Dispensationalism before Darby: Seventeenth-Century and Eighteenth-Century English Apocalypticism

by William C. Watson

For years, critics of premillennialism have argued that John Nelson Darby was the source of the doctrine of the rapture and dispensationalism. Building upon years of research in seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century English theological writings, William Watson argues that dispensationalism and the ideas associated with it were long part of British theological discourse. Drawing upon hundreds of early printed English books and years of archival study in primary sources and British libraries, Watson demonstrates that Darby’s thought was neither aberrant nor original. To the contrary, he was following a long line of British clergy who anticipated the restoration of Jews to a national homeland and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2015

Reviews

[Jack Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has done very good research

[Tim Chaffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required for all Bible college and/or seminary students who are interested in church history, hermeneutics, and/or theology, particularly eschatology. Dr. Watson conclusively demonstrates through many hundreds of quotes that many Christian leaders in the 17th-18th centuries held to many of the same views popularized by John Nelson Darby.
Critics of Dispensationalism frequently claim that Darby invented Dispensationalism, thus the view certainly didn't come from the Bible or else others would have held these beliefs before Darby. Well, as Watson lays out, many did believe the same things as Darby in the centuries leading up to his time. Darby may have refined, systematized, and popularized the belief, but none of the major points in his system was original to him. Watson cites leader after leader who held to one or more of the following beliefs long before Darby: Jewish return to their homeland, mass conversion of Jews prior to Christ's return, a pretribulational rapture (yes, they even used the term "rapture"), and a thousand year earthly kingdom established and ruled over by Jesus Christ.
This isn't to say that everyone cited by Watson held to all of these points, but all of the telltale beliefs of Dispensationalism were quite familiar to Christian leaders prior to Darby, and in some places, they were actually preferred for some time.
The book does not set out to prove that Dispensationalism is the correct view, and it does not prove that. The point was to counter the oft-repeated argument made by critics of Dispensationalism that the system was not invented until 1830. I've even heard a critic claim that Darby got his views from a witch. Watson's research painstakingly shows that these objections are patently false.
The book isn't the most exciting read because most of it consists of quotations from scores of Christian leaders during the 1600s and 1700s. Watson organizes the quotes by time period and provenance (i.e. where the writings originated). However, I'm confident the book will be an extremely valuable resource to regularly draw upon.
Great stuff, Dr. Watson. I'm looking forward to reading your next volume.