Dispensationalism

oleh: Darrell L. Bock

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology 2023-08-01

Deskripsi

The theological approach to the Bible called dispensationalism has had a long and controversial history in the Christian church, and its impact on the global church over the last century and a half can hardly be denied (Bingham and Kreider 2015: 69–100; Blaising and Bock 1993: 9–56; Magnum 2007; Crutchfield 1992). The movement emerged in the nineteenth century and has captured the imagination of many since then, as it contends that the Bible’s storyline is set in an eschatological and apocalyptic frame revealing God’s plan to restore the creation to wholeness, at both individual and corporate levels. The roots of the movement reached back into the millennialism of the early church. Dispensationalism’s emphasis on Israel’s role in God’s plan throughout the eras to come has been a distinctive feature of the movement in all its expressions. Dispensationalism’s focus on the relationship between nations, with special attention to Israel as a people, means it highlights a corporate dimension of salvation (Vlach 2023). This emphasis has led many to see it as a way of seeing those relationships in current and future political realities. The way dispensationalism sees Israel in relationship to the church and these political dimensions has made the movement a topic for discussion and debate across Christianity. After defining what dispensationalism is, this entry examines the three basic forms within it, followed by the way the church outside of the tradition has interacted with the movement.