Why would the development of dispensationalism be undertaken? Can one not simply read the whole of scripture and apply it directly to his or her life?
The reason dispensationalism was formulated, aside from the scriptural support previously discussed, is that all scripture is not equally directly applicable to believers today. For example, the dietary laws of Leviticus 11 are not generally practiced today among Christians. Similarly, most Christians don’t practice the sabbath on Saturday. There are no animal sacrifices offered by believers today. Why are these, and many other things, not practiced?
Dispensationalism is one theology that attempts to explain why this is the case, though it is by no means the only theology that is intended for this purpose. Dispensationalism proposes that a change in dispensations has occurred with the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, which has freed believers from the bonds of the law that came before and ushered in a new economy in the purpose of God.
The purpose of dispensationalism then is to provide a framework to interpret scripture in a consistent manner.
The most important distinction between dispensationalism and other theological frameworks is what is called the literal interpretation method, or the method of ‘historical-grammatical hermeneutics’.
Two other theologies that endeavour to provide a framework to interpret scripture are covenant theology and progressive dispensationalism.
These other theologies and the methods of interpretation will be discussed in subsequent posts.
Thinking About The Truth 