The Kingdom Come

I graciously just received a copy of the DVD, The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise Of Dispensationalism released March 2009.  I would like to give a bit of a review of the 2 hour video put together by Nicenecouncil.com.

Obviously, the title of the DVD is a play upon the famous 1970 dispensational book by Hal Lindsey The Late Great Planet Earth.

My first impression was simply with the quality of the DVD.  Many Christian DVDs seem to be low-grade, typically by the poor lighting & single angle camera shots.  This DVD makes good use of lighting & transition between scenes.

As the video began, it accurately presented the Dispensational view & it makes the typical claims against it. I was worried that like many "anti-dispensational" efforts, this video would lend to the notion that for at least 150 years (the time of dispensationalism's dominance) the Church has failed.  Any time we Christians advocate the Church or Gospel has been lost completely, it seems a worse error arises & claims to be the "restoration" of the Church.  Further, many "anti-dispensational" efforts may do a good job at showing the flaws of dispensationalism but a poor job at showing the truth & continuity of Christianity BEFORE the rise of Dispensationalism.  I was encouraged that the introduction of this video did mention that historic Christian continuity.

I find it interesting how the DVD brings out that Dispensationalism as a movement didn't really have a specific leader as a cult may have.  This is significant to me in my interactions with hyperpreterists, as they try to claim they are not cultic because they have no individual leader.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Pastor Michael Leach speaking on the DVD -- as you may recall, Pastor Leach & I have done several podcasts together (see here).  He is an excellent theologian & historian & I am glad to see him participating in this project.

The video makes a few important points early on:

1. Dispensational eschatology is not an eschatology built on theology, but rather a theology built on eschatology.  Again, this is relevant to my own interactions with the hyperpreterists, since the same can be said of them.
2. Premillennialism & Dispensationalism are NOT the same thing, in that a person can be a premillennialist without being a Dispensationalist, but a person cannot be a Dispensationalist without being a premillennialist.

The video does take a refreshing approach since it doesn't bog the viewer down with all the history of the dispensational movement all at once, nor does it try to pin it on one person.  However, when the DVD does get into relating the history of Dispensationalism, I find it interesting how it notes the Dispensationalists in trying to defend the historicity of the movement often point to supposed "seeds" of Dispensationalism throughout history.  Again, this is a tactic of hyperpreterists.  I know I keep making the equation between Dispensationalism & Hyperpreterism, but from what I can see they are basically two sides of the same coin, or worse yet, Hyperpreterism is the "logical" rebellious, reactionary offspring of Dispensationalism.

Even more fascinating is when Dr. Kenneth Gentry relates an account where in 1971 ironically enough dispensationalist, Alan Patrick Boyd attempted to prove that Christianity had mainly been Dispensationalistic, but failing to prove this even to himself, Boyd instead concluded that the early Church was Dispensational but quickly lost that perspective until the 19th century.  Again, EXACTLY the argument hyperpreterists claim for their system.  Furthermore, the narrator, Jerry Johnson, president of Nicenecouncil.com points out how Dispensationalists attempt to claim specific early Church theologians were premillennial & thus "forerunners" of Dispensationalism & this too is what hyperpreterists do when they try to use some preteristic quote by a Church theologian & claim that the person was a "forerunner" of their system.

It is uncanny how the DVD brings out Dispensationalism's distinction of Israel & the Church as if both are covenant people of God even now, yet how historic Christianity relates the fulfillment of Israel in the Church -- not "replacement theology" but "fulfillment theology".  The infatuation that Dispensationalism has with Israel is interestingly akin to the infatuation that hyperpreterists have in trying to claim much of the "salvation/born-again" references in the N.T. supposedly only involve "old covenant Israel's" need to be "reborn" into a "new covenant" people.  Again, the connections between Dispensationalism & Hyperpreterism are amazing!

Wow!  When the DVD touches on how some Dispensationalists think that any time the word "dispensation" is used, even by non-dispensationalists, that it gives merit to the Dispensationalist system, it like a mirror of how Hyperpreterists have high-jacked the terms "preterist" & "preterism" & use them in such a way as if they own all rights to those words.

The most confusing point in the DVD comes from Gary DeMar, who although not a hyperpreterist himself is known for supporting hyperpreterists & treating them as if they are legitimately within the bounds of historic Christianity.  DeMar is addressing the fact that Dispensationalism would require that 1800 years of historic Christian interpretation be discarded & DeMar opposes such nonsense -- then I must ask why he doesn't apply the same reasoning to hyperpreterism, since it is more foreign to the historic Christian interpretation than even Dispensationalism.

I don't want to give away anymore of the DVD & encourage people to purchase it & view it with your church.  For those interested in examining the hyperpreterism comparison, simply think of the word "hyperpreterism" every place the DVD mentions Dispensationalism -- you'll be amazed how much it fits.  For example, Dispensationalist Elmer Towns, Dean of Liberty University once wrote:

"Dispensationalism is essential to correctly understand the Bible... No one will be able to rightly divide God's Word without understanding these great truths." -- Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, 1994 pg 84

Exchange the word "dispensationalism" with hyperpreterism & you will have the basic argument of every hyperpreterist today.

To purchase the DVD go to: The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise Of Dispensationalism