The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the entities that bring false peace,
War, famine, pestilence,
and death.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,
by Viktor Vasnetsov (1887).
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1. teaches Biblical history as best understood in light of a number of successive economies or administrations under God, which it calls "dispensations," and
2. emphasizes prophecy of the end-times and the pre-tribulation rapture view of Christ's second coming.

Dispensation is an English term excogitated (fully considered) from the Latin dispensatio, frequently used to translate the Greek oikonomia, the management of a household or of household affairs

• specifically, the management, oversight, administration, of other's property
• the office of a manager or overseer, stewardship
• administration, dispensation.

Some consider Dispensationalism to be a nineteenth century distortion of Biblical history. Dispensationalists teach that there are seven distinct "dispensations" within biblical history. The seventh being the 1000 year reign of Christ or the millennium. According to some, the primary error is the "two covenant" teaching. Dispensationalists believe that God's covenant with Israel continues even through the present "church age." Some Protestants believe that the new covenant in Christ replaces the old covenant with Israel (see "Premillennialism").

It was out of Futurism that Dispensationalism and the Rapture theory so prevalent among today’s religious conservatives would emerge. In 1830, John Nelson Darby, a former Irish Anglican priest (1800-1882), began with his group the Brethren to popularize and further develop a radical new interpretation of Revelation.

As a branch of Christian theology, Dispensationalism teaches biblical history as a number of successive economies or administrations, called dispensations, each of which emphasizes the continuity of the Old Testament covenants God made with His chosen people through Abraham, Moses and King David.

"..as Jews are the firstborn, what the Prophet declares must be fulfilled, especially in them: for that scripture calls all the people of God Israelites, it is to be ascribed to the preeminence of that nation, who God had preferred to all other nations..God distinctly claims for himself a certain seed, so that his redemption may be effectual in his elect and peculiar nation..God was not unmindful of the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and by which he testified that according to his eternal purpose he loved that nation: and this he confirms by this remarkable declaration, that the grace of the divine calling cannot be made void."
-John Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX, Epistle to the Romans

"This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. - Eph 3:6

Born out of the restless religious environment in England and Ireland in the 1820s, dispensationalism is rooted in the Plymouth Brethren movement, especially the teachings of John Nelson Darby (1800–1882).

History

The Plymouth Brethren movement, essentially a reaction against the established Church of England and its ecclesiology, became known for its anti-denominational, anti-clerical, and anti-creedal stance. In 1848, the Plymouth Brethren split into an "Exclusive" group led by Darby and an "Open" group. Darby's views became dominant among the Exclusive Brethren, but were not widespread among Open Brethren until the 1870s or 1880s.

Dispensationalism was first introduced to North America by John Inglis (1813–1879), through a monthly magazine called Waymarks in the Wilderness (published intermittently between 1854 and 1872). In 1866, Inglis organized the Believers' Meeting for Bible Study, which introduced dispensationalist ideas to a small but influential circle of American evangelicals. After Inglis' death, James H. Brookes (1830–1898), a pastor in St. Louis, organized the Niagara Bible Conference to continue the dissemination of dispensationalist ideas. Dispensationalism was boosted after Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) learned of "dispensational truth" from an unidentified member of the Brethren in 1872. Moody became close to Brookes and other dispensationalists, and encouraged the spread of dispensationalism, but apparently never learned the nuances of the dispensationalist system. Dispensationalism began to evolve during this time, most significantly when a significant body of dispensationalists proposed the "post-tribulation" Rapture. Dispensationalist leaders in Moody's circle include Reuben Archer Torrey (1856–1928), James M. Gray (1851–1925), Cyrus I. Scofield (1843–1921), William J. Eerdman (1833–1923), A. C. Dixon (1854–1925), A. J. Gordon (1836–1895) and William Eugene Blackstone, author of the bestseller of the 1800s "Jesus is Coming" (Endorsed by Torrey and Eerdman). These men were activist evangelists who promoted a host of Bible conferences and other missionary and evangelistic efforts. They also gave the dispensationalist movement institutional permanence by assuming leadership of the new independent Bible institutes such as the Moody Bible Institute (1886), the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (1907), and the Philadelphia College of the Bible—now the Philadelphia Biblical University (1913). The network of related institutes that soon sprang up became the nucleus for the spread of American dispensationalism.

