Review of Dispensationalism
Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Revised and Expanded.Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007, pp. 272, $15.29, paperback.
Dispensationalism is a significant work in the field of theological and hermeneutical studies. It provides a framework on how to interpret Scripture. This book is a great reference point for classical dispensationalists. Students should approach this text to grasp the main arguments for dispensationalism and how it has historically been articulated by one of the leading voices on the subject – Charles Ryrie.
Charles Ryrie (1925-2016) earned his Th.M. and Th.D. at Dallas Theological Seminary and later completed a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He became a notable voice and theologian of classical dispensationalism due to this book, which was first published in 1966 and his editorial work on The Ryrie Study Bible – first published in 1978. Ryrie retired as the Dean of Doctoral Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1983. At the end of his academic career he published over 25 books.
Ryrie begins Dispensationalism by stating its purpose. He explains, when addressing the first edition of this book, “its purpose was to present classic dispensational teaching in a positive way in order to correct misunderstandings and allay suspicions about it” (p. 14). This remained the purpose of his later revisions of this work, including this current edition. In order to carry out this purpose, the first chapter presents the broad scope of the book by asking the question, “Is dispensationalism helpful or heretical?”
Chapters two and three guide the reader with suggested descriptions and definitions of dispensationalism. Chapter two seeks to answer the question, “What is a dispensation?” while chapter three answers the question, “What are the dispensations?” A concise definition Ryrie gives is that, “A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose” (p. 33). Both of these chapters built the foundation for chapters four through twelve. However, one of the most important sections in these two chapters is when Ryrie lays out the three marks of dispensationalism. These three marks, the sine qua non, are what marks off a person as a dispensationalist, according to Ryrie. They include:
- “A dispensationalist keeps Israel and the church distinct” (p. 46).
- “This distinction between Israel and the church is born out of a system of hermeneutics that is usually called literal interpretation” (p. 47).
- “The underlying purpose of God in the world… [is] the glory of God” (p. 48).
From these three markers, Ryrie spends chapters three through eight expounding on classical dispensationalism by looking at topics such as the distinct dispensations, the origin, the hermeneutics, salvation, the church, and eschatology, respectively. In chapters nine through eleven, two nuanced versions of dispensationalism are presented such as Progressive Dispensationalism and Ultradispensatinalism, and one distinct view – Covenant Theology. Finally, in chapter twelve, Ryrie gives a plea for his readers about fellowship and unity. He makes the point that whether you are dispensational or not, Christians are to remain united in their common beliefs about Christ and salvation.
While Ryrie seeks to fairly represent the opposing positions his attempts sometimes fall short. While this is not the main focus of the book, it still plays a major role in it. He falls short in fairly representing Covenant Theology throughout the book. This likely happens because Ryrie makes many short and bold claims about Covenant Theology in order to make comparisons between it and dispensationalism before he ever gets to the chapter he dedicates to Covenant Theology
There are three major items worth analyzing that show up throughout this book. Two are positive critiques and one is negative. However, as this book stands, for almost 60 years from its first edition, it remains a helpful guide and one of the leading voices in dispensational discussions today.
The first positive critique of this volume is that he compares and contrasts competing positions throughout this entire work. Ryrie does well to articulate various positions such as covenant theology, progressive dispensationalism, and ultradispensationalism. He does this to attempt a fair representation of other viewpoints. Ryrie desires to be careful in this arena, because he rightly points out how Classical Dispensationalism has not always been represented with integrity. Ryrie humbly admits in the last chapter, “The dispensationalists, the revisionist, and the nondispensationalist have a right to feel that their understanding of the Bible is the true one, but none has the right to think or act as if he were the sole possessor or truth” (p. 244). He continues on to say, “Nothing is gained for one’s viewpoint by running down the opposition” (p. 244). While Ryrie makes these qualifications in the context of dispensationalism being the position opposed, he recognizes that this can be reversed.
The second positive critique is that Ryrie successfully accomplishes what he sets out to do in this volume, “To correct some misconceptions about dispensationalism that [has] given rise to false charges against it, and to give a positive presentation of normative [classical] dispensational teaching” (p. 243). A major misconception Ryrie corrects is on how dispensationalists understand salvation in chapter six. The accusation he desires to correct is the belief that dispensationalists teach multiple ways of salvation (p. 121). This accusation arises from the stark distinction dispensationalists make between Israel and the church. However, Ryrie is successful as he analyzes the relationship between the law and grace. According to Ryrie, salvation has always been through grace. During the time of the Old Testament, God poured out grace in the law.
Ryrie is also successful in giving a positive presentation of Classical Dispensationalism. The way he accomplishes this is by arguing why dispensationalism does not only compete with the Covenant Theology, but why is far exceeds it. Again, Ryrie takes the high road by portraying Classical Dispensationalism as the only plausible hermeneutical option when the exegesis is consistent in the literal interpretation of the text. However, this positive critique is only positive in the sense that Ryrie accomplishes what he says he will do with the book.
While Ryrie seeks to fairly represent the opposing positions his attempts sometimes fall short. While this is not the main focus of the book, it still plays a major role in it. He falls short in fairly representing Covenant Theology throughout the book. This likely happens because Ryrie makes many short and bold claims about Covenant Theology in order to make comparisons between it and dispensationalism before he ever gets to the chapter he dedicates to Covenant Theology – chapter ten. For example Ryrie says, “Covenant theology… because of the rigidity of its unifying principle of the covenant of grace, can never show within its system proper progress of revelation” (p. 23). This claim is unfair because covenant theologians would not claim this to be true and Ryrie does not back up this claim. Another example of this is found in chapter five when Ryrie discusses how dispensationalists are the only consistent interpreters of Scripture holding to the grammatical-historical hermeneutical method (pp. 91–93). Again, covenant theologians also claim to hold to the grammatical-historical hermeneutical method. The problem is that Ryrie describes the literal sense of interpretation too narrowly. Ryrie says, “Covenant theologians are well known for their use of nonliteral interpretation” of Old Testament prophecy (p. 24). He even claims, “covenant theology produces artificial exegesis” (p. 223). With all of these bold claims, Ryrie does fall short to prove that they are true. Any covenant theologian reading this book can appreciate the positive assertions of Classical Dispensationalism, while also recognizing that he does misrepresent the Covenant Theology position.
Overall, Dispensationalism is a significant work in the field of theological and hermeneutical studies. It provides a framework on how to interpret Scripture. This book is a great reference point for classical dispensationalists. Students should approach this text to grasp the main arguments for dispensationalism and how it has historically been articulated by one of the leading voices on the subject – Charles Ryrie. This book will give any theological student, pastor, or lay Christian a good start to understand how Classical Dispensationalism as a system approaches Scripture for interpretation.
