Dispensationalism

Dispensational Publishing House, Inc. © 2016. Used with permission.

Dr. Ed Hindson and Dr. Thomas Ice opened the 25th Anniversary Pre-Trib Study Group meetings on Monday morning by remembering the conference’s originator—the late Dr. Tim LaHaye, who went to be with the Lord on July 25, 2016, at the age of 90.

Dr. Hindson referred to Joshua 4:1-9:

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission.

Dr. Charles Dyer has a unique combination of experience in Christian ministry, having served at the highest levels of Christian education as both an administrator and an educator; having been involved in Christian publishing as both an author and an editor; and having additional experience as a pastor, radio host and tour guide. Above all, he is a scholar and a fine Christian gentleman. He is also the author of the forthcoming volume from Dispensational Publishing House, Future Babylon: The Biblical Arguments for the Rebuilding of Babylon. We are glad to draw on Dr. Dyer’s expertise in this article, and we look forward to providing special opportunities for you to interact with him when we launch the release of that book.

“I went to a small Bible college, but I had several professors who really pointed me in the right direction,” stated Charles Dyer as he looked back on his preparation for a lifetime of significant ministry opportunities. “They had a Biblical approach. They taught me that God intended the Bible to communicate. You take it at face value. If you do that you are going to end up a classic dispensationalist.”

Some of you know that I am a reluctant dispensationalist. In writing this (actually re-writing it) I thought it appropriate to use my moniker (“Dr. Reluctant”) as a title.

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission. Read the series.

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission. Read the series so far.

Dispensationalism & the Literal Interpretation of the Bible, Part 6

To review very briefly, there are four essential principles we must keep in mind if we are going to have a proper understanding of literal interpretation. The first three are the univocal nature of language, the jurisdiction of authorial intent, and the unitary authorship of Scripture. The final element for literal interpretation is the textually-based locus of meaning. We began studying that topic in the previous installment of this series, and pick up with it here.

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission. Read the series so far.

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission. Read the series so far.

Dispensationalism & the Literal Interpretation of the Bible, Part 4

While it is true that “literal interpretation” is not the private property of dispensationalism, the claim is actually the consistent use thereof. A case can still be made that traditional dispensationalism can make good on this claim.

There is no lock-step consensus on what “literal interpretation” really is. In the 19th century, E. R. Craven, the American editor of Lange’s Commentary, with unusual clarity made the point that literal interpretation is better termed “normal” since both literal and figurative interpretation can be comprehended in the term.¹ More recently, Roy Zuck differentiated, correctly, literal interpretation into “ordinary-literal” and “figurative-literal.”² It is not the intent here to define precisely what “literal interpretation” really is, but rather to suggest four rubrics or principles that must be entertained in understanding literal interpretation. These must be held in relationship to other factors of good hermeneutics such as context, literary genre and the like. There may be other such fundamental underpinnings, but at least these must be comprehended in a proper approach to Scripture. The first two of these principles will be our focus in this installment.