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Ah, that old slander again. Just when you'd think someone would have learned something. And there's the old false division, from the other side of the fence. Some Dispensationalists misrepresent Calvinism, and then reject that misrepresentation. WAY too many Calvinists misrepresent Dispensationalism (which, I contend, is the natural otugrowth of applied Reformation principles), and then reject that misrepresentation. While it is true that many Dispensationalists are not five-pointers (and vice-versa), there is nothing inherent in either construct which would exclude the other. Yes, it's true. I get really, really tired of hearing this. Open up your ears and mind, bro. Listen, and learn something — as you (correctly) want your Dispensational brothers to do.

The author's Covenantalist bias is definitely showing here.

MacArthur is a strong Dispensationalist-Calvinist. If Bible Broadcasting kicked him off, it's not due to their Dispensationalism, it is because Johnny Mac is a Biblical-Predestinarian -- which, being Arminians, they cannot stand.

They certainly did NOT boot him because he is a Covenantalist (after all, he isn't a Covenantalist... much as I wish he were).

best, OP

he isn't a Covenantalist... much as I wish he were

And that's cool... I'd be more disappointed in you, as a Covenantalist, if you didn't feel that way.

Dan here has seized upon a problem there is within some elements of the Reformed community: dispensationalism is viewed as some sort of heresy by some Reformed types. Heck, I remember a certian poster here who used to say explicitly that.

I find that claim almost comical, and certainly ironic, given that I have heard the exact same viewpoint used to describe covenantal amillenialists.

Dispensationalism may be many things, but it certainly is not heresy. There certainly are heretic dispensationalists -- some of the ones on TBN are a good example -- and I have no use for Hal Lindsey, with his utterly botched Gog and Magog analysis. But for every Hal Lindsey, there is a Gary North (Y2K, anyone????). Now, I must give credit to whom credit is due. Gary North has taken his lumps and moved on, and as far as I know, doesn't do any of the prophecy stuff any more, while Hal Lindsey is still the darling of the dispensational elements of the Religious Right.

Similarly, just as the Reformed community has some amazing gravitas behind it, so does the Dispensationalist commmunity. Darby, for instance, gave the Plymouth Brethren their heavily Biblical background that, to this day, even though it is now mostly Arminian with only a few pockets of resistance, still claims the most Biblically literate laity of any denomination I have ever seen. I don't think the Reformed community should underestimate the contributions of Chafer or Ryrie. And the Covenantalists definately should give some serious examination of Dr. Bock and Dr. Blasing's proposed Progressive Dispensational viewpoint.