The energetic efforts of Cyrus Scofield and his associates introduced dispensationalism to a wider audience in America and bestowed a measure of respectability through his Scofield Reference Bible. The publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909 by the Oxford University Press was something of an innovative literary coup for the movement, since for the first time, overtly dispensationalist notes were added to the pages of the biblical text. The Scofield Reference Bible became the leading bible used by independent Evangelicals and Fundamentalists in the U.S. for the next sixty years. Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952), strongly influenced by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, founded Dallas Theological Seminary in 1924, which has become the flagship of dispensationalism in America. Dispensationalism has come to dominate the American Evangelical scene, especially among nondenominational Bible churches, many Baptists, Armstrongists, and most Pentecostal and Charismatic groups.

Prior to dispensationalism's 19-20th century inception and systemazation, Covenant Theology was the prominent Protestant view regarding redemptive history and is still the view of the Reformed churches. A relatively recent view, which is seen as a third alternative, especially among Reformed Baptists, is called New Covenant Theology. Outside of Protestant Christianity, however, the other branches of Christianity (for example, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox) reject both dispensationalism and Covenant Theology.

Attitude to Judaism

Dispensationalist theology

Comparison of Christian millennial interpretations
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• the dispensation of innocence (Gen 1:1–3:7), prior to Adam's fall,
• of conscience (Gen 3:8–8:22), Adam to Noah,
• of government (Gen 9:1–11:32), Noah to Abraham,
• of patriarchal rule (Gen 12:1–Exod 19:25), Abraham to Moses,
• of the Mosaic Law (Exod 20:1–Acts 2:4), Moses to Christ,
• of grace (Acts 2:4–Rev 20:3 – except for Hyperdispensationalists), the current church age, and
• of a literal, earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom that has yet to come but soon will (Rev 20:4–20:6).

An alternative to this popular “seven-dispensations” approach comes with a rather simple and helpful observation from reading through the Bible with this careful question: How and by whom is God evangelizing lost men and women at any given time of human history even into the future? God through the ages has chosen to use people to evangelize other people with His gospel of redemption and salvation. An interesting pattern can be traced through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation: Beginnning with only various Gentile Nations; then Israel (through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Christ); then The Church, (our present age); then Israel for 7 years more (in the future); and then a Millennial, Earthly Kingdom of Christ –

• the dispensation or age of Gentile Nations (Gen 1-11), from Adam to Abraham’s Call;
• of Israel (Gen 12 – Acts 1), from Abraham’s Call to Pentecost in Acts 2;
• of The Church (Acts 2 – Rev. 2), from Pentecost in Act 2 to the end of The Church Age;
• of The (missionary) Tribulation of Israel (Rev. 6-19), A yet-future Seven-year period;
• of a literal, earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom with a rebuilt temple and reinstituted animal sacrifices and O.T. rituals that has yet to come but soon will (Rev 20:4–20:6).

The four basic tenets

1. A fundamental distinction between Israel and the present Body of Christ; that is, there are two peoples of God with two different destinies, earthly Israel (teaching the law and the Gospel of the Kingdom) and the heavenly Body of Christ (teaching the Gospel of the Grace of God).
2. A fundamental distinction between the Law and Grace; that is, they are mutually exclusive ideas.
3. The view that the Body of Christ and the Dispensation of Grace is a parenthesis in God's plan which was not foreseen by the Old Testament. The idea of the parenthesis does not indicate a failure in God's plan, but claims the "church" was not anticipated (or in view) in the prophecies of the Old Testament (this is why it is referred to as the "mystery" in Paul's Epistles).
4. A distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ; that is, the rapture of the church at Christ's coming "in the air" (1 Thess 4:17) precedes the "official" second coming by seven years of tribulation.

