ECT Dispensationalism - Taught In the Southern Baptist Seminary?

[northwye]

Dispensationalism - Taught In the Southern Baptist Seminary?

In the last few days on Facebook I interacted with the present day Preacher of the Southern Baptist Church I was a member of when I was high school age. He said "Well, I can tell you when I was in seminary (1990-1995) dispensationalism was not taught and the priesthood of the believer was taught. The push for dispensationalism may be as you describe but I know very few preachers today who are dispensational in their beliefs."

I have been curious about who runs Theology Online and what the position of the person or persons who runs it is on dispensationalism. Now I know more about the position of TOL on these issues then I knew before my thread on Chuck Baldwin was closed. Chuck Baldwin is fairly well known, or was not long ago, and he was known as a dispensationalist. For him to come to oppose dispensationalism is not good for the theology.

With only one exception, all the Christian forums I have been on are dispensationalist. I got booted out of Talk Jesus about four years ago for making posts critical of dispensationalism and for writing about Dean Gotcher. It was the moderator of Chad Abizeid who threw me out of the forum, not the owner, Chad Abizeid, who has a reputation for kicking people out of his forum for being critical of dispensationalism. The one exception of a Christian Forum which is not dispensationalist I was on is called Christian Wilderness Forum. It is run by a couple who are critical of dispensationalism, but its not a very active forum compared to TOL.

 

[Aimiel]

Welcome to TOL. No one will kick you out for having opposing views. That's what TOL is for. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; for iron sharpens iron.

 

[northwye]

I am not new to TOL. I have been on TOL since June of 2012. I don't know yet if anything has changed on TOL regarding criticism of dispensationalism. Having a thread closed is only one step from getting booted out.

 

[JudgeRightly]

I am not new to TOL. I have been on TOL since June of 2012. I don't know yet if anything has changed on TOL regarding criticism of dispensationalism. Having a thread closed is only one step from getting booted out.

Your thread was closed because it was flame-bait, as Sherman explained to you.

https://theologyonline.com/showthread.php?p=5334614

 

[northwye]

"However, after MUCH prayer and personal study, I am now convinced that dispensationalism is a huge Biblical heresy; that the modern Zionist State of Israel is NOT the fulfillment of ANY Biblical prophecy and has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant; and that, instead, Zionism is perhaps Satan’s greatest tool to destroy America’s Christian culture and whatever vestiges remain of our constitutional system of government and the liberties enshrined in our Bill of Rights.' This is a quote from Chuck Baldwin

"Baldwin says "I never searched the Bible independently and objectively for myself to discover the truth, but I used the scripture to try to justify what I was taught and what I believed." He added that what he believed about dispensationalism was what 'somebody had taught me.'"

Baldwin says "Christ is not the foundation of their Eschatology or Theology, but Israel is."

If you define "Flame-bait" as any statement that might trigger anger in a dispensationalist, maybe Sherman is right, that Baldwin is making statements about dispensationalism that are "infammatory."

And so as Dean Gotcher was a taboo subject for Talk Jesus back in 2015, so now in 2019 Chuck Baldwin is a Taboo Subject for Theology Online.

http://www.reformedreader.org/hda.htm

"Historically, the Southern Baptist churches were not Dispensational in theology. None of our leading seminaries or colleges ever taught Dispensationalism and to the present day they do not teach Dispensationalism."

"I believe I am safe in saying that Dr. Wally Amos Criswell has been the most influential and articulate Southern Baptist Dispensationalist. Dr. Criswell is one of the great, esteemed and respected leaders of our denomination and every Southern Baptist is deeply indebted to him as a defender of the Bible and conservative Christianity. Where and how this great leader got his Dispensationalism I do not know. I do know that he did not get it at Baylor in his college days. He did not get it at Southern in his seminary days, and he did not get it from his great predecessor, George W. Truett, who pastored the First Baptist Church in Dallas, for 47 years before Dr. Criswell. George W. Truett was a postmillennialist."

"There are other good men in the Southern Baptist Convention who have Dispensational views, but they did not get these views in our schools or seminaries. They did not get them from our Baptist fathers or from our Baptist historical roots."

"If we apply the pragmatic test and ask the question, "Does it work?" The answer is, "yes."

If we apply the same test and ask the same question to:
Jehovah's Witnesses, the answer would be yes.
The Mormons, the answer would be yes, it works.
The Roman Catholic Church-yes, it works.
The Charismatic movement-yes, it works."

