Review: Dispensationalism Before Darby (Watson)

This was fascinating. The title is slightly misleading because the author is not arguing that "dispensationalism" existed before John Nelson Darby, but that many of its elements were being advocated by various theologians. (Most of these theologians were not ones that I was familiar with.) The most controversial will probably be his assertions that something like a "rapture" had precursors in certain works on the apocalypse. I personally found these references too vague to be entirely convincing. i also wish the author had added a treatment of Darby to the end showing how he had integrated these elements into a system. Notably, the author never attempts to show that Darby knew about or was influenced by the theologians the author covers in the book. Nevertheless, this was a fascinating treatment and I highly recommend it.

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