Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption: A Developing and Diverse Tradition

by D. Jeffrey Bingham (Editor), Douglas K. Blount (Editor), Glenn R. Kreider (Editor)

Top-level scholarship on an enduring tradition Dispensationalism has long been associated with a careful, trustworthy interpretation of Scripture. Reflective of its past and present status and strategic to its future, Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption is a fresh defense of a time-tested tradition. Made up of ten essays from leading dispensationalist scholars, this volume covers the critical elements to With contributors from top-tier schools like Dallas Theological Seminary and Wheaton College, Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption is an expert treatment of an enduring yet developing tradition.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, School

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2015

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview of dispensationalism for those who want to learn about the topic. The introductory chapter is a good, solid overview. Throughout the book, the helpfulness and difficulty level of the chapters varies a bit, as each chapter is written by a different author. That said, attentive readers will come away with a basic understanding of the topic, along with a good idea of the differences among different "versions" of dispensationalism. The tone is generally charitable toward covenant theology and other viewpoints, which is an improvement over previous books on this topic.

[Kevin Choate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for casual reading - a textbook for DTS.

This book is a nearly complete overview of the biblical interpretative method called Dispensationalism. Bingham and Kreider naturally progress and reveal an overview, the core tenets, the history, and the variations of Dispensationalism. They also graciously compare it to its counterpart interpretive method (covenantal) with grace and accuracy.

I feel much more comfortable with understanding redemptive history, particularly how the flow of Scripture works.

I appreciated the comparison with covenantal theology in chapter 9 the most. Since I am a part of a non-denominational church, this helps me understand some of our reformed-leaning members and how they interpret Scripture, as well as Israel and the church.

Great read! Very academic, but I feel much more comfortable in how to interpret Scripture in the context of redemptive history now.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Moody Publishers.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

I must admit that I liked this book far more than I thought I would.  At times I read a book not believing I will enjoy it very much but thinking it somewhat important or worthwhile to read the book because it comes from a perspective that is not my own, and such was the case here.  I am not a dispensationalist, and am moreover somewhat hostile to it, even as I am somewhat hostile to Calvinism, which this book talks a lot about [1].  Ultimately, if I found a great deal that I disagreed with in the dispensationalist hermeneutic that this book expresses, at least I feel that I read enough to understand how people with that perspective view themselves and their own anti-denominational history and I feel that I can engage with that view directly and not through the straw men that are often posited by those hostile to their views.  Understanding does not always lead to agreement, but at least, as in this case, it can lead to a reasoned and open disagreement.  For honestly and forthrightly discussing their case and their viewpoint and their own desire to be seen as legitimate within Protestant intellectual circles, this book deserves a lot of credit.

In terms of its contents, this book is made up of a series of connected essays from various authors of the dispensationalist perspective on their worldview.  Overall, this may be considered a work of apologetics.  The ten essays of this book take up about 250 pages or so of material.  The first essay looks at a proposal for defining what dispensationalism is.  The second essay looks at the relationship between dispensationalism and the Bible.  The third essay explains the seven-era dispensationalist view of biblical history and prophecy.  The fourth essay looks at the hermeneutical principles of dispensationalism.  The fifth essay looks at the role of God's workings in history before Christ.  The sixth essay examines God's plan for history in the first coming of Christ.  The seventh essay looks at God's plan for history from the ascension to the return of Jesus Christ.  Then the next essay looks at the consummation of history through the new heavens and the new earth, largely skipping over the question of the nature of Jesus' rule in the Millennium.  The ninth essay looks at the relationship between dispensationalism and the views of redemption history, and the last essay looks at the worldwide impact of dispensationalism through its offspring like fundamentalism, the Evangelical movement, and the Pentecostal movement.  Each of the essays includes its own endnotes, some of which are substantial in length and depth.

