Dispensational Proofs - Introduction
All theologies appeal to the Bible for proof of their theological positions. Writing proofs for dispensationalism does not require what other theologies would desire. A dispensational apologetic will be mainly an appeal to the Scriptures alone. Others will desire an appeal to church fathers, church tradition, creeds and confessions along with the Scriptures. Some even appeal to logic and philosophy apart from clear scriptural evidence for a view on God’s plans for the ages. A dispensationalist still uses the Bible as the sole defense for their view of the dispensations that God has ordained throughout history. Although dispensations are discussed, the Biblical covenants are where the main discussion takes place. A thorough read of dispensational authors will show a very distinct exegetical discussion of the Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic and New Covenants. Detractors like to point to popular contemporary treatments of the rapture of the Church. If this is what they attack, then they are completely missing the target. Real dispensational theologians address the heart of disagreement between covenant theology and dispensational theology in the field of hermeneutics.
Dispensationalism distinguishes itself from other theologies with its complete overview of history and God’s plan for all creation. Dispensationalism is not just a view of history it is a Biblical view of history. The only areas outside the Scriptures that a dispensationalist will use for a defense of their position is the area of hermeneutics and history. There are certainly great notable events from the history of the Jewish people even during the second temple period, but proofs are best drawn from the text of Scripture. Hermeneutics is the battle ground for the various views of theology and a proper reading of the very words of God. Yes, even a dispensationalist may appeal to the history of the church to find others that espouse dispensational concepts but ultimately, they still maintain that those historical figures are only as good as their literal, historical, grammatical reading of the text. The following proofs are not to be construed as proofs of dispensations but as proofs that the hermeneutical method used results in what is commonly called dispensationalism.
CAM
