Book Review: After Dispensationalism (Irwin/Perry)

How do we understand the end of the world? When is it coming? Be there dragons? Will a third of the earth be killed off? When do Christians disappear in the rapture? Will the unfulfilled prophecies to Israel finally be fulfilled in the millennium? Speaking of prophecy, why is it so weird? Do we understand it literally? It is poetic? Hyperbole? Authors Brian Irwin and Tim Perry help us understand some of the tougher passages of the prophetic Scripture and how they applied directly to the people at that time. That is to say, Ezekiel spoke to people in his time. John the apostle wrote to people in the first century. They help us understand what other teachers believe about the end times, what is commonly taught under the system known as dispensationalism. This is a “theological approach” which “emphasizes the literal interpretation of Scripture and the precision and reliability of prophetic prediction” (35). There is more that could be said about the “Dispy” approach (see chapters 3–4), but we’ll use this for now. (I use the abbreviation Dispy for hopefully obvious reasons—it’s much easier for me to write and for you to read “Dispy” over “dispensational” again and again).

After Dispensationalism is divided into three parts:

• Part 1 (chs 1–4) looks at some core tenets and teachers of dispensationalism.
• Part 2 (ch 5) looks at the world of prophecy and apocalyptic literature.
• Part 3 (chs 6–8) looks at numerous passages from apocalyptic literature found in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation.

Part One

The authors show us in chapter 1 that Christian end-times speculation isn’t a new thing but has been around since the first- and second-century. What we need to remember is, first, not to make any predictions about the end of the world! But also that the biblical material made sense to the first audiences in their own socio-historical contexts. As the authors write, “in almost all cases, biblical prophecies were fulfilled during the lifetime of the original audience” (27).

Chapter 2 surveys Dispy teachers such as the father of Dispensationalism—John Nelson Darby. Other teachers such as Scofield, Chafer, and Pentecost are looked at as well, plus authors like Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye.

Chapter 3 looks at key tenets of Dispy theology:

• the restoration of Israel (Ezek 36–37),
• rebuilding the Jerusalem temple (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15–16),
• the rapture (1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess 4:16–18),
• the judgment seat of Christ (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10),
• the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:7–9),
• the great tribulation and the revived Roman empire (Ezek 39–39; Matt 24:4–28; Rev 6–19),
• the false prophet and the dragon (Rev 19:20),
• The 144,000 and the two witnesses (Rev 7:1–8),
• The battle of Armageddon and the return of Christ (Rev 16:12–16; 19:1–19),
• the millennium and the great white throne judgment (Ezek 40–48; Rev 19:20–20:15), and
• the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem (2 Pet 3:10–13; Rev 21–22).

And chapter 4 surveys their beliefs:

• The literal interpretation of Scripture,
• the different dispensations,
• the distinction of Israel and the church, and
• a pretribulation rapture and premillennialism.

Since dispy theology is extremely common, you may be very familiar with the theology given in these chapters. Regardless, you will better understand how Dispys read and understand the Bible.

Part Two

Chapter 5 begins with understanding literary genre. We intuitively shift genres when we read newspapers. We can move between the front page story, stocks, weather, the opinion column, and the comics with ease. As the authors note, “Knowing how to interpret the headline depends on preknowledge of the newspaper and its temperament” (111). So what is prophecy? The answer here is something most Christians would be surprised about. Prophecy isn’t purely about seeing the future. The prophets were “covenant enforcers” (117). When Israel stopped reflecting God’s character by not keeping his law, the prophets were their theological smoke detectors. We see that the “prophets mediated words of divine blessing when Israel was living in obedience to God, and warnings when they strayed” (118). The curses (coming from Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28) were not merely punitive, but corrective.

One aspect of prophecy that is pivotal to understand is that the “curses were framed as predictions with imminent expected fulfillment” (129). This is “critical to interpretation” (129). The authors observe, “Where much dispensational end-times teaching regards a great deal of prophecy as unfulfilled, we have countered above that it is actually related to the original audience’s immediate future” (129). They give examples through Amos, Hosea, and Ezekiel showing how the covenant curses appear in their instructions and prophecies.

The authors also lead us through apocalyptic literature and common features—dualism, visions, symbolism, the reuse of images, messianism, and more. This was the first time I’ve read a good argument for Daniel being written in the second century. I won’t go into now, as that might be something for a later blog post. But the authors made a good case while upholding the authority of Daniel.

Part Three

Chapters 6–8 cover the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation. The authors give us the setting and structure of each book before looking at specific passages and how we should understand them. For example, do Ezekiel 37–38 foretell the birth of modern Israel, chapters 38–39 describe Russia’s attack of Israel, and chapters 40–48 describe God’s millennium plan? Or does it have to do with Israel returning to the land, the battle of Gog, and the return of Israel to the land with all of its glory? Ezekiel’s visions spoke to his immediate exiled audience. He “prepares his audience for a new start with God in the land” (182). The only negative I have is that pages 182-83 repeat much of what is on 181-82. So very little is actually said about how to understand Ezekiel 40–48, although what is said is helpful.

The book ends with thirteen theses on encountering the end of the world. The book contains many helpful figures and tables (such as the two I’ve listed).

Recommended?

I attended Calvary Chapel Bible Colleges in Germany and England for a few years. At the time, I aligned with the dispensational teaching. It was the only one I had heard taught, and it made sense. Once I became an intern I began reading more widely and ended up dropping out of the dispensational system. I hope I have been as gracious to dispensational teachers as Irwin and Perry are here. They are extremely gracious toward the teachers and are apt at highlighting their passion for God’s word and understanding it. That said, they clearly show how understanding prophecy as having been given to a specific people at a specific time to be fulfilled within their time (for the most part) is a better way to understand the prophetic portions of Scripture. Well recommended.

Lagniappe

• Authors: Brian Irwin & Tim Perry
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Lexham Press (May 3, 2023)

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