The various viewpoints within dispensationalism each have different levels to which the above four tenets are held. Classic and Traditional (or Revised) Dispensationalism are fairly firm in adherence to the above noted tenets. The Progressive branch of the theology loosens some of the above noted distinctions while the Hyper-Dispensational model would create a greater set of distinctives. In fact, most dispensationalists would consider both Progressive Dispensationalism and Hyper-Dispensationalism to be separate branches of theology from Dispensationalism, although Progressive Dispensationalism has become the main mode of teaching in virtually all of the traditionally Dispensational seminaries.

Influence of dispensationalist beliefs

Dispensationalism rejects the notion of supersessionism. It tends to go hand in hand with a very protective attitude toward the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel. John Nelson Darby taught, and most subsequent dispensationalists have consistently maintained, that God looks upon the Jews as his chosen people even if they remain in rejection of Jesus Christ and continues to have a place for them in the dispensational, prophetic scheme of things. While many traditions of Christianity teach that the Jews are a distinct people, irrevocably entitled to the promises of God (because, in the words of the epistle to the Romans, "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance"), dispensationalism is unique in teaching that the Church is a provisional dispensation, until the Jews finally recognize Jesus as their promised Messiah during the trials that dispensationalists envision coming upon the Jews in the Great Tribulation. Darby's prophecies envision Judaism as continuing to enjoy God's protection, parallel to Christianity, literally to the End of Time, and teach that God has a separate track in the prophecies for Jews apart from the Church. However, dispensationalists hold that God does not recognize Jew or Gentile today:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. (Romans 10:12, KJV)

Dispensationalism and Messianic Judaism

Disputed statements, per above: On the other hand, dispensationalists tend to be energetically evangelistic, with special interest in the Jews because they are "God's chosen people." Dispensationalist beliefs are widespread in many forms of Messianic Judaism, for example, which aggressively seeks the conversion of Jews to a form of Christianity mixed with Jewish culture and tradition. In some dispensationalist circles, the Jewish converts to Christianity are sometimes referred to as "completed Jews". Thus, while it is at odds with traditional supersessionism (which was formulated to discourage directly carrying over Jewish practice into the Christian Church), dispensationalism generally is markedly at odds with modern religious pluralism, which is typified by the view that proselytism of the Jews is a form of anti-Semitism. Also, some dispensationalists, such as Jerry Falwell, have asserted that the Antichrist will be a Jew, based on a belief that the Antichrist will falsely seem to some Jews to fulfill prophesies of the Messiah more accurately than Jesus did. This assertion stems from the dispensational belief that "he" who confirms "the covenant with many for one week" (Dan 9:27) refers back to "the prince that shall come" in verse 26. In turn, this "prince" will stand up "against the Prince of princes" and destroy many "by peace" (Dan 8:25); and will be responsible for the false "peace and safety" that will precede the destructive day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2–3). Many dispensationalists believe this man will be a Jew, based in part on John 5:43, where the Lord stated that the unbelieving Jews would receive another who "shall come in his own name" (as opposed to the Lord Himself, who came in the Father's name). Further evidence is from Daniel 11:37, "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all," although in a passage as late as Daniel, a better translation is probably that "He will reject the gods (Eloha) of his fathers." The prophet Daniel refers to this man as "a vile person", who will "obtain the kingdom by flatteries" (Dan 11:21). This belief is not essential to dispensationalism.

At any rate, dispensationalists are typically, in practical terms, Zionists and allies of the Jews and enthusiastic popularizers of Judaica, and foes of anti-Semitism (in the conventional sense).

Dispensationalism and world politics

Some dispensationalists teach that churches that do not insist on Biblical literalism as they deem appropriate are in fact part of the Great Apostasy. This casts suspicion on attempts to create church organizations that cross denominational boundaries such as the World Council of Churches.

Dispensationalism and United States politics