Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth: A Critique of Dispensationalism (Second Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Succinct and to the Point
Review: Dr. Gerstner and Dr. Kistler have written a good response to the foundational problems of dispensationalism namely; it's hermeneutic (method of exegesis and interprestation) and it's philosophy. Rather than respond to every text that dispensationalists use to argue their interpretations, Gerstner and Kistler take the approach of following dispensationalist arguments to their necessary end and analyzing the ramifications.

Anyone who has been enthralled with "Left Behind" and "Late Great Planet Earth" mania ought to read where dispensationalist theology leads. The only problem with the book is that it spends too much time finding the roots of the theology rather than refuting more of the claims of dispensationalists from different angles.

The authors make the compelling argument that there are only two peoples in the world today: those of faith in God through the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us....and those who deny Him before man and are under judgement.

A very good read - give it uninformed friends.

Rating:
Summary: Succinct and to the Point
Review: Dr. Gerstner and Dr. Kistler have written a good response to the foundational problems of dispensationalism namely; it's hermeneutic (method of exegesis and interprestation) and it's philosophy. Rather than respond to every text that dispensationalists use to argue their interpretations, Gerstner and Kistler take the approach of following dispensationalist arguments to their necessary end and analyzing the ramifications.

Anyone who has been enthralled with "Left Behind" and "Late Great Planet Earth" mania ought to read where dispensationalist theology leads. The only problem with the book is that it spends too much time finding the roots of the theology rather than refuting more of the claims of dispensationalists from different angles.

The authors make the compelling argument that there are only two peoples in the world today: those of faith in God through the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us....and those who deny Him before man and are under judgement.

A very good read - give it uninformed friends.

Rating:
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: Dr. Gerstner discribed me perfectly as a moderate Calvinist, Dispensationalist. I was challanged, I even found an old copy of OT Allis in a used Bookstore to follow up on some of Dr. Gerstner's points. The second edition is more fun than sitting in a debate listening because you can read the opposing positions carefully and analise both. Excellent reading.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Dissection of the many errors of dispensationalism
Review: Dr. Gerstner has written some excellent theological material,particularly on Jonathan Edwards. However, this book goes over theline in its thesis that Dispensationalism is heresy.

Dr. Gerstner's analysis clings to material written by oldlinedispensationalists, some of it over fifty years ago. Dr. Gerstner'sprimary mistake is his equating of Dispensationalism with moderateCalvinism. Because Gerstner condemns moderate Calvinism (especiallydue to its rejection of the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement),he ipso facto condemns dispensationalism.

But moderate Calvinism,whether it is right or wrong, is much broader than Dispensationalism(I know plenty of Southern Baptists who are not Dispensationalists oreven pre-millennial, yet who are semi-Calvinist). Dispensationalismis primarily a set of ideas defining the relationship between Israeland the Church, Moses' law and Christian ethics, the current age andthe age to come. It is not primarily a doctrine of salvation.Gerstner raises some interesting questions worth considering. Butwrongly defining Dispensationalism is Gerstner's fundamental and fatalerror behind this book. This crucial error, combined with Gerstner'svehemence, reams of bibliographical mistakes in the original run,misquotations, and the rather silly foreword which predicted this bookwould make an impact greater than Karl Barth's "Dogmatiks",explain why this book sank so quickly after its initial printrun.

Rev. Jack Brooks...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Dissection of the many errors of dispensationalism
Review: Gerstner does a wonderful job exposing the fallacies of dispensationalism. From its origins with J.N. Darby to the modern dispensationalism of Hodges and Ryrie, Gerstner shows clearly that this "systematic" theology has always been inconsistent. With volumes and volumes of literature challenging dispensationalism, it is quite obvious why hardly anybody bothers to defend it anymore. Dispensationalists never were much on scholarship and that is why they continue to lose this academic debate. Those who would criticize WRONGLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH are merely dogmatic dispensationalists who refuse to abandon an indefensible theology.

Rating:
Summary: Dispensing with Dispensationalism
Review: Growing up in a "fundamental Baptist" church I received nothing but the "Bible Truth" of the "end times", i.e., the eschatological system called Dispensationalism. Always had a twinge of concern about what I was hearing--so often the Bible proof texts offered to certify tenets of Dispensationalism didn't seem to really say what my teachers said they said. But what did I know? I was just a kid, they were the smart adults...

Reading the Bible for myself, cover to cover, year after year (trying to, anyway) led me to deeply question and doubt much of the eschatological notions I'd received from my upbringing. But not until God blessed me by some meetings with the late Dr. John Gerstner did I encounter "Wrongly Dividing the Word Of Truth."

Reading this book confirmed for me that I had sound reason for all the disquiet in my soul. Much of what Dr. Gerster covered I'd sort of figured out for myself, from Scripture--but only in this work did I find a careful, historical and Scriptural demolition of the doctrine.

"Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth" rewards careful study. The author spends much time showing the historical roots and branches of dispensational development. He also demonstrates its Biblical and historical novelty, lack of support in the Church, and its logical fallacies and inconsistencies. Some readers may find these topics dry--I didn't, but I like reading Church history and the study of ideas and their development.

