On Dispensationalism

As I mentioned here, one of the fundamental differences between denominations/movements has to do with systematic theology. For those of you not terribly familiar with Dispensationalism, I thought I'd periodically offer small bits of information. This is the first of such periodic installments...

One thing that separates Dispensationalists from others has to do with the birth of the Church. By Church (with the capital C) I mean, of course, the entire Body of Christ - past, present and future. And I, as a Dispensationalist, take the birth of the Church to have happened on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus' resurrection.

This may strike some of you as odd. Perhaps you've always been told that the Church now is more or less the same thing as Israel was in the Old Testament. Or perhaps you thought the Church began with Christ.

Here is the basic reasoning behind Dispensationalism's claim that the Church did not start until the second chapter of Acts:

1. The Church is the body of Christ - Eph 1:22-23

2. The means of entrance and incorporation in the Body of Christ is by the baptism of the Holy Spirit - Cor.12:13

3. The Church was still future when Christ used the word for the first time in the Bible - Matt 16:18

4. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was (obviously!) still future when Jesus predicted such in Acts 1:5

5. In Acts 11:15-16 Peter identifies the filling of the Spirit of Acts 2:4 as simultaneous with the first occurrence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in specific fulfillment of Christ’s words of Acts 1:5

6. Therefore, since the baptism of the Holy Spirit first occurred at Pentecost and baptism of the Holy Spirit is the means of entrance into the Church, the Church began at Pentecost

Hatushili