Russel wrote his infamous book, “Why I am not a Christian” one of his arguments was his disbelief was justified because Jesus said he’d return in the first century and he didn’t. Jesus was either mistaken or lied and Christianity continues to perpetuate the malfeasance. It was the apocalyptic theologies like Dispensationalism that Russel had been reading, not historical Christian doctrines. In other words, the apocalypticism of the restoration movements bore a false witness that was then exploited by atheists to justify unbelief and that persuaded thousands. A poor witness was born and not a single Dispensationalist ever thought to address the matter in house. In contemporary times these teachers have become exceedingly wealthy teaching imminent rapture that never happens and no one holds them accountable for the false teaching or the enormous riches gained from falsehood. To clarify: I fully support open market capitalism and fiscal fruit-bearing, but not off false teachings.
Lastly, when these observable facts are pointed out those who make note of the problems are usually attacked. In other words, the lack of internal accountability manifests further Church division both on an individual level and an institutional level. We’ll likely see it in this very thread as the conversations unfold. My making note of it here and now will not stop it from happening. Scripture is clear and uniform about how believers should conduct themselves in both hierarchical and peer-oriented relationships when matters of wrongdoing occur but there is an enormous lapse between word and practice in this area. If, for example, a fellow monergist makes a mistake or posts something in error, something inconsistent with mainstream monergism I seek to have the error corrected, first by the one making the error (self -correction), and if not there then by the content of my own posts. If a Presbyterian leader (such as R. C. Sproul, jr.) does wrong I stand with others both within and outside of the Presbyterian denomination asking for his removal from leadership and authority over others until the problem and its consequences are addressed. Dispensationalists don’t treat false teachings with the same magnitude they do adultery! Even though teaching falsely can and often does have much more egregious consequences both within and outside of the Church.
There is no accountability within Dispensationalism when it comes to false end-times teachings.