I feel that this book largely clarified my disagreement with the dispensationalist perspective and for that I feel that this book is a worthwhile read whether or not someone agrees with the worldview of its authors.  The authors here point out that dispensationalism is a non-systematic bottom-up populist approach to scripture that largely conflates interpretation of scripture with the content of scripture, as opposed to the top-down and systematic covenantal approach of Calvinism that similarly conflates interpretation with the content of scripture.  I found a great deal of agreement with the historical-grammatical approach to textual criticism found here, but also found that there was far too much reductionism in the authors' approach to scripture.  The authors, and this appears to a broader failing within dispensationalism as a whole, appear to seek only one layer of meaning within a given text and thus fail to capture its full layered nuance and complexity.  Additionally, over and over again I saw the authors exaggerate the discontinuities between law and grace and between the way God worked with Israel and the way He works with believers today.  Ultimately, this book showed that the conflict between dispensationalism and Calvinism is a false dilemma in which both sides are holding different parts of an elephant and are unaware of the broader picture that they fight over when arguing with each other.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

[Evelyn Lilyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for those who know nothing about dispensationalism or only have a vague idea. I knew nothing prior to reading this book. I feel a bit more confident about the subject and at least know the basics. This is a collection of essays from various professionals, so do not expect to read a 'fun' and entertaining book with definitions and examples on the topic, this is more of a scholarly nature. Arranged in a sensical manner; the first chapter gives a detailed explanation on dispensationalism and some examples of where it is found in Scripture. The following chapters go more in depth on the history, application, and future of dispensationalism. Readers will find this book a great resource and addition to their libraries. Though, I'm not a theology student nor do I necessarily agree 100% with this theology, the arguments stated for dispensationalism are thought-provoking and are sure to engage the reader. Had I not come across this well-written collection I probably would not have been motivated to do more personal research on this topic.

These are the titles of the chapters:
1. What is dispensationalism? A Proposal
2. Evangelicalism, Dispensationalism, and the Bible
3. The History of Dispensationalism in Seven Eras
4. The Hermeneutic of Dispensationalism
5. God's Plan for History Prior to C
6. God's Plan for History: The First Coming of Christ
7. God's Plan for History: From the Accession to the Second
8. God's Plan for History: The Consummation
9. Dispensationalism and Views of Redemption History
10. Dispensationalism and Worldwide Impact

I received a copy of this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest review. All views expressed are entirely my own.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special thanks to Moody Publishers for sending me a complimentary copy of their book, Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption.

Dispensationalism is “…first and foremost a system of Biblical interpretation.” It is a lens by which the reader looks through to better understand the progressive flow of God’s Word. A dispensation, in its basic meaning, is a distinguishable economy in which God manages the affairs of mankind according to what has been progressively revealed.

Though there are many resources available regarding this topic, an advantage this book has is the number of authors who offered their contributions in seeing this work completed. The writers of Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption walk the reader through both its developing history and doctrinal positions. As is seen in the title, their aim is not only to discuss the various time periods and economies but to ultimately show how God has been actively working through both His covenants and dispensations in order to bring about redemption for His people.

This book is comprised of ten essays regarding dispensationalism’s history, hermeneutic, Scriptural support, theological implications, and its worldwide impact. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this subject. If you desire to gain a better understanding of Scripture, you will greatly benefit from reading Dispensationalism and the History of Redemption.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of dispensationalism. For me, probably more chapters than I needed for a book of this scope, as several of the authors seemed to cover a very similar general overview of the different eras of dispensationalism. The chapters I found most helpful were those by Glenn Kreider, Jeffrey Bingham, Oscar Campos (this is the shortest chapter in the book and the one that I wished were much longer), and, especially, Nathan Holsteen, whose chapter provides a great intro to all theological methods topics beyond just dispensationalism.

[Paige Kleinsasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Theological Method & Bibliology (ST5101). I knew next to nothing about dispensationalism before opening this book. Helpful insights on the beginning’s & explanations of what it is. I found chapter 9 where it explained the difference between dispensationalism & covenant theology to be the most helpful.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview of dispensationalism and its variations. There is nothing much indepth, but it was useful for me to reacquaint myself with different elements of this system. Highly recommended if you want a survey that is more than a lick and a promise.

[Taylor Putman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of dispensationalism. I read this for school but it was actually decently interesting.

[Joshua Pankey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pugh’s article on the covenant/dispensational frameworks is particularly helpful.

