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“Postmillennialism” comes from a term that means, literally, “after the thousand years”. Thus, it is essentially a way of interpreting Revelation 20, which six times mentions a period of a thousand years, during which Satan is bound and believers reign with Christ. Postmillennialists believe that Christ will return after a future golden age of prosperity on the earth, during which time the gospel will have been fruitful in all the world, bringing peace and security to all. Postmillennialists look to the many prophecies in the Old Testament which speak of a coming time of great blessing and prosperity (e.g. Psalm...

“Amillennialism” comes from a term that means, literally, “no thousand years”. Thus, it is essentially a way of interpreting Revelation 20, which six times mentions a period of a thousand years, during which Satan is bound and believers reign with Christ. Amillennialists believe that there will be no future thousand-year period of time when the Kingdom of God will be visibly flourishing in the world, and the whole earth will be fruitful and at peace. Speaking symbollically like the rest of Revelation, the millennium is simply a figurative way of speaking of a long period of time that is taking...

Not only does the bible not teach that there are two distinct peoples of God, Israel and the Church, but it is very explicitly opposed to this idea. For one thing, the Church existed in the Old Testament, long before the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 7:38); and furthermore, the clear teaching of the New Testament is that the modern day Church is really just the expansion of God's people Israel. According to Paul, being an Israelite has never been based merely on outward ethnicity (Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6-8); but those who have been called...

Full title: Does the bible teach that in the end times there will be a restored Jewish state and a restored temple? In the Old Testament, the bible does indeed prophesy that Israel will be restored and a more glorious temple will be rebuilt (e.g. Amos 9:11-12; Ezekiel 40-48). The preliminary fulfillment of this prophecy came with the return from exile, and the rebuilding of the temple under Nehemiah and Ezra; however, this was just a taste, or down payment, of the ultimate fulfillment. When Jesus came to this earth, his incarnation truly brought the presence of God to the...

The doctrine of a pre-tribulational rapture is not clearly taught anywhere in the scriptures, but is an inference based upon several Dispensational premises: first, that the second coming of Christ is imminent (that is, that there are no prophetic events which must precede it); second, that the “Church Age” is a parenthetical part of God's redemptive sign, and that he will one day revert to dealing with his earthly people, the Jews; and third, that the time in which he will deal with these Jews will be a seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation, which is yet to come....

According to influential author Charles Ryrie, whose views are perhaps the most representative of popular Dispensationalism, there are three “sine qua non,” (i.e. non-negotiables) of what constitutes Dispensationalism: a doxological view of history (i.e., with the ultimate purpose of glorifying God), a literal hermeneutic (i.e. method of interpreting the bible), and an ongoing distinction between the two peoples of God, Israel and the Church. A doxological purpose for all of history is certainly not unique to Dispensationalism, however, and is affirmed by many non-Dispensational theologians; so the question of whether or not Dispensationalism is biblical must hinge on what the...

How do we who call ourselves followers of the Lord of Life respond to the  chilling report that “40,000 bodies have been buried and there could be 200,000 dead in Haiti.” That paralyzing news is what we heard from the report of Shepherd Smith of Fox News on this date.[1] The earthquake in Haiti that has shaken the tiny Caribbean nation to death, but is also shaking our consciences and our souls with questions. Many are asking the great existential questions about God even as the Church is already deploying people with help and hope in His Name. There are...

Dispensationalism is a relatively modern hermeneutic, or way of interpreting the scriptures, that has roots in the teachings of John Darby, was greatly popularized by C. I. Scofield, through the notes in his study bible, became influential through the establishment of Dallas Theological Seminary and many of its professors, including Lewis Sperry Chafer and Charles Ryrie, and has been greatly sensationalized and made influential at a popular level through the fiction and dramatic predictions and interpretations of authors such as Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye. Today, Dispensationalism is hugely influential worldwide, having a significant impact not just on the doctrine...

The gospel is not something man made up or a well-informed opinion, but is good news directly revealed from Almighty God regarding what He has done in Jesus Christ to rescue all those who have called on His name. The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again for our justification, eternally triumphing over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe. It is a declaration about what He has done, not what what we are to do. It is...

The “analogy of faith” is a reformed hermeneutical principle which states that, since all scriptures are harmoniously united with no essential contradictions, therefore, every proposed interpretation of any passage must be compared with what the other parts of the bible teach. In other words, the “faith,” or body of doctrine, which the scriptures as a whole proclaim will not be contradicted in any way by any passage. Therefore, if two or three different interpretations of a verse are equally possible, any interpretation that contradicts the clear teaching of any other scriptures must be ruled out from the beginning. Another related...

