The first systematic expression of dispensationalism was formulated by J. N. Darby sometime during the late 1820s and 1830s in the British Isles. I believe that Darby’s development was the culmination of various influences which produced within his thought one of the most literal approaches to Bible interpretation in history and a theology which distinguishes God’s plan for Israel from God’s plan for the church. The most well known feature of dispensational theology is the much-debated pretribulational rapture doctrine...
One of the ongoing controversies between dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists revolves around what the church has historically believed or not believed on issues relating to dispensationalism. One of the major lines of, attacks commonly employed by opponents of dispensationalism is to say that the system of theology is so new and unique that it cannot be Biblical or it would have developed earlier. Most dispensationalists have replied, like Martin Luther did to the Roman Church, that the issue should be settled on the basis of exegesis and what the Bible teaches, not what the church has historically believed...
I have on more than one occasion heard Bible teacher Chuck Missler say that there is only one piece of real estate on planet earth where God has specifically said that it belongs to a specific people and that is Israel. Yet, that specified land is the most contested on the entire planet. This is true because God has spoken specifically on the matter. The fact that God's clear Word is contested by so many means that Satan is behind such a consensus...
What did you do interesting this past summer? Dave Hunt and I added a little extra heat to the atmosphere when we engaged Dominionists in a debate on July 29, 1989 in Dallas, Texas. The exchange was sponsored by The John Ankerberg Show and the National Religious Broadcasters. The Reconstructionists put up Greg Bahnsen and Ken Gentry to represent their side. However, a few weeks before the debate Gary DeMar replaced Bahnsen because Greg’s poor health prevented him from travel. In the first debate (April 14, 1988) hosted by Dominion Press, Dave and I debated Gary North and Gary DeMar, also in Dallas...
Over the years I have had hundreds of discussions with many people about the timing of the rapture. Of course, I strongly believe that the New Testament indicates that the Church will be raptured before the tribulation. One of the key reasons I think this is because I believe the Bible teaches that the rapture is a distinct event from Christ's second coming to the earth. In any consideration of the truthfulness of pretribulationism this issue is of crucial importance...