[Rick Shrader]

This is a 2015 Moody book but produced primarily, actually entirely, by Dallas Theological Seminary professors and/or graduates. Being a dispensationalist myself, I enjoyed the book and profited from its material. I am glad for any scholarly writing that defends the dispensational approach to Scripture because it is being attacked in many unfortunate ways these days. Bingham is Associate Dean of Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College and Kreider is Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Both hold ThM and PhD degrees from Dallas.
This book is also a defense of current dispensational thought from the Dallas Seminary perspective. This means that the book defends the history of dispensationalism including its beginnings with men such as John Nelson Darby through C.I. Scofield and L.S. Chafer, and the Niagara Bible Conferences, but it also makes a wide berth for the progressive dispensationalism currently at Dallas Theological Seminary. In fact, two of the chapters are written by Darrell L. Bock and Craig A. Blaising, the most well-known defenders of that view. Therefore, though I cannot accept the progressive dispensational perspective myself, I still profited from the book and even got a better or newer understanding of Bock’s and Blaising’s points of view without having to read their books again. Most of the rest of the book I was in agreement with.
A further caveat would be, that though all dispensational thought is given from a positive perspective, the writers divide the history into three categories they call classical, revised, and progressive (a division first suggested by Bock and Blaising in their 1993 book Progressive Dispensationalism). The “classical” category is left for the formative thinkers from Darby to Chafer. The “Revised” category is used of the standard view of Dallas Seminary primarily in the years of Walvoord, Pentecost, Ryrie, and contemporaries such as Robert Saucy (and, presumably others in the Talbot Seminary and Grace Seminary mold). The “Progressive” category is primarily promoted by Bock and Blaising at Dallas today. In fact, Blaising writes the main chapter on these categories. But also Kreider, in the first chapter (which is a very informative chapter on the history of dispensationalism) says, “This chapter has not made much of the recent development described as progressive dispensationalism. The focus has been on what unites rather than what divides. To say it another way, what all dispensationalists hold in common is much more important than the nuances of distinction between dispensational views” (p. 39).
I would like to recommend this book to those who have bought into the negative diatribe about dispensationalism, and I can do so but with reservation because of the soft promotion of progressive dispensationalism. I suppose someone who knows little about dispensationalism would be unaffected by that anyway. The history, the defense of a separation of Israel and the church, the defense of literal interpretation (with the exception of PD), the pretribulational, premillennial emphasis, all make the book worth reading. For me, I would pay the price to read Eugene Merrill’s chapter on “God’s Plan for History Prior to Christ,” and Stanley Toussaint’s chapter on “God’s Plan for History: From the Ascension to the Second Coming of Christ.” Both of these writers come from the more traditional Dallas approach. Toussaint especially defends literal interpretation, a pretribulational rapture, and even a definite reoffer of the kingdom in the book of Acts. At the same time, those looking for a completely future view of the new covenant will not find it among these writers. But that is not made a major component of dispensationalism in this book either. At the end, Maurice Pugh (a pastor) gives a very good critique and comparison of Covenant (and Reformed) Theology with dispenstionalism; and Oscar Campos (Missiology professor in Central America) gives an encouraging history of how faith missions is historically connected to dispensationalism.

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[Shaun Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I compare this book to my immense Theology Journal Bundle on logos bible software, I appreciated so much more the immense effort put in to consolidate the essays of the various theologians (and the subsequent editing and arranging into an easy-to-follow sequence). Having completed a position paper for a Systematic Theology 3 module on a millennial view, I did not eventually subscribe to the dispensational view. And yet I thoroughly appreciate the systematic and comprehensible flow of the content in this book. I had a terrible time trying to search and then organise the various essays sifting through decades of journal articles. But the editors have done all the hard work for me here!

Often I felt that the essay writers were on the defensive, (perhaps very much aware of the various criticisms on the dispensational view in modern theological scholarship) but eventually it seemed that the positive matter (substantives) were provided as much as the negative matter (rebuttals). Sections of the book I enjoyed were the introductory essay (Chapter 1), the history of dispensationalism (Chapter 3). Students and lecturers of the Eschatological topics in Systematic Theology would find "Dispensationalism and views of redemption history" (Chapter 9) especially useful; although the findings slant toward one millennial view, the broad overview of the others provide a quick and handy introduction.

Finally, no matter which millennial view you hold, Eugene Merrill's "God's Plan for History Prior to Christ" (Chapter 5) and Darrel Bock's "God's plan for history: the first coming of Christ" (Chapter 6) are excellent essays that teachers and preachers would find extremely useful in equipping their flocks in various topics - Biblical Theology, Covenant Theology and perhaps even Old Testament Introduction. Scholars too should enjoy the refreshingly light read of these two chapters, especially after having attempted to read through scholarly works with overly technical and complex treatises of such-and-such millenial views.

I received this book from the Moody Publishers Newsroom program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

[Keegan Hatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Svigel's essay is worth the price of the book.