Cover
story Piecing together Bibless puzzles
The system of biblical
interpretation known as dispensational premillennialism was developed in early
19th century by British writer John Nelson Darby. By the 20th century, it
gained prominence in the United States among fundamentalist Christians,
particularly through study notes written by Cyrus Scofield in the Scofield
Reference Bible, published in 1909. The beliefs were further popularized in the
early 1970s by Hal Lindseys bestseller, The Late Great Planet
Earth.
Adherents to this system divide world history into six or seven
dispensations, time periods in which God deals with humans in
distinctly different ways. The culmination of these dispensations will be
Christs thousand-year reign on earth.
Premillennial refers to the belief that Christ will return before
the millennial period of peace spoken of in Revelation will occur. They believe
world conditions will worsen until Christs return.
Biblical prophecy is viewed as a literal prediction of events in
the worlds history. Though many of the events in the end times scenario
are drawn from Daniel and Revelation, no single book of the Bible contains the
whole picture: Verses are pieced together like a puzzle.
The idea of the Rapture is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which
is interpreted as the event in which Christ raises all believers who have died
and all living Christians will be physically caught up and taken to heaven.
There is much debate as to when the Rapture occurs in the timeline of the
Tribulation. The authors of the Left Behind books take a pre-Tribulation
stance: The Rapture will take place just prior to the beginning of the
Tribulation.
In interpreting prophetic passages, a distinction is drawn between
Israel and the Christian church. Prophecies concerning Israel are expected to
be literally fulfilled in the history of the Jewish people as a nation, rather
than spiritually fulfilled in the life of the church. The establishment of the
nation of Israel in 1948 led many who espouse dispensational premillennialism
to believe that the end times are near.
--Teresa Malcolm
National Catholic Reporter, June 15,
2001
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