Author: Vlach, Michael
Genre: Theology - Dispensationalism, Theology - Eschatology
Tags: Eschatology
Series:
Rick Shrader‘s Review:
This is a 2017 revised and updated edition of Michael Vlach’s 2008 book. I found this to be helpful as an overview of where dispensationalism is today, and also a good source for definitions and explanations. Vlach is the theology professor at Master’s Seminary. He is a pretribulational premillennialist. He puts historical dispensationalism into the three common categories of traditional (Darby, Scofield, Chafer); Revised or Modified (Ryrie, Pentecost, Walvoord, McClain); and Progressive (Bock and Blaising). I think he does a fair job of defining and explaining each stage. He finds himself mostly as a Revised dispensationalist. The chapters are 1) History of Dispensationalism; 2) Essential Beliefs of Dispensationalism; 3) Myths about Dispensationalism; 4) Continuity and Discontinuity in Dispensationalism; 5) Key Differences between Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology; 6) Questions and Answers about Dispensationalism. Vlach emphasizes the literal hermeneutical approach of dispensationalism and also the “storyline” of the Old and New Testaments which culminates with the second coming of Jesus Christ, ending in a literal thousand-year kingdom of God on earth.