Dispensationalist thinking - right or wrong? All the fringe religious sects, and even some mainline Christian churches, adopt a dispensationalist policy these days. Dispensationalists are people who believe that the gifts of the Spirit, such as tongues, healing, prophecy etc all disappeared with the death of the apostles. The text they generally base this assumption is 1Corinthians 13:8, which reads "But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away" While the text indicates that these gifts will indeed pass away, vs 9,10 reads "For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears".(NIV) Now it's quite obvious that perfection has NOT come, and therefore it would be logical to believe that the gifts of the Spirit are still available today. Also, vs 8 says that knowledge, which obviously means spiritual or scriptural knowledge, will also disappear. Such an event would make a nonsense of many of the publications the fringe sects and cults rely on. For example, if knowledge had disappeared, the progressive revelation championed by the Jehovah's Witnesses, or "new light" as they call it, would be impossible. The Mormons are dispensationalist in belief, so how did the Book of Mormon come into being? Even the Trinity, which just about all mainstream Christians believe in, would have been impossible without the gift of knowledge. It is very difficult for people like the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Unitarians, Christadelphians and several other fringe sects to argue in favour of their dispensationalist views from Scripture. Perhaps they ought to consider why the gifts of the Spirit do not appear available to them. Many seem to relegate Jesus to a lesser position than the one the Bible indicates he occupies, denying him worship of any kind. In the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, their rather distinctive translation of the Bible, the New World Translation, appears to be written with a view to denying Jesus his rightful place in the scheme of things (see John 1:1, Col 1:15-17, Heb 1:17, the NWT can be viewed on the Watchtower's website www.watchtower.org ) Despite the evidence, the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and other fringe sects cling almost fanatically to their dispensationalist ideas, even relegating the Holy Spirit to an active force rather than the third person in the Trinity. This is a great pity, as some of them, particularly the Witnesses, are very zealous to spread their version of the Bible story. How effective they could be if only they could grasp the truth!
Your opinion?someone sent me this
by mouthy 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sacolton
I agree with the message. The truth is not within these sects.
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snowbird
Dispensationalists, premillenialists, amillenialists, etc., all share the same outlook, which is trying to outguess God Almighty.
I try to keep in mind this trusty gem from the Apostle Paul according to the faithful old King James Version:
1 Corinthians 2::2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
If all determined to do this, it would prevent a lot of heartache and grief.
Sylvia
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passwordprotected
Excellent points.
A very recent public edition WT has an article on healing. It mentions that, along with healing, tongues etc, "[divinely revealed] knowledge" would be done away with. Yes. It actually says that. In the Watchtower. Doesn't that put paid to any claim the WT may have about them being the only ones to have the truth, the only ones to understand the event of 1914, the only ones to understand the identity of the Great Crowd etc etc etc? -
passwordprotected
Excellent points.
A very recent public edition WT has an article on healing. It mentions that, along with healing, tongues etc, "[divinely revealed] knowledge" would be done away with. Yes. It actually says that. In the Watchtower. Doesn't that put paid to any claim the WT may have about them being the only ones to have the truth, the only ones to understand the event of 1914, the only ones to understand the identity of the Great Crowd etc etc etc? -
isaacaustin
Deut 29:29
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
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kurtbethel
I always figured that if you do not have the gifts of the spirit, it is because you have no spirit. Interesting how that view negates dispensationalist ideas. It will come up in a future study. Thanks.
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Elsewhere
I think the whole bible is a load of BS. Why do people devote so much time and energy into dissecting a pile of shit?
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mouthy
LOL elsewhere Reading your post & looking at your profile ....it matches !!!!!
I hope you had a good day darling..... " Oh the gift that God had give us ,to see ourselves as others see us"
Now you can post a nasty post about MY profile
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orangefatcat
perhaps to you Elsewhere that is what the bible means but to those of us who beleive in it it is not bs. It is alive and is powerful and I am a little dissapointed in the way you expressed it.
I know we all have our own opinions Elsewhere but it can be said in a nicer way don't you think so?
Orangefatcat