I wrote this quite some time ago, but I thought it might amuse a few folks here. Enjoy!

Who is the father of Dispensationalism?


Alexander the Great. Yes, you heard me correctly. Not Darby, not Mackintosh, not even Moody or Scofield. It was Alexander the great. He is the father of Dispensationalism.

You see, his father, Philip II, was assassinated in 336 BC, and so he gained the throne of Macedonia. And, after spending some domestic time consolidating his throne, began to wage a war of conquest against Persia. Indeed, he defeated the army of Darius III at the battle of Issus in 333 BC, which led to his occupation of Israel. He continued pressing on, conquering Asia Minor, North Africa and southern Europe by 323 BC.

In 331BC, he took a break from his pillaging to make a pilgrimage to Egypt, specifically to the temple of Ra. Now in ancient Egyptian cultis, Ra is the sun god, and all of the pharaohs who ruled the land were his direct descendants; and therefor divine in and of themselves. Alexander, after making some impressive military accomplishments, also wanted this divine stamp upon his psyche. He too should be a divine ruler of men.

With his godhood firmly established in his imagination, he began his campaign to bring the entire world under his dominion, indeed under his very thought. Hellenization, as it is now known, had truly begun.

Under his thought. What was his thought? You see, this is a critical point. There are only two methods of thought in the world: Meaning- there are only two different methods employed by the human mind to conceptualize ideas. For this post, I’ll label them Eastern and Western. Alexander was a Western thinker. Western thought is organized by what is logical and rational. A Western thinker, when gathering the words that he/she wishes to say, does so categorically. Western thinkers are literal in their interpretation of data. Bear in mind, I’m speaking of how westerners are taught to think. Language and culture are learned at such a young age that I doubt any one reading this can tell me honestly that they can remember when they first spoke a complete sentence. Yes, Western thinkers can be irrational, illogical, and surreal. The real crux is how westerners filter their thoughts as they form them, and this was learned before they were even three years old.

Likewise, Eastern thinkers, from an extremely young age, organize their thought by what is historical and sensual (pertaining to the senses, not sexy stuff). An Eastern thinker, when gathering the words he/she wishes to say, does so linearly. Eastern thinkers are conceptual in their interpretation of data. History, lineage and imagery are critical to the Eastern thinker, for if the person they are communicating with does not share an intimate knowledge of a common history with the speaker, nothing of value will be communicated. Commonality is assumed in Eastern thought hence the emphasis on family, clan and tribe. Imagine how Abraham felt when he, as an Eastern thinker, was an alien in the land, and without a history. How terrible it is to have no one to talk to, no one to share ideas with. No one, that is, except the Lord. (Who else does one need?)

But back to Alexander. He has a problem. He’s just conquered an empire, most of which are Eastern thinkers. And, since he feels that he is a god, his empire needs to think his way. Hellenization was his method of making Eastern thinkers into Western thinkers by enforcing western culture and language.

And boy, were the Hebrews unhappy with that. Now Alexander Died in 323BC, but his legacy lives on. His domestic policies remained in place for another century or so. But after Antiochus came to power and really put the thumbscrews on Judaism, they revolted (Maccabean revolt, 167BC). Even so, in the eyes of the world, Judaism was nearing extinction. With the temple destroyed, no sacrifices could be made. It was during this time that synagogue worship began as a substitute for temple worship.

But the Hebrews survived, and began to rebuild their temple and their worship in 19BC.

Not long after this, the greatest moment in living history occurred.

Several witnesses to this began to write about it, and before the end of the first century, the New Testament was written. Challenge: It’s in Greek. The effects of Alexander’s policy rears its’ head. The Hebrews (Who wrote the bible) are Eastern thinkers. Now Paul was a master of explaining Eastern thought in a Western fashion. Also, the rest of the authors of the NT were likewise aware of Western thought concepts, for they were using a Western language designed to express Western ideas. However, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, not Greek. Hebrew is not Western whatsoever. For the writers of the NT, this was not a problem. They lived the history of the Hebrew people. They understood the Eastern meaning found in the OT.

Modern native Westerners are not so fortunate. For them to understand Eastern thought, they must become steeped in the history and imagery that the Easterners reply upon to be understood. Also, they must consciously strive to look for the concept and historical context of what is presented. Unfortunately, in America today, most Christians are unaware that there are two methods of thinking, much less prepare themselves properly before reading an Eastern document. Rather, they read the OT with no consideration for concept and historical context whatsoever. They read it as if it were a western document: literal, rational and logical. Obviously, the OT does contain literal, rational and logical things, but they are not expressed in the kind of terms that a Westerner would expect.

So, if you read the whole of the Bible with a purely Western perspective, the result will be Dispensationalism and Premillenialism...

…And, since it was Alexander the Great who caused all of the confusion, he is the true father of Dispensationalism.

Theognome

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Bill Cunningham
Covenant Reformed Church, URC
Kansas City
There are three kinds of people- those who can count, and those who can't.

These are my reactions (in order):






Pretty interesting.

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Daniel Franzen
Church Creek Presbyterian (PCA)
Charleston, SC

Very interesting stuff.

Welcomr to PB, Bill.

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Brad
Member- Eagle Heights PCA
Winchester, VA

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Cool!

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The man who is disposed to think of his sin as a great calamity, rather than as a heinous crime, is not likely either to reverence God or to respect His law. - John Kennedy, 1873
Meg
Blog
Member, Intown Presbyterian Church,PCA, Portland, OR

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Except, the Jews themselves had a Premillennial-esque eschatology even before time of Christ. Also, Augustine was trained in a Western/Latin academy and became the greatest proponent of amillennialism in the Western church.

But even more to the point, several of the major sources of Premillennialism today are Jews - see Arnold Fruchtenbaum's work Israelology, which includes a Premillennial system called Olive Branch (or tree, can't remember) Theology.

The diagnosis doesn't fit.

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student

The paper was written 'tongue in cheek', and really is more directed towards the Dispensational aspect of modern Christianity as opposed to eschatology. You are quite correct in your remarks, as Premillenialism was around for many centuries before the dispie crew ever thought up their stuff.

Theognome