Number of Dispensations (1/2)

Part One

INTRODUCTION: 1 PROLOGUE

A DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY

By Charles F Baker

Ehlert has compiled a history of dispensationalism which traces the various views on the subject from the beginning of the Christian era to the present.¹ The study reveals that students of the Word have broken down the entire redemptive history into anywhere from two to twelve distinct dispensations. No doubt the majority of those who call themselves dispensationalists today follow fairly closely Dr. Scofield’s outline of seven dispensations. Berkhof, a covenant theologian, opposes the Scofield view and states: “On the basis of all that has been said it is preferable to follow the traditional lines by distinguishing just two dispensations or administrations, namely, that of the Old, and that of the New Testament, and to subdivide the former into several periods or stages in the revelation of the covenant of grace.”² Hodge, another covenant theologian, recognizes four dispensations.³ It is interesting to note that these covenant theologians who see the present order as the last of the dispensations, completely overlook the fact that Paul speaks of a dispensation which is yet future, the dispensation of the fulness of times, (Ephesians 1:10), which fact, at once brands these schemes as inadequate.

1 Arnold D. Ehlert, A Bibliographic History of Dispensationalism (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965).

2 Berkhof, op. cit., p. 293.

4 Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1940) II, p. 373.

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