Good Morning Everyone,
As dispensationalism is not a denomination, the point is not as valid as could be.
That is incorrect.
Aside from the fact Dispensationalism is the single greatest cause of fragmentation in the last two centuries (it makes the Reformation look like a trial run), the fact is
if they wanted to, ALL denominations could unite behind the need for reform. More importantly, since much of what I have posted in the six critical ops is
taught, the needed changes should begin in the seminaries. Most younger Christians do not know this but there used to be many seminaries in the US that taught Dispensational Premillennialism exclusively. Currently, while there are some lesser seminaries and some Christian/Bible colleges that still teach it, the one main seminary doing so is Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). That one seminary could radically alter the landscape simply by teaching a more representative curriculum.
One of the universities I attended was Pat Robertson's Regent University. It's been many years, but I've had the privilege of discussing some of these points with Mr. Robertson and I know from my decades of supporting that alma mater that it has changed it curriculum to better reflect Christianity as a whole and is much less rigid in its adherence to Dispensationalism. Many of its instructors are still DP, but many are not. When DTS opened a satellite campus in my area I went to its open house and spoke to several of the recruiters. I
briefly described how I had attended congregations covering a diverse set of denominations, was currently attending an Evangelical Presbyterian one, subscribed to a modified Amillennial eschatology, and had partial-preterist leanings, but I was interested in an MDiv or MTh degree. Would that be problematic? Every single one of those recruiters told me the exact same thing: I'd probably be better off NOT attending DTS and finding another seminary. Keep in mind that some of the leading seminaries/universities in the nation have campuses in my locale. I don't know whether those recruiters knew, but everyone else knows this is a very competitive market when it comes to advanced education. I asked the exact same question before I enrolled at Regent and was told everyone was welcome, both the student and professor population was diverse, and they believed I and others would benefit from the diversity everyone brings to the campus. I found that report to be correct. I had professors who were (charismatic) Anglican, Presbyterian, Messianic Jewish, and Catholic! There were plenty of Robertsonian Dispensationalists, but they never imposed a monolithic pint of view that deviated from core orthodoxy, and they all entertained the kind of conversations I routinely bring to cyber forums.
Yes, the problems I have described are not limited to a specific denomination but that is part of the problem to be solved and much of the solution lies in the arena of the seminaries where Dispensational Premillennialism is taught. The radio preachers did not learn it on their own and they did not learn it in a vacuum. We've witnessed the powerful effect of academia in the larger society can have in a single generation (I first read Francis Schaeffer's "
He is There and He is Not Silent" in the late '70s, and Allan Bloom's "
The Closing of the American Mind" shortly after it came out in the late '80s). To suggest the problem of no accountability is unsolvable because Dispensational Premillennialism transcends denominational structures is incorrect.
accordance.bible
