Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Will Dispensationalism Survive?

By Ken Gentry, Th.D., Director, NiceneCouncil.com

Dispensationalism is a resiliant theological system that somehow weathers its own failures. The modern fundamentalist sees the system as "plain and simple," pure Scripture clearly stated.

Somehow they keep overlooking their failures and their changing system. Consider Hal Lindsey's notorious failures: 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. Oops! Perhaps there is a "gap" in the countdown.

Then his follow-up failure: Planet Earth 2000: Will Mankind Survive? Well, yes: in fact, it will.

To make matters worse, the more intellectual types are abandoning the old-line dispensational ship. They have created what they call "Progressive Dispensationalism." This approach effectively abandons the distinctives of dispensationalism, while maintaining only its premillennialism.

And now comes our documentary expose: "The Late Great Planet Church" from NiceneCouncil.com. This will surely stir up a storm of controversy. Hopefully the storm will knock the lid down over dispensationalism's casket from which it keeps arising. Surely this will help stop dispensationalism frmo sucking the blood out of Christianity's integrity.

When will the Christian-in-the-pew finally have enough of the embarrassment of continuing failed predictions? When will they realize their intellectual forces are abandoning them. Perhaps the televangelists and the novelists can fan the flames for awhile longer, but eventually this fire will soon be extinguished. Perhaps "The Late Great Planet Church" will move us closer to that day.