In this blog post I hope to highlight some recommended dispensational resources. I have found over the years that it was difficult to bring together a list of this magnitude due in part to the scattering of various resources. It isn’t always easy to know where to look or what resources are of any value, there is so much literature to wade through that it can be tedious. Please share this around and I hope it will be used as a guide to know what books and resources I recommend for those who want to seriously study dispensational theology in more depth.
The dating of the book of Revelation is often a point of contention within evangelical Christian circles. When one begins to enter the arena of eschatology (study of end-times) they are often faced with the question surrounding the dating of this book. In my many years of study, I have found the only viable position to stand on, is that of the Domitianic Dating.
My dear brother and fellow Dispensationalist Jim McClarty is being featured today in his article “Is the Church Israel.”
Jim and I connected through a Facebook group called: “Calvinist Dispensationalists, Unite.” Jim and I began crossing paths more and more as we began tackling some of the more modern criticisms of Dispensationalism coming from the likes of Apologia.
Jim is an excellent source and I pray that this article that he has shared with me for your benefit will help you understand what makes Dispensationalism stand alone from other positions. Is the Church Israel? The answer is no!
I have the opportunity to feature an article written by my brother Nehemiah Ryan called: “An Evaluation of Non-Dispensational Hermeneutical Presuppositions.”
“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.
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.
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.
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).
As a Dispensationalist I believe that Ezekiel 40-48 forms an incredibly important foundation for solidifying the future for Israel. Ezekiel paints a clear picture that the people of Israel will once again be restored to their former state in the future (Ezekiel 36-39) and with that the restoration of the Davidic Dynasty led by Christ himself. Also, the reestablishment of the temple (Ezekiel 40-48) and the return of the Lord and his Shekinah Glory (Ezekiel 43).
