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Why I am No Longer a Dispensationalist
Credo House ^ | May 21, 2015 | C. Michael Patton

Posted on 05/22/2015 4:54:44 PM PDT by OK Sun

My Dispensational Upbringing

I have been taught Dispensationalism from my mother’s womb. I was born in a dispensational environment. It was assumed at my church to be a part of the Gospel. There was never another option presented. It made sense. It helped me put together the Scriptures in a way that cleared up so much confusion. And, to be honest, the emphasis on the coming tribulation, current events that prove the Bible’s prophecy, the fear that the Antichrist may be alive today (who is he?) was all quite exciting. But what might be the biggest attraction for me is the charts! Oh how I love charts. I think in charts. And dispensationalism is a theology of charts!

Making Fun of Dispensationalism

The first time I came across someone who was not a Dispensationalist was in 1999. I am not kidding. It was the first time! I don’t think I even knew if there was another view. It was when I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary (the bastion of Dispensationalism) and I was swimming with some guys who were at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Once they discovered I was a dispensationalist, they giggled and snickered. They made fun of the rapture, the sacrificial system during the millennium, and the mark of the beast (which, at that time, was some type of barcode). It was as if they patted me on the head and said “It’s okay . . . nice little dispensationalist.” I was so angry. I was humiliated. I was a second-rate theologian. They were “Covenantalists” (whatever that was). But they were the cool guys who believed in the historic Christian faith and I was the cultural Christian, believing in novel ideas.

(Excerpt) Read more at reclaimingthemind.org ...


TOPICS: Humor; Other Christian; Theology
KEYWORDS: dispensationalism
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1 posted on 05/22/2015 4:54:44 PM PDT by OK Sun
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To: OK Sun

BTTT for later reading


2 posted on 05/22/2015 4:59:07 PM PDT by amigatec (2 Thess 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:)
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To: OK Sun

The question has never been about dates or charts.

The question IS about God’s nature.

IF there is a true wrath from God (the tribulation) can the Church suffer that wrath?

Can a believer who is covered with the blood of the Son and indwelt by the Holy Spirit be subject to the wrath of the Father?

I think not. So just as Enoch was taken out before the first wrath, so shall we.


3 posted on 05/22/2015 5:06:19 PM PDT by Mrs.Z
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To: OK Sun

I guess I don’t know what I am... not enough info here to tell.

Can you help please?


4 posted on 05/22/2015 5:07:12 PM PDT by Safrguns
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To: OK Sun

“Covenant Theology = two covenants”?


5 posted on 05/22/2015 5:09:51 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
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To: OK Sun

[Dallas Theological Seminary]

Well....I was a student of a guy who got his doctorate there. Nice guy, who’s name I will not mention in forum nor in message, has way different views than I.


6 posted on 05/22/2015 5:12:08 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Be a blessing to a stranger today for some have entertained angels unaware)
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To: Mrs.Z
Can a believer who is covered with the blood of the Son and indwelt by the Holy Spirit be subject to the wrath of the Father? I think not. So just as Enoch was taken out before the first wrath, so shall we.

A believer covered with the blood of the Son will be subject to the wrath of man, as we see now in Iraq, etc. The problem with pre-trib theory is that it ignores the severe persecution that the world will inflict before the wrath of God occurs. And the church is not prepared for it. In the 1940's the Chinese expected the rapture and were suddenly surprised by the Communists.

7 posted on 05/22/2015 5:17:33 PM PDT by aimhigh (1 John 3:23)
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To: OK Sun

I have some issues with each, though I lean much more to the dispensationalist side.

The dispensationalists who say that now it is simply accepting or rejecting Christ as though God’s law is irrelevant now have it wrong, for example.


8 posted on 05/22/2015 5:29:22 PM PDT by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light..... Isaiah 5:20)
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To: Mrs.Z

Amen, Amen, Amen.

After WWIII, there will be a “Final Harvest” preceding the “Rapture” or “catching away of the believers”.

You’re correct; the GOD who sent us HIS SON to save us from sin and destruction; and to save us from eternal damnation. Therefore, I totally believe the Tribulation will not occur until after the Church has left the earth.

Then, we will return from Heaven with the Lord.


9 posted on 05/22/2015 5:33:18 PM PDT by CyberAnt ("The hour has arrived to gather the Harvest")
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To: Mrs.Z

the Church will not go through the tribulation, the 7 yer tribulation, but genuine believers have been slaughtered for centuries

it is a great misunderstanding to think that believers will never be in dire peril of their lives


10 posted on 05/22/2015 5:40:24 PM PDT by RaceBannon (Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for)
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To: aimhigh

Amen.


11 posted on 05/22/2015 5:42:17 PM PDT by GoDuke
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To: Safrguns

Lesson #1

YOU are made in the image and likeness of GOD.
You are a Spirit
You live in a body (your flesh)
You have a soul (your mind, your will and your emotions)


12 posted on 05/22/2015 5:42:43 PM PDT by CyberAnt ("The hour has arrived to gather the Harvest")
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To: Safrguns

I don’t know. I read about Dispensationalism on wiki, but it didn’t help me understand exactly what it is.


13 posted on 05/22/2015 5:50:38 PM PDT by OK Sun (Freedom is not just another word.)
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To: OK Sun

‘I don’t know. I read about Dispensationalism on wiki, but it didn’t help me understand exactly what it is.’

It is pretty simple.

We are not in the Garden of Eden.
We are not under the Theocracy of Israel.
We are not in the future kingdom.

You’re up to 4 different times or dispensations, where God dealt with men in a particular way... all based ultimately on His grace.

It is a way of understanding the full revelation of Scripture. That’s all.


14 posted on 05/22/2015 5:59:09 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion ( "Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal.")
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To: The Final Harvest

why after WWIII and and not, say, after WWXII?


15 posted on 05/22/2015 6:00:07 PM PDT by arbitrary.squid
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To: arbitrary.squid

Sorry, there will never be a WWXII.

You can believe there will be; that’s your choice. But, wars will end after WWIII.


16 posted on 05/22/2015 6:02:04 PM PDT by CyberAnt ("The hour has arrived to gather the Harvest")
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To: Mrs.Z

I agree that the question IS about God’s Nature.

however, let’s look a little closer at your supposition - That the Tribulation is the wrath of God.

It will be given to the “king” to do what he pleases - (this “king” of the earth at the time is the AntiChrist). This is the first half of the tribulation. This is NOT the wrath of God, it’s the AntiChrist’s wrath.

Now, IF the antichrist is decimating folks, who do you think he’s decimating? A house divided does not stand.

The whole idea that believers will not be harmed in any way is a pipe dream. Tell that to the 1st century Christians, and Christians being persecuted all over the world today.


17 posted on 05/22/2015 6:02:31 PM PDT by BereanBrain
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To: The Final Harvest

Well that kind of certainty has never failed anyone in the past.


18 posted on 05/22/2015 6:05:38 PM PDT by arbitrary.squid
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

I don’t see much difference from it and normal Christianity. What, for instance, do Baptists have against it?


19 posted on 05/22/2015 6:05:45 PM PDT by OK Sun (Freedom is not just another word.)
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To: Mrs.Z
The scriptures say the 'restrainer' will be removed so the man of sin can strut his stuff. That spark of the Holy Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, in each Christian makes a big spark that is currently restraining, so if He is gonna take the sparks out of the way, we go with them. ZAP!... And it is coming much sooner than folks care to admit.

Also, the ecangelization of humankind during the Tribulation is done by The Jews, not The Church, so we gotta be gone by then.

20 posted on 05/22/2015 6:07:14 PM PDT by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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