Even if it were true, it would not be sufficient to debunk dispensationalism, yet this claim is blatantly false once someone studies history. This article will showcase multiple authors who agreed with dispensational doctrines.
Early Christianity (100-700ad)
Papias (60 – c. 130 AD) had some similarities to dispensationalism, firstly he was premillennial (though this alone does not make one dispensational), however there exists another interesting text where Papias sees Ezekiel 36 as being fulfilled in the millennium, instead of the church. If you read Ezekiel 36 it refers to blessings to Israel, and if attributed to the millennial age instead of a spiritualized fulfillment in the church, your theology comes very close to dispensationalism.
The reason why we know that this was attributed to the millennium by Papias, is that Irenaeus commenting on his works (as they were still available then), said that this was to be fulfilled in "those times" (a word used for the millennium by Irenaeus, who also affirmed millennialism):
As the elders who saw John the disciple of the Lord remembered that they had heard from him how the Lord taught in regard to those times, and said]:
The days will come in which vines shall grow, having each ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five-and-twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, 'I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.' In like manner, [He said] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear would have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds of clear, pure, fine flour; and that apples, and seeds, and grass would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals, feeding then only on the productions of the earth, would become peaceable and harmonious, and be in perfect subjection to man.
This seems to be a quote of Ezekiel 36, which says:
28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.
Thus it appears that Papias took Ezekiel 36 as being fulfilled in the millennium, which necessitates a Jewish restoration.
Nepos of Arsinoe (3rd century) caused a local controversy about hermeneutics, Nepos argued that Revelation and the Old Testament prophets need to be interpreted literally, thus Eusebius said that he would interpret the Old Testament prophecies in a more "Jewish" manner, stating:
Besides all these the two books on the Promises were prepared by him. The occasion of these was Nepos, a bishop in Egypt, who taught that the promises to the holy men in the Divine Scriptures should be understood in a more Jewish manner, and that there would be a certain millennium of bodily luxury upon this earth.
A minor point to consider is Sextus Julius Africanus (160 – c. 240), who interpreted the prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel similarly as Scofield. We do not have many works left from Julius and we do not know his exact positions on most doctrines, yet on this area he foreshadows dispensational views. Both Scofield and Julius Africanus believed that the start of the countdown is from the degree of Artaxerxes recorded in the book of Nehemiah, while most others take it was starting from the decree recorded in Ezra.
A kind of rapture doctrine was also taught by Pseudo-Ephraim around 600-700ad, though there is some unclarity as regards to his doctrines. Some have argued that his doctrine was more "midtribulational" and that the way he defined the word "tribulation" is only the last 3.5 years of the 7 year end period, though most dispensationalists interpret him as being pretribulational, in either case he shows that the rapture of the church prior to the second coming is not new, he stated:
All the saints and elect of God are gathered together before the tribulation,
which is to come, and are taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at
any time the confusion which overwhelms the world because of our sins. –Pseudo-Ephraem
1000-1800ad
Joachim of Fiore (1135 – 30 March 1202) taught some ideas that are common to dispensationalism, these include:
- A future restoration of Israel
- The Old and the New Covenant are substantially distinct (as opposed to covenant theology which sees them as substantially the same)
- Premillennialism (a literal 1000 year millennium)
- The Antichrist is a literal person
However, Joachim did not teach things such as the pretribulational rapture nor was he a Futurist, however his later follower Fra Dolcino would get much closer to dispensationalism.
Fra Dolcino lived in 1250 – 1307ad, he can be also credited as one of the earliest dispensationalists, and the first undisputed reference to the pretribulational rapture, Dolcino also appears to have interpreted the prophetical books more literally, holding that two witnesses will be the literal persons of Enoch and Elijah, instead of being symbolic for the church (like the Reformers took them to be). The information on Dolcino is found in a medieval historic book recording his beliefs, the book is named "The History of Brother Dolcino" and was written in 1316, the book reads thus:
“Again, [Dolcino believed and preached and taught] that within those three
years Dolcino himself and his followers will preach the coming of the
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| Fra Dolcino 1250 – 1307ad |
Antichrist. And that the Antichrist was coming into this world within the
bounds of the said three and a half years; and after he had come, then he
[Dolcino] and his followers would be transferred into Paradise, in which are
Enoch and Elijah. And in this way they will be preserved unharmed from
the persecution of Antichrist. And that then Enoch and Elijah themselves
would descend on the earth for the purpose of preaching [against] Antichrist.
Then they would be killed by him or by his servants, and thus Antichrist
would reign for a long time.
Manuel Lacunza (1731 – c. June 18, 1801) was a writer who lived slightly earlier than Darby. Lacunza also was very similar to dispensationalism. Lucunza taught that there will be a future restoration of Israel along with Futurist eschatology (which refers to the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled in the future). Though Manuel was a Catholic, his works were banned by the Catholic church.
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| Pierre Poiret (1646 – 21 May 1719) |
Pierre Poiret was a French mystic and philosopher (1646-1719). His great work,
L’OEconomie Divine, first published in Amsterdam in 1687, was translated into English
and published in London in six volumes in 1713- The work began as a development of
the doctrine of predestination, but it was expanded into a rather complete systematic
theology. In viewpoint it is sometimes mystical, represents a modified form of Calvinism,
and is premillennial and dispensational..... There is no question that we have here a genuine dispensational scheme. He uses
the phrase "period or dispensation" and his seventh dispensation is a literal
thousand-year millennium with Christ returned and reigning in bodily form upon
the earth with His saints, and Israel regathered and converted. He sees the
overthrow of corrupt Protestantism, the rise of Antichrist, the two resurrections,
and many of the general run of end-time events
William Watson argued that many Puritan authors of the 17th century also got close to dispensationalism, teaching the rapture. The theologians he included as teaching a pretribulational rapture were: Robert Maton, Nathaniel Holmes, John Browne, Thomas Vincent, Henry Danvers, and William Sherwin.
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