"They all have many converts and followers. They build schools, churches and have missionaries and great accomplishments-but, there is another, more important question that needs to be asked. Is it true, is it Biblical? This question will bring a different answer."

"The issue before us is not a few minor differences or disagreements between those who hold basically the same position. It is not just a difference in eschatology. It is the whole system of theology that touches every major doctrine of Christianity. What is at stake is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and the sinner's assurance that he is living according to God's plan for history."

The last paragraph above might be said to be "flame-bait" in that it could trigger the anger of a dispensationalist

If the dispensationalists on TOL were lucid they might oppose the making of Chuck Baldwin's statements into "flame-bait" and shutting down my thread on him. First Amendment rights apply to both sides of the argument over dispensationalism.

 

[JudgeRightly]

"However, after MUCH prayer and personal study, I am now convinced that dispensationalism is a huge Biblical heresy; that the modern Zionist State of Israel is NOT the fulfillment of ANY Biblical prophecy and has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant; and that, instead, Zionism is perhaps Satan’s greatest tool to destroy America’s Christian culture and whatever vestiges remain of our constitutional system of government and the liberties enshrined in our Bill of Rights.' This is a quote from Chuck Baldwin

"Baldwin says "I never searched the Bible independently and objectively for myself to discover the truth, but I used the scripture to try to justify what I was taught and what I believed." He added that what he believed about dispensationalism was what 'somebody had taught me.'"

Baldwin says "Christ is not the foundation of their Eschatology or Theology, but Israel is."

If you define "Flame-bait" as any statement that might trigger anger in a dispensationalist, maybe Sherman is right, that Baldwin is making statements about dispensationalism that are "infammatory."

And so as Dean Gotcher was a taboo subject for Talk Jesus back in 2015, so now in 2019 Chuck Baldwin is a Taboo Subject for Theology Online.

http://www.reformedreader.org/hda.htm

"Historically, the Southern Baptist churches were not Dispensational in theology. None of our leading seminaries or colleges ever taught Dispensationalism and to the present day they do not teach Dispensationalism."

"I believe I am safe in saying that Dr. Wally Amos Criswell has been the most influential and articulate Southern Baptist Dispensationalist. Dr. Criswell is one of the great, esteemed and respected leaders of our denomination and every Southern Baptist is deeply indebted to him as a defender of the Bible and conservative Christianity. Where and how this great leader got his Dispensationalism I do not know. I do know that he did not get it at Baylor in his college days. He did not get it at Southern in his seminary days, and he did not get it from his great predecessor, George W. Truett, who pastored the First Baptist Church in Dallas, for 47 years before Dr. Criswell. George W. Truett was a postmillennialist."

"There are other good men in the Southern Baptist Convention who have Dispensational views, but they did not get these views in our schools or seminaries. They did not get them from our Baptist fathers or from our Baptist historical roots."

"If we apply the pragmatic test and ask the question, "Does it work?" The answer is, "yes."

If we apply the same test and ask the same question to:
Jehovah's Witnesses, the answer would be yes.
The Mormons, the answer would be yes, it works.
The Roman Catholic Church-yes, it works.
The Charismatic movement-yes, it works."

"They all have many converts and followers. They build schools, churches and have missionaries and great accomplishments-but, there is another, more important question that needs to be asked. Is it true, is it Biblical? This question will bring a different answer."

"The issue before us is not a few minor differences or disagreements between those who hold basically the same position. It is not just a difference in eschatology. It is the whole system of theology that touches every major doctrine of Christianity. What is at stake is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and the sinner's assurance that he is living according to God's plan for history."

The last paragraph above might be said to be "flame-bait" in that it could trigger the anger of a dispensationalist

If the dispensationalists on TOL were lucid they might oppose the making of Chuck Baldwin's statements into "flame-bait" and shutting down my thread on him. First Amendment rights apply to both sides of the argument over dispensationalism.

No one said that you are not allowed to discuss dispensationalism.

In fact, [MENTION=12969]Sherman[/MENTION] said the opposite...

...Yes you can argue against Dispensationalism and Zionism but avoid flame baiting terms such as 'cult' and 'satanic'

 

[Sherman]

The Opening post was fine but post # 5 led to the thread being shut down. Please do not post polemics such as labeling a mainline Christian group as 'satanic' a 'cult' ect. Dispensationalists and Christian Zionists are mainstream Christian groups. Please refute using Scripture and reasoning rather than polemics.