Dispensationalism

[Matt Black]

I'd be interested in the Catholic (or anyone else's) take on dispensationalism, particularly the pre-millenialist pre-tribulation rapture type, which seems to be massively popular amongst American fundamentalists including my fellow-Baptists; they would claim that this form of belief, particularly wrt eschatology, is historic and the ECFs such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus believed it, but I'm not convinced, and the earliest references I can find are Pseudo-Ephraim (not a reliable source IMO), a rather dodgy 17th century Jesuit whose name escapes me and, of course, J N Darby who propogated it from the 1830s, it then being popularised particularly in the US by the Scofield Reference Bible.

So, is this a historic belief or a more recent modernist heretical innovation? What are the facts - and opinions?

Yours in Christ

Matt

Edited March 2, 2005 by Matt Black

[argent_paladin]

What I find interesting about dispensationalism is that it contradicts sola scriptura. Dispensationalism is a way to interpret scripture but is not itself found in scripture. It believes that there is a non-scriptural hermeneutical key that unlocks the secrets of scripture. It says that the Old Testament is to be interpeted one way, the Gospels another and the letters another. If outside tradition is necessary for proper interpetation of the bible, then what was so wrong about the Catholic Church's interpeting the bible using tradition?
As far as the secret aspect goes also, it is a bit gnostic. The gnostics believed that the Bible and other writings contained secret messages that could only be understoo by special people. Even though many protestants emphasize that the bible is for everyone, they also imply that only the most learned or Spirit-filled can truly understand the secrets contained in the bible. This is especially true in interpeting Revelation or Daniel concerning the end times.
I just find it wildly ironic that Baptists are defending an interpretational tradition as being "historic" and look to ECFs for support of their interpetations. If they are valid authorites as to what is good scriptural interpretation, then what about the hundreds of witnesses to Catholic interpetation of scripture? Conveniently, those are ignored.

[WBOZ]

Matt

As a "reconciler" to Catholicism (the term convert has always grated me for some reason) not so long ago and the product of a Pre-Mil Baptist upbringing and private school education (K-College) the short answer is that the Church has specifically rejected the Pre-Mil view see the Catechism 676.

There is a short/concise tract on the Rapture at Catholic Answers, probably not exhaustive enough for your needs based upon a quick review of some of your other posts. I still haven't figured out how to paste in a weblink, but I would encourage you to go to Jimmy Akin's weblog and go to his Eschatology section he has an April 2004 weblog where he lists a brief series of resources on this subject from the Catholic perspective.

For what it is worth, my legally trained mind tends to like the way you assemble your thoughts and I am definitely praying for you as you seek out the truth about what the Church teaches and how it comports with historical Christianity.

WCB