Here in Baptist country, the idea is that Revelation provides a roadmap for the end times. Even though we have taught a very different version in our local church, the popular mythology persists and Revelation continues to be regarded by the larger group as a schedule more than a message of hope. Some people in the church won't even come to a conversation about Revelation because it only provokes fear for them.
We've served in Indonesia for 26 years, and I would say most followers of Jesus we talk with have a pretribulation view strongly influenced by the Left Behind books and other such teachings on video and media. It is assumed to be the correct and only Biblical view.
What do you replace the Despensationalism with? Do you just lead folks fom something to nothing? It's likened to pouring something from an empty cup. Dispensationalism is an attempt to connects the dots..
Dispensationalists don’t often present their theory of Revelation as “an attempt to connect the dots.” I grew up in a 1970s/80s rapture obsessed church with a pastor who taught that premillennial dispensationalism was not just the correct way to read Daniel/Revelation, but that it was the clear teaching of scripture that anyone any honest student of the Bible must derive from the text.
My pastor believed that preterism is a grave heresy from the pit of hell, and that churches MUST focus almost exclusively on the imminent rapture and scour the news (and non-news rumor factories) to connect the dots because, well, Jesus was definitely returning to snatch up his bride (and leave unbelievers behind to face Holocaust) within our lifetimes — and probably within the year.
My pastor was not alone in this obsession; our church bookstore was filled with authors expounding these views, our pulpits and classrooms regularly featured self-proclaimed “prophecy experts,” and as children we watched countless videos about the horrors that awaited the world under the Beast’s government and subsequent judgment at armeggedon.
Dispensationalism as is commonly taught in Left Behind/Late Great Planet Earth churches isn’t just a theological discernment exercise. It’s a comprehensive conspiracy theory culture that distorts every aspect of a church’s ministry and rejects as heretical anyone whose reading of scripture corresponds to any of the myriad pre-Darby eschatological models.
Which brings me to your question about what alternatives there are to dispensationalism. I’d invite you to look at ANY pastor or theologian writing before the 1850s. Or any of the countless non-dispensationalist teachers handling the word since that time. It’s either ignorant or intellectually dishonest to act as if there are no other theological explanations of Revelation or the so-called “end times.”
Also, I’d point out that it’s okay to say either “we don’t know” or “Christians hold a variety of views on this subject.” We mustn’t let our desire to ‘connect the dots’ lead us to close that which God has left open. Even Jesus himself didn’t know all the details about The Day of the Lord. What hubris it is to suggest that our knowledge should eclipse his — and then judge others who are unwilling to speak where the father has remained silent.
Personally, when I became convinced Dispensationalism was false, I became convinced Historic Premillennialism was true (a Post-Trib resurrection-gathering at the second coming of Jesus). I explain how on my website and YouTube channel (Overcoming the Tribulation).
Perhaps Revelation is "The revelation of Jesus Christ" - the "word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ" "sent and signified" - made known by signs and symbols . . .
so, to take the scripture literally might mean to read it as a book of signs and symbols, revealing Jesus Christ!!
Now, that is exciting!!
(Thank you to Malcolm Smith who taught me this in the '70's!!!)
No one reads scripture literally, always divided. The question is whether or not it is rightly divided. To which to answer your question, what do you replace Dispensationalism with? The word of truth rightly divided. It involves original languages, context, and the author's intent. "Connecting the dots" usually takes many scriptures out of context, ignoring the author's intent, and is mere word association within the English Bible.
Here in Baptist country, the idea is that Revelation provides a roadmap for the end times. Even though we have taught a very different version in our local church, the popular mythology persists and Revelation continues to be regarded by the larger group as a schedule more than a message of hope. Some people in the church won't even come to a conversation about Revelation because it only provokes fear for them.
We've served in Indonesia for 26 years, and I would say most followers of Jesus we talk with have a pretribulation view strongly influenced by the Left Behind books and other such teachings on video and media. It is assumed to be the correct and only Biblical view.
What do you replace the Despensationalism with? Do you just lead folks fom something to nothing? It's likened to pouring something from an empty cup. Dispensationalism is an attempt to connects the dots..
Dispensationalists don’t often present their theory of Revelation as “an attempt to connect the dots.” I grew up in a 1970s/80s rapture obsessed church with a pastor who taught that premillennial dispensationalism was not just the correct way to read Daniel/Revelation, but that it was the clear teaching of scripture that anyone any honest student of the Bible must derive from the text.
My pastor believed that preterism is a grave heresy from the pit of hell, and that churches MUST focus almost exclusively on the imminent rapture and scour the news (and non-news rumor factories) to connect the dots because, well, Jesus was definitely returning to snatch up his bride (and leave unbelievers behind to face Holocaust) within our lifetimes — and probably within the year.
My pastor was not alone in this obsession; our church bookstore was filled with authors expounding these views, our pulpits and classrooms regularly featured self-proclaimed “prophecy experts,” and as children we watched countless videos about the horrors that awaited the world under the Beast’s government and subsequent judgment at armeggedon.
Dispensationalism as is commonly taught in Left Behind/Late Great Planet Earth churches isn’t just a theological discernment exercise. It’s a comprehensive conspiracy theory culture that distorts every aspect of a church’s ministry and rejects as heretical anyone whose reading of scripture corresponds to any of the myriad pre-Darby eschatological models.
Which brings me to your question about what alternatives there are to dispensationalism. I’d invite you to look at ANY pastor or theologian writing before the 1850s. Or any of the countless non-dispensationalist teachers handling the word since that time. It’s either ignorant or intellectually dishonest to act as if there are no other theological explanations of Revelation or the so-called “end times.”
Also, I’d point out that it’s okay to say either “we don’t know” or “Christians hold a variety of views on this subject.” We mustn’t let our desire to ‘connect the dots’ lead us to close that which God has left open. Even Jesus himself didn’t know all the details about The Day of the Lord. What hubris it is to suggest that our knowledge should eclipse his — and then judge others who are unwilling to speak where the father has remained silent.
Personally, when I became convinced Dispensationalism was false, I became convinced Historic Premillennialism was true (a Post-Trib resurrection-gathering at the second coming of Jesus). I explain how on my website and YouTube channel (Overcoming the Tribulation).
Here’s a credible, exegetically careful alternative reading written at popular level:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W3RNWMC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_0MM8QYBEGN69R5PYKVA8
Perhaps Revelation is "The revelation of Jesus Christ" - the "word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ" "sent and signified" - made known by signs and symbols . . .
so, to take the scripture literally might mean to read it as a book of signs and symbols, revealing Jesus Christ!!
Now, that is exciting!!
(Thank you to Malcolm Smith who taught me this in the '70's!!!)
No one reads scripture literally, always divided. The question is whether or not it is rightly divided. To which to answer your question, what do you replace Dispensationalism with? The word of truth rightly divided. It involves original languages, context, and the author's intent. "Connecting the dots" usually takes many scriptures out of context, ignoring the author's intent, and is mere word association within the English Bible.
At least, this is my observation.