Although it is a common sentiment today to deny that a literal, grammatical-historical hermeneutic could allow for any sensus plenior in the text of scriptures, because it would violate the principle of each text having only one meaning, the simple fact is that this understanding is based more upon a naturalistic, or literalizing hermeneutic, than the grammatical-historical hermeneutic of the Church Fathers and Reformers. But more to the point, this denial of sensus plenior is in direct contradiction to the testimony of the scriptures themselves, as to how they should be read and understood. Throughout the Old Testament, the bible...

Why God Hates Haiti The frustrating theology of suffering. By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK Published Jan 15, 2010 From the magazine issue dated Jan 25, 2010 Haiti is surely a Job among nations. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere: half its population lives on less than a dollar a day. With 98 percent of its forests felled and burned for firewood, Haiti is uniquely vulnerable to flooding from hurricanes. In 2008 four storms in as many weeks left a million homeless. Haiti has an infant-mortality rate worse than that of many African nations, and its people are...

“Sensus plenior” is a Latin term which means, literally, “fuller sense,” or “deeper meaning”. The term “sensus plenior” is used to refer to those passages which, at their most obvious level speak of one person or event, but which also have a deeper meaning hinted at through that specific event in question. In other words, “sensus plenior” is the term which acknowledges that some historical persons and events in the Old Testament are really “types,” and that the passages treating of those persons and events speak not just of themselves alone, but also of the “antitypes” (i.e., the fulfillments of...

Full Title: Wasn't the Old Testament written especially to the Jews, so that it doesn't apply in the same way to Christians? The Old Testament was written particularly to the Jews, whom God called out from all the nations to be his special people (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:6); and so, Paul speaks of the privilege of the Jews as being very great, and consisting most especially in this, that they were given the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2). Elsewhere, Paul consistently speaks of the Jews as having a definite temporal priority in God's redemptive design (just as Christ had taught before...

Full Title: Isn't it reading too much into the Old Testament to see references to Christ on every page? The fact that the message of Christ crucified and exalted is whispered on every page of the Old Testament is argued for throughout the New Testament, and may be clearly discerned in how the first apostles interpreted and applied various Old Testament passages in their sermons and writings (e.g. Acts 2:22-36; 15:12-21; 1 Cor. 10:1-13, to name but a very few). A good exemplary passage would be Hebrews 8:5, which refers to the Old Testament tabernacle and priestly duties as “types...

According to the New Testament, and to Christ himself, the entire corpus of Old Testament scriptures teach of Christ in every part; thus, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for failing to see him in the Old Testament (John 5:39-40); he calls his own disciples fools and slow of heart not to see how, from the first books of Moses to the last of the prophets, the Old Testament taught of Christ's passion and victorious ascension (Luke 24:25-27); and then, he opens their hearts to understand that everything in the Law, Psalms, and Prophets (shorthand for the entire Old Testament scriptures) taught...

FULL TITLE: Is a “grammatical-historical hermeneutic” different from a “Christ-centered hermeneutic”? According to Martin Luther, who led the return to a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, there was no difference whatsoever between that and the “hermeneutic of Christ”; in fact, his grammatical-historical hermeneutic was, in his own words, simply the interpretation that “drives home Christ”. Or, as he elsewhere expressed it, “He who would read the Bible must simply take heed that he does not err, for the Scripture may permit itself to be stretched and led, but let no one lead it according to his own inclinations but let him lead it...

Full Title: Theological FAQ: What does the term “grammatical-historical hermeneutic” mean, and why is it important? In 1515 AD, Martin Luther rejected the elaborate four-fold hermeneutic that had been predominant throughout the Medieval centuries, and which led to some very far-fetched allegorizing of the bible, leaving scriptural interpretation in the hands of the experts, who alone were capable of figuring out the secret things that bible passages really meant. This would eventually lead to the great Protestant Reformation, which is therefore, most fundamentally, a hermeneutically-driven struggle. In place of this allegorical hermeneutic, Luther proposed what he termed a “grammatical-historical” hermeneutic....

If we desire to study the bible, we must realize from the outset that there are certain rules or principles that we must keep in mind, if we would understand it accurately, and so be able to apply it appropriately. The study of the principles of interpretation that we use to help us understand the bible is called “hermeneutics”; and the hermeneutic that we have when we approach the text is of paramount concern, because it will shape our understanding of everything we read. Although many Christians may not even know what the term “hermeneutics” means, yet in truth, everyone...

In this era of redemptive history, God has chosen to preserve his truth within the universal Church that he established with his blood; and hence he calls the Church “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), and exhorts believers to obey the Church's elders who labor in the word and doctrine (1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17); however, the bible also indicates that it is necessary and honorable for individual believers to be studying the scriptures daily, to see if the things taught by the Church leaders, no matter how prominent they might be, are according to the...