WHAT ABOUT THE KINGDOM? ď‚Ż 293
"dispensationalism." This systematic way of interpreting the Bible has been attributed to J.N. Darby and C.I. Scofield, among others, and is widely taught among evangelicals and at such dispensationalist institutions as Dallas Theological Seminary. There are, however, several variations within dispensationalism —distinctions of which it is not necessary to take note. The major opposition to dispensationalism among evangelicals comes from "Reformed" or "Covenant" theology. Again there are variations within these views which we don't have time to discuss, so we will be speaking broadly. Proponents of Reformed theology claim that its view of eschatology (postmillennial or amillennial) is the majority view today and that it held sway throughout history until the early 1800s, when Darby popularized dispensationalism. Indeed, post-millennialism or amillennialism (the small distinction between the two is unimportant to our discussion) did dominate the religious scene because they were Roman Catholic doctrine and anything else was punished as heresy. It seems odd for those who claim a Reformation heritage to defend their views by saying that they were always held by the Roman Catholic Church! Indeed, when it comes to eschatology, Reformed theology is poorly named. It retained Roman Catholic views which had developed as a result of Rome's apostasy. Claiming to be the true Israel, the Roman Catholic Church became obsessed with taking over the world and lost the hope of the Rapture. Following in Rome's footsteps, Luther and Calvin made their alignments with the secular powers of this world. Reformed theology retained the Catholic view that we are in the millennium now, that the Church is in the process of taking over the world and even that Satan has already been locked up. Imminency is rejected. Christ is allowed to return only at the end of the millennium. Revelation 20 twice declares that the saints reign with Christ over the earth for 1000 years and that this reign follows a future battle of Armageddon. Nevertheless, such Scriptures are not taken literally by those of Reformed persuasion. Instead, the millennium is already present and will last not a literal 1000 years but for an indefinite period of time—perhaps many thousands of years. http://www.servantofmessiah.org