Review of Dispensational Hermeneutics: Interpretation Principles that Guide Dispensationalism’s Understanding of the Bible’s Storyline

Vlach, Michael J. Dispensational Hermeneutics: Interpretation Principles that Guide Dispensationalism’s Understanding of the Bible’s Storyline. North Haven, CT: Theological Studies Press, 2023, pp.111, $10.95, paperback.

For a biblical theological student, this book provides a simple and easy-to-read primer for dispensational hermeneutics, but it is not a comprehensive study of dispensationalism or non-dispensational hermeneutics (nor is it intended to be, pp. 8–9).

Michael Vlach is Professor of Theology at Shepherds Theological Seminary (Cary, NC). He has also served on the faculty at The Master’s Seminary (Sun Valley, CA) and as managing editor of The Master’s Seminary Journal. He has written extensively on the topics of dispensationalism, hermeneutics, and systematic theology as a proponent of dispensationlism. Vlach is a well–known Bible teacher and has spoken regularly in churches, conferences, and on national radio broadcasts.

            Dispensational Hermeneutics is a short, easy-to-read introduction to the interpretive principles of dispensationalism that makes dispensationalism unique in hermeneutical principles. Vlach helps the reader understand how dispensationalists view the overarching story of the Bible, which starts with the traditional understanding of the Bible’s storyline as (1) Creation; (2) Fall; (3) Redemption; and (4) Restoration (p.11) but is then expounded on throughout the first chapter. The remainder of chapter one then describes some key ideas that are integral to dispensationalism such as an earthly kingdom of God (pp. 12–13), different aspects of Biblical covenants (pp. 13–16), ethnic/national Israel and its distinction from the church (pp. 16–19), the significance of geo–political nations (p. 19), and Premillennialism (pp. 20–21).

            Vlach then spends the next three chapters explaining how dispensationalists interpret Scripture and he emphasizes what he considers the key hermeneutical principles for dispensationalists. He argues that dispensationalists are the only theologians consistently utilizing the grammatical–historical method of hermeneutics (p. 23) and he explains how this consistent utilization of the grammatical-historical method applies within the study of Scripture (pp. 23–39). Chapters three and four then provide examples of how exactly the grammatical-historical method is utilized to interpret Scripture, particularly concerning the literal interpretation of Old and New Testament prophecies (pp. 32–33).

In the remaining chapters, Vlach contrasts the hermeneutics of dispensationalism with the hermeneutics of non–dispensational systems. The author does not focus on any one non–dispensational hermeneutical system. When speaking of non-dispensational ideas, he explains that he “includes but is not limited to the systems of Covenant Theology and Progressive Covenantalism, and the millennial views of Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Laddian Historic Premillennialism” (p. 77) and he starts with, “By ‘non–dispensational,’ we refer generally to Covenant Theology, Progressive Covenantalism, Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, Preterism, Laddian Historic Premillennialism, and others. We are not singling out any one system or person.” (p. 8) He is contrasting dispensational hermeneutics with all alternative hermeneutical theories. In the chapters focused on contrasting dispensationalism with non-dispensational hermeneutics, he presents his understanding of the non–dispensational hermeneutical principle and then he rebuffs that principle with a dispensational response.

Dispensational Hermeneutics would be a great resource for a lay-person seeking to understand how dispensationalism is one way to view and understand the Bible’s storyline or for a student to see how dispensationalists typically view the overarching storyline of Scripture in contrast to how dispensationalists sometimes view non–dispensationalist ideas.

Vlach does an excellent job at explaining the primary principles of dispensational hermeneutics, which is his intent. He writes that the whole point of this book is to explain the ten interpretive principles at the heart of Dispensationalism before contrasting dispensational hermeneutics with non-dispensational hermeneutics (p. 8). However, a major weakness of the book is his contrast of dispensationalism with non-dispensationalism. Vlach does not give sufficient space to contrast the different systems and often resorts to generalizing or oversimplifying alternative hermeneutical principles. In other words, the book does a great job of describing dispensationalism, but it does not always treat non–dispensational ideas fairly. For instance, he makes the argument that Covenant Theology places its primary emphasis on the redemption of individuals, it is unfair to assume that all Covenant Theologians believe that the primary emphasis of Scripture is individual redemption-this oversimplifies the issue (pp. 11, 13, 14, 19, 21). Or, for instance, he equates Grammatical–Historical Hermeneutics with dispensationalism when there are non–dispensational theologians that would also espouse a Grammatical–Historical Hermeneutic-the difference would be how certain passages are interpreted within the Grammatical-Historical Hermeneutic (p. 23).

For a biblical theological student, this book provides a simple and easy-to-read primer for dispensational hermeneutics, but it is not a comprehensive study of dispensationalism or non-dispensational hermeneutics (nor is it intended to be, pp. 8–9). Because it is not a comprehensive study, this book provides a good start for understanding dispensational hermeneutics, but any student would need to utilize other, more technical sources for in-depth research concerning dispensationalism and hermeneutical principles. Dispensational Hermeneutics would be a great resource for a lay-person seeking to understand how dispensationalism is one way to view and understand the Bible’s storyline or for a student to see how dispensationalists typically view the overarching storyline of Scripture in contrast to how dispensationalists sometimes view non–dispensationalist ideas.