Dispensational eschatology is an incorrect hermeneutic

Marauder and I have come to an agreement on the order of debate. I want to thank him for accepting this debate. It is my favorite Biblical subject, and I'm sure this debate will be enlightening for both of us as Christian brethren. For the record, I grew up being taught the Dispensationalist view. However, I moved away from it a long time ago, as I feel the other views are superior to this one. Since the debate is framed as "Dispensational Eschatology," I will stick primarily with that instead of Dispensationalism Vs. Covenant Theology as whole systems. Point One: Dispensationalism interprets the Bible inconsistently The Dispensational "end times" viewpoint is characterized by several distinct teachings. These include an entirely futuristic interpretation of prophecy, Israel as being distinct from the Church, a future Tribulation period, pre-tribulational rapture (Pre-Trib as opposed to Mid- and Post-Trib), and so on. The first point I would like to make is that Dispensationalism holds to a method of interpretation that forces a "wooden" literalism upon texts when such is not intended by the author, nor warranted. I have heard with my own ears the rule of thumb for interpreting Scripture is to "interpret absolutely literally, except where that would make no common sense." Tim LeHaye agrees, saying: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, but take every word at its primary, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context clearly indicate otherwise." [1] Since this method has no real standard to go on, it is wide open for speculation and leads to "literally" endless conspiracy theories about Antichrist and other topics. Thus, the end result is Dispensationalism on many points is not consistent. One example, (and there are many), is in Revelation, the most symbolic book in the whole Bible. In Revelation 19 the Dispensationalist argues that Jesus upon the white horse must be taken absolutely literally, but in the same exact passage they argue that the sword coming out of the mouth of Christ is symbolic, representing the Word of God. Point Two: Dispensationalism leads to inconsistency This inconsistent method of interpretation leads to inconsistency in application. For example, in the seventies, it was all the furor that Anwar Sadat was the Antichrist, since he was the first one to successfully broker a peace deal with Israel. In the eighties, the Antichrist was thought to be Mikhail Gorbachev, especially since he had that "mark" on his forehead. Now a days, the Antichrist is President Obama. One only has to go to YouTube and find several videos that claim his name spells out something incriminating. [2] The speculations are endless. I know another guy who insists that Prince William is the Antichrist! As Gary DeMar states, "Why should we believe present-day prophetic prognosticators when we have been offered assurances of the identity of the Antichrist numerous times over the centuries?" [3] Point Three: Dispensationalism makes unfounded claims Dispensationalism also makes unfounded claims. For lack of space, I will mention one: Dispensationalists insist that the Great Tribulation is a 7 year period of time in the future, that it involves God's dealing with the geo-political nation of Israel, that it is Daniel's 70th Week, and that during this time Antichrist will rule the world. However, there is no scriptural backing for this. This is reflected in the fact that in every single other view of eschatology, even Historical Premillennialism, the Great Tribulation "proper" is taught to have taken place in the past, as God's judgment against Israel in the first century. Dr. G.R. Dawe, a historical Premillennialist states about the Dispensational version: "There arose in Christendom, about 150 years ago, a view of Christian doctrine not held before, that the church would be raptured home to glory before the great tribulation would break upon the world. Some who do not believe this doctrine, nevertheless believe in a comparatively short period of tribulation at the end of the age, through which we all must pass. We believe this to be an erroneous and unscriptural view…" [4] Even John Wesley, the father of Methodism, who, though he implies the term "Great Tribulation" could carry a further meaning, he specifically supports the 70 AD view overall and comments about Matthew 24:22, "And unless those days were shortened - By the taking of Jerusalem sooner than could be expected: No flesh would be saved - The whole nation would be destroyed. But for the elect's sake - That is, for the sake of the Christians." [5] Point Four: Dispensationalism is not orthodox This leads to my fourth point: that Dispensationalism is not orthodox. As my friend Marauder pointed out, I didn't adequately define orthodox. I accept the following definition (generally speaking) of "Orthodox" as defined by the World English Dictionary ~ "conforming to the Christian faith as established by the early Church." [6] (My apologies for inserting it in this round). Everyone likes to think that their doctrine is Apostolic. It is important that we can trace the development of our beliefs, therefore, throughout the historic Church. Though there are certainly divergent views, they all hold certain things in common. Dispensationalism was literally invented by John Nelson Darby in the 1800's. As Dr. Dawe stated previously, Dispensational views were not held by the Church before then. This means that it is virtually impossible that the Apostles held these views. Although I will concede that the Bible is the ultimate judge of truth, Keith Mathison states it best by saying: "For almost two thousand years, God has given the church gifted teachers whose insights into Scripture are invaluable. To neglect what these giansts of the Christian faith have said is not only presumptuous, but foolish." [7] 1. Tim LaHaye, No Fear of the Storm: Why Christians will Escape All the Tribulation (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1992), 240. No Fear of the Storm has been republished as Rapture Under Attack (1998) 2.http://.youtube.com/watch?v=bcbloBA2Lek 3.Gary DeMar, Last Days Madness, Ch. 11 4.http://www.historicism.com... 5.http://www.biblestudytools.com... 6.http://dictionary.reference.com... 7.Keith Mathison, Postmillennialism – An Eschatology of Hope, p. 23