Apologetics

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The Sine Qua Non of Dispensationalism

Welcome to the first of part of this collection of my writings done while in college. Before we move on into the main body of work, I need to lay down a foundation that I will use to build upon for the rest of the work that follows.

These ideas are not mine, Mr. Charles C. Ryrie in his book, Dispensationalism, pages 38-41 gives us some valuable insight on how to interpret scriptures.

Before I read these ideas, I was not aware that such a system of interpretation even existed! In my own simple way of seeing things, if the Bible said something, you simply did what it said! You read the words, understand the words and acted upon the meaning of those words!

Up until the time I started Bible College, I had no idea that there were others who did not interpret scriptures like I did!

The words and concepts of “allegory, spiritualize, covenant theology, amillennialism” and other such concepts were foreign to my mind!

God said it in His Word, you either believe the words and acted accordingly or you don’t act and answer to Him at the Bema seat judgment or the Great White throne judgment!

What do I base my interpretation of scriptures upon? What system do I use on a regular basis?

The following is what I have gleaned from the study of the afore mentioned author and pages. These thoughts are not my own, the application of these principles is and how they are applied to my heart and mind.

I have considered the points Mr. Ryrie makes at length, I have tried to apply them to all areas of the scriptures. At the time of the writing of this paper, two years have gone by and not once have these principles failed me!

I highly encourage you to get a copy of the book for yourself so you can read it at length, and then see if what I am saying is true for you!

What is the “Sine Qua Non”?

Let’s start out with the meaning of the Latin words.

Sine/Without
Qua/By which route
Non/Not

Okay, we have the meaning of the words, now what does it mean to me? Using my own understanding of the Latin, I make no claim to be a Latin scholar, I am still getting used to English!

“Without using the correct method (route), we cannot come to the true and proper meaning of scripture.”

Let’s start by first listing the three points, then expounding upon them later.

1. A dispensationalist keeps Israel and the church distinct.
2. A dispensationalist uses Literal interpretation of scriptures.
3. The purpose of the Bible is to bring glory to God.

Now let’s dig into these ideas and see where it takes us!

The first area we will look into deals with Israel and the church.

The covenants made by God to His chosen people (nation) Israel do not apply to the church (bride of Christ).

The covenants made with Israel; by God include the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenant. Briefly we will see what each one is.

Abrahamic covenant: there would be a people (seed) though the tine of Abraham.

Palestinian covenant: the nation would possess the Land given them by God.

Davidic covenant: Messiah would come from the line and ancestry of King David.

New covenant: at the return of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation, the hearts of the nation Israel will once again turn to their Messiah and will enter into the millennial kingdom.

At no point does the church fit any of these covenants. We are the spiritual seed of Abraham; we are not his physical seed as the Jewish nation is!

The Apostle Paul in Romans 11:13-25 warns the gentile believers and later in the chapter in verses 26-28 affirms that Israel will be saved!

When reading the Old Testament, we cannot take the promises given to the church and add them to those of the Old Testament, likewise, the Old Testament promises cannot be added to those of the New Testament!

They must be kept separate at all costs for the sake of correct Biblical interpretation.

Now Let’s Look at point two, how to interpret scripture.

I alluded to it earlier in this paper. As an earthly author, I write to convey a message or story using plain, hopefully easy to understand words! I want my message to be understood by all who read it!

My words can lead one to life eternal by pointing them to Christ or they can lead many astray from the truth of God!

Yet many men wrote as inspired by the Holy Spirit, each one writing in their unique style, yet the message was “God breathed”, thereby making their words and thoughts those of God!

To interpret the scriptures any way but the historical-grammatical, literal method would risk being guilty of changing scripture, thereby having Revelation 22:19 applied to them!

Lastly, point three. The purpose of the Bible is to bring glory to God.

This point takes some time to sink into ones’ heart and mind, it did mine. I found myself asking about different instances within scriptures, then once plugged into the principle, the outcome was always the same, give God the glory due Him!

Let’s start by looking at some ideas that I first thought when this subject was first introduced to me.

The purpose of the Bible is to bring us to Christ! WRONG! Yes, knowing Christ is important, but it is not the purpose of the Bible.

The purpose of the Bible is to tell us of the folly of man and show us our depravity! WRONG again! Through the Bible we see our need for God because of our fallen nature!

The purpose of the Bible is to tell us of our home in heaven! WRONG once again! Yes, we will be in heaven with Christ at the appointed time, but that is not the main reason for it!

All of these are important elements of scripture; let’s look at some more examples that tend to be on the negative side of things. They make us wonder how God can be glorified in them.

Consider for a moment the judgment of God upon mankind during the time of Noah? The entire population of earth was killed, only the family of Noah was saved! Why did God kill so many people?

What of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? What was the purpose of that event? How is God glorified in this?

What about the people that the children of Israel were told to annihilate during their time in the wilderness and during the conquest of the Promised Land? Read 1 & 2 Samuel and the life of David! Do a study of the numbers of people he killed! Yet he was called by God “a man after Gods own heart”!

Lastly, what about the conquest of Israel by foreign powers because of her sins, what purpose does all of this have?

TO GLORIFY GOD!

Yes! The only purpose of the Bible is to bring glory to our God! We can see it throughout the entire book!

The thread starts with Genesis 1:1. We are in awe of God the creator and glorify Him for His acts of Creation!

In Genesis 3:15 we are given the first promise of our redeemer Christ, after the fall of man into sin! We glory in the fact that God will allow us to come to Him through Christ!

The tower of Babel, Noah and the flood! The covenants of God with Israel! The provisions of God can be seen in these events!

In the battles of the Israelites with the enemies of God we see more of His care for His chosen ones. In the hard times of the exiles, God had men and a remnant who would glorify Him, no matter the cost! Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Malachi and others to numerous to mention here come to mind!

Now we enter the New Testament times, our own Lord Jesus Christ brought glory to His Father God! Should we not follow His example?

The disciples, Peter, James, John and Matthew, men such as Paul and Luke tell of Christ and each one in their own way glorifying God!

My favorite of the examples is of the aged apostle John in the writing of the book of Revelation, throughout the book he brings into our view the glory that we will bestow to our God and to His Son by each of us who are called by the name of Christ!

This is the short version of what is so very essential to understand as the central purpose of the Bible. I have only used a few examples to make my point.

My challenge to you the reader is to read the Bible with this principle in mind and see if God can be glorified in your reading.

In closing, I highly encourage you to look into these principles for yourself and see for yourself what I have put into practice for myself.

The practical side of this is when you see and hear someone telling you that this is what the Bible says, you can decide for yourself if that person is correct in their interpretation and is worth listening to.

As an example, I recently heard a TV preacher/teacher talking about end times prophecies, he mixed promises given to Israel and said that they applied to the church. He was wrong about the area he was speaking about. He violated the first principle of the Sine Qua Non!

I as a result of studying these principles have become more cautious of those whose teachings I am not familiar with! I use these principles as a filter.

Where I have the most “fun” is in reading the Old Testament and New Testament prophecies using these principles! Try it for yourself; see where it takes you in your understanding of scriptures!

Thank you for sticking with me, now as you read on, you can see how interpret scriptures and what I build my beliefs on.

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