Dispensationalism is known for it’s peculiar eschatology. Premillennialism itself is not peculiar; this has enjoyed support throughout the history of the church.The peculiarity of Dispensational eschatology has to do with the novel idea that the church is an interruption in God’s plan of dealing with ethnic Jews. Dispensationalists argue that the church is a “parenthesis” or an “intercalation” between Pentecost and the rapture of the church. Once the church is out of the way, God can get back to his main program, ethnic Jews.
This peculiar eschatology is really the direct result of Dispensational ecclesiology. The radical separation of Israel and the church in eschatology is fueled by the radical separation of Israel and the church in ecclesiology. Ontology affects history. Dispensational ecclesiology drives Dispensational eschatology.
My journey out of Dispensationalism began by examining my eschatology. While I was shaken by a fresh reading of the Olivet Discourse, I clung to Dispensationalism for several years because of my ecclesiology.
For this reason, I felt it was more crucial to deal with some foundational issues in ecclesiology (and hermeneutics). While I have not exhausted the relationship between Israel and the church, one must eventually deal with Dispensational eschatology.
Many of my eschatological arguments will be based upon the ground already covered in Jesus, Israel, and the Church. If you have not read these entries or listened to these lectures, please see the links in the side bar on the right.
In a nutshell, I will be writing on these three thesis regarding the kingdom of Jesus:
1) Jesus established his kingdom in his first coming.
2) Since his ascension, Jesus has been ruling and building his kingdom through the church.
3) The consummation of the kingdom is when Jesus returns to judge the nations.
3 comments:
If you believe that we are in the kingdom age, can you please tell me who the anti-christ is or was?
Can you also show me the 144,000? I must have missed them too.
Can you also show me the two witnesses? I must have missed them too. When did they die and when did they receive their glorified bodies?
In short, I must have missed a lot of things if we are living in the millennial kingdom.
I'm going to deal with big picture issues first and details later. Mathison is a good place to start if you've never read a straight-foward presentation of non-dispensational eschatology.
I'm looking forward to your explanation of eschatology. I just don't get it. I know I'm not a dispensationalist anymore, but I don't know exactly what I am as far as a label goes.
I just figure it'll all come out in the wash when Revelation is finished happening. I'll know which view is right when I get to heaven, but I don't want to waste too much effort on figuring it out beforehand. There are too many other things in the Bible to work on understanding rightly that I had wrong for most of my life.
I'm still interested in your explanation. I'll add it to my list of things to consider.
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