Of greatest interest, I think, for the Church as a whole: Dr. Gerstner shows how the evangelical churches of North America have departed theologically from their Reformation roots. Many if not most of the "dispensational" churches arise not from the 16th-17th century Reformation but from the "holiness" movements of the 19th century. Those sects uniformly rejected the sovereign grace of God in saving dead sinners, in favor of a Finneyan/Wesleyan notion of man saving himself by his "deciding for Christ". If God no longer controls the eternal destiny of individuals (humanistic soteriology), then why should we assume that He controls the destiny of the earth? What we believe about God and about His work matters--at EVERY level of thought. Dr. Gerstner (a sound Westminster Confession adherent) demonstrates how dispensational unsoundness on basic theology and soteriology leads directly to unsoundness in eschatology. Dr. Gerstner quotes published works of dispensationalists over the years, showing their unsoundness in their own words.

That dispensationalism now recedes in the Church becomes plainer with each passing year. I like to believe that our Lord has used Dr. Gerstner's challenging book to produce at least some of that benefit. I heartily endorse the book to all serious Christian readers.

Rating:
Summary: Dispensing with Dispensationalism
Review: Growing up in a "fundamental Baptist" church I received nothing but the "Bible Truth" of the "end times", i.e., the eschatological system called Dispensationalism. Always had a twinge of concern about what I was hearing--so often the Bible proof texts offered to certify tenets of Dispensationalism didn't seem to really say what my teachers said they said. But what did I know? I was just a kid, they were the smart adults...

Reading the Bible for myself, cover to cover, year after year (trying to, anyway) led me to deeply question and doubt much of the eschatological notions I'd received from my upbringing. But not until God blessed me by some meetings with the late Dr. John Gerstner did I encounter "Wrongly Dividing the Word Of Truth."

Reading this book confirmed for me that I had sound reason for all the disquiet in my soul. Much of what Dr. Gerster covered I'd sort of figured out for myself, from Scripture--but only in this work did I find a careful, historical and Scriptural demolition of the doctrine.

"Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth" rewards careful study. The author spends much time showing the historical roots and branches of dispensational development. He also demonstrates its Biblical and historical novelty, lack of support in the Church, and its logical fallacies and inconsistencies. Some readers may find these topics dry--I didn't, but I like reading Church history and the study of ideas and their development.

Of greatest interest, I think, for the Church as a whole: Dr. Gerstner shows how the evangelical churches of North America have departed theologically from their Reformation roots. Many if not most of the "dispensational" churches arise not from the 16th-17th century Reformation but from the "holiness" movements of the 19th century. Those sects uniformly rejected the sovereign grace of God in saving dead sinners, in favor of a Finneyan/Wesleyan notion of man saving himself by his "deciding for Christ". If God no longer controls the eternal destiny of individuals (humanistic soteriology), then why should we assume that He controls the destiny of the earth? What we believe about God and about His work matters--at EVERY level of thought. Dr. Gerstner (a sound Westminster Confession adherent) demonstrates how dispensational unsoundness on basic theology and soteriology leads directly to unsoundness in eschatology. Dr. Gerstner quotes published works of dispensationalists over the years, showing their unsoundness in their own words.

That dispensationalism now recedes in the Church becomes plainer with each passing year. I like to believe that our Lord has used Dr. Gerstner's challenging book to produce at least some of that benefit. I heartily endorse the book to all serious Christian readers.

Rating:
Summary: Very persuasive work
Review: I am a graduate of a solidly Dispensational Bible college. It was this book that changed my thinking. I highly recommend it.

It is easy to criticize, because the book is geared toward old line Dispensationalism, the type that is not commonly held by many modern Dispensationalists. I recognize that that is true. There were certain parts of the book that didn't apply much to what I had been taught, aspects of my beliefs that had already been more in line with what Gerstner taught than what he was refuting.

Never the less, there was enough relevant information in the book that it really got me to thinking about what I had always been taught and accepted as the truth. I looked more carefully, comparing what I believed to the Bible, and came away with Reformed doctrine when my study was through.

I highly recommend it to any Dispensationalist who is willing to analyze what he believes, testing it with the time honored truths of God's Word. You will be glad you did it.

Rating:
Summary: Very argumentative, combative, and vindictive
Review: I would admit that dispensationalism isn't perfect. I would even admit that it's far from perfect. But nevertheless, I found that this book was way too antagonistic and not very charitable to anyone who remotely disagreed with the author's position. Stay away. Buy Vern Poythress' "Understanding Dispensationalism" and John MacArthur's "The Gospel According to Jesus" instead.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent rebuttal of Dispensationalism
Review: This book was instrumental in my becoming Reformed. (But it was God that changed me, not John Gerstner.) One of the big things that helped me see the truth of the Reformed position was Gerstner's fair analysis of Dispensational beliefs. He was careful not to overstate the dispensational position, and he avoided building faultly straw men to make it easier to tear down.

Gerstner bent over backwards to correctly represent Dispensationalism, then expertly refuted it. I highly recommend it. It's too bad good books like this don't stay in print.