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27 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dispensing with Dispensationalism, April 2, 2004
Growing up in a "fundamental Baptist" church I received nothing but the "Bible Truth" of the "end times", i.e., the eschatological system called Dispensationalism. Always had a twinge of concern about what I was hearing--so often the Bible proof texts offered to certify tenets of Dispensationalism didn't seem to really say what my teachers said they said. But what did I know? I was just a kid, they were the smart adults...Reading the Bible for myself, cover to cover, year after year (trying to, anyway) led me to deeply question and doubt much of the eschatological notions I'd received from my upbringing. But not until God blessed me by some meetings with the late Dr. John Gerstner did I encounter "Wrongly Dividing the Word Of Truth." Reading this book confirmed for me that I had sound reason for all the disquiet in my soul. Much of what Dr. Gerster covered I'd sort of figured out for myself, from Scripture--but only in this work did I find a careful, historical and Scriptural demolition of the doctrine. "Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth" rewards careful study. The author spends much time showing the historical roots and branches of dispensational development. He also demonstrates its Biblical and historical novelty, lack of support in the Church, and its logical fallacies and inconsistencies. Some readers may find these topics dry--I didn't, but I like reading Church history and the study of ideas and their development. Of greatest interest, I think, for the Church as a whole: Dr. Gerstner shows how the evangelical churches of North America have departed theologically from their Reformation roots. Many if not most of the "dispensational" churches arise not from the 16th-17th century Reformation but from the "holiness" movements of the 19th century. Those sects uniformly rejected the sovereign grace of God in saving dead sinners, in favor of a Finneyan/Wesleyan notion of man saving himself by his "deciding for Christ". If God no longer controls the eternal destiny of individuals (humanistic soteriology), then why should we assume that He controls the destiny of the earth? What we believe about God and about His work matters--at EVERY level of thought. Dr. Gerstner (a sound Westminster Confession adherent) demonstrates how dispensational unsoundness on basic theology and soteriology leads directly to unsoundness in eschatology. Dr. Gerstner quotes published works of dispensationalists over the years, showing their unsoundness in their own words. That dispensationalism now recedes in the Church becomes plainer with each passing year. I like to believe that our Lord has used Dr. Gerstner's challenging book to produce at least some of that benefit. I heartily endorse the book to all serious Christian readers.
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