Are Dispensationalists Pessimists?

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“I could never be a Dispensational Premillennialist because they are pessimistic/defeatists who have a negative view of reality, they don’t want to be involved in society, they are just waiting around for the rapture. I’d rather be an optimist believing in victory not defeat.”  

Sound familiar? It sure does for me. I have heard and read these sorts of claims online for the last year or so since the resurgence of Postmillennialism. However, are these claims justified? Do these claims truly reflect the reality of Dispensational theology? Are Dispensationalists pessimists in the way that they are portrayed? I hope that my article will challenge the claims of the Postmillennialist and will provide further insight into why we believe what we do.

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Are Dispensationalists Gnostic Escapists?

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Recently, I was listening to Apologia Radio and one interesting subject came up: Engaging Christian Gnosticism. I was quite intrigued, so I listened. Jeff Durbin and Luke Pierson had on their program guest Andrew Sandlin who spoke about Gnosticism. Unfortunately, around the 34-minute mark, Sandlin clearly linked elements of Gnosticism with Dispensationalism. Not only has Sandlin come on the air to speak about this, but he has also written about this on his website in a blog titled Escapist Theology, and there he has also linked Dispensationalism with Gnostic Escapism. It always surprises me that statements of this nature can be made with little to no evidence to support them. In this blog, we will look to see if the claims are at all warranted.

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Heir of the World – An Exegetical Analysis of Romans 4:13

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It is common to see Romans 4:13 used as a proof text to negate the land promises that were made in the Old Testament to Israel. It is my intention here to show that these promises were not altered, universalized, spiritualized into something new by Paul, but rather that Paul is merely connecting what was promised to Abraham initially in the covenant.

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Premillennialism – The Biblical Paradigm

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Let me start by saying that I believe this is an incredibly important topic that requires clarity in this day and age. As I peruse social media I see memes and mockeries directed at Premillennialists attempting to dismiss the sound biblical position by poking fun at it. It seems that many are developing a sort of theology based around quick baseless assertions and relying on what they are hearing from secondary sources, rather than from the authors of the positions. I hope that this post will provide clarity for those who are seriously interested in studying this topic.

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Pretribulationalism – The Biblical Paradigm

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The topic of the rapture is one of the most hotly contested topics in modern times. It can excite those who are seeking for imminent return of the Lord prior to Daniel’s 70th week and it can anger those who believe that the doctrine of the pretribulational rapture is merely a modern fantasy invented by “escapists” and “pessimists”.

It is my desire here to present a cumulative case for the pretribulational rapture. Let me state at the outset that no single text of scripture validates a doctrine. We should not be looking for a singular verse to validate a premise, but rather at what totascriptura says. If, we are to take the whole Word of God seriously, then we wouldn’t expect a singular verse to say something like, “the rapture occurs before Daniel’s 70th week”, but rather that all the evidence points us to a clear conclusion. Pretribulationalism isn’t built off of a singular proof-text, and therefore I won’t be using an isolated text to argue for pretribulationalism. I will demonstrate based upon totascriptura that the evidence best leads to a rapture that is a.) distinct from the second coming, and b.) before the tribulation (i.e. Daniel’s 70th week).

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Israel’s Future – An Exegetical Analysis of Romans 11:1-36

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Here is my exegetical analysis of Romans 11:1-36. It is my hope to demonstrate the future plan of God regarding ethnic Israel, and that God has not and will not forget about them. Ethnic Israel still has a future in God’s decree, and this passage breaks down that plan.

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All Things are put in Subjection – An Exegetical Analysis of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

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It has been said to me many times that 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 is a refuter to the Premillennial interpretation of Scripture. I have yet to find the argument appealing or convincing. Here is my exegetical analysis of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 demonstrating the compatibility of our position with the text.

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