Dispensationalists Who Come Out of the Theology Are Not Historicists or Preterists
Dispensationalism makes use of a particular kind of futurism in its view of Bible prophecy. The one man anti-Christ figure is important in dispensationalist end time prophecy. And the appearance of that one man dispensationalist anti-Christ is always a future event in that theology.
The Calvinist and Lutheran reformers, however, did not believe that the arrival of the anti-Christ, by which they may not have meant just one individual, was always an event in the future. They thought that the Catholic Church and the Pope were anti-Christ then, at that time.
Then, at the Council of Trent, in 1545 to 1563, the Catholic Church authorized the Jesuits to combat the Protestant doctrine that the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church were anti-Christ at that time.
The Jesuits, or at least two of them in succession, created the doctrine that the anti-Christ was to come in the future, not at that time, so that the Pope and the Catholic Church could not be said to be anti-Christ at that time.
On the site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ribera it is said
that "In order to remove the papacy of the Catholic Church from
consideration as the Antichrist (as an act of countering the
Protestant Reformation), Ribera began writing a lengthy (500 page)
commentary in 1585 on the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) titled In
Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin
Commentarij, proposing that the first few chapters of the Apocalypse
apply to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future
period of 3½ literal years, immediately prior to the second coming."
The Catholic Church did not teach the doctrine of the pre-tribulation
rapture of the Church.
Manuel or Emmanuel Lacunza, 1731-1801, was a Jesuit priest who wrote
The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty (1790).
From: Chapter 3 of Stephen Sizer, Christian Zionism: Its History,
Theology and Politics, AAARGH Internet Editions 2005,
Edward Irving (1792-1834)
The Rapture and the Rupture Between Israel and the Church
"In 1826 Irving was introduced to the views of Manuel Lacunza a Spanish
Jesuit who wrote a book under
the pseudonym of Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra, allegedly a converted Jew,
entitled, 'The Coming of the Messiah in
Glory and Majesty'. Lacunza interpreted all but the first three
chapters of the Book of Revelation as describing
apocalyptic events about to happen.
Irving was so excited by Lacunza's speculations, he mastered Spanish
in order to translate and publish
the work in English.7 Irving added a 203 page preface to the
translation in which he presented with great
conviction his own unique prophetic speculations about the end of the
world, predicting the apostasy of
Christendom, the subsequent restoration of the Jews and finally the
imminent return of Christ."
Edward Irving was an associate of John Darby, known as the founder of
dispensationalism or Christian Zionism.
On http://www.poweredbychrist.com/Manuel_Lacunza.html
It is said that a Jesuit priest named Manuel de Lacunza (using the pen name "Ben-Ezra" ) taught the pretribulation rapture belief and
introduced it in his notable work "The Coming of Messiah in Glory and
Majesty" (1812).
Both Ribera and Lacunza introduced a futurist view of the prophecy of anti-Christ, This was done to counteract the Protestant teaching that the Pope and the Catholic Church were anti-Christ.
In my experience, those who have come out of dispensationalism do not go into preterism or the historical method of interpreting end time Bible prophecy, but they come to accept a form of end time prophecy interpretation which can allow some prophecy to be fulfilled at a future time and other prophecies to have an ongoing fulfillment while still others can be said to be fulfilled in the past.
The remnant people I am aware of are influenced by Dean Gotcher and James Lloyd. I do not know if Gocher was once a dispensationalist or not, but he was a part of Church theology at one time and has a background in Christian Education and probably has at least a Bachelor's Degree from a Christian college or Bible School. I know that James Lloyd was a follower of the dispensationalism of Chuck Smith of Cavalry Chapel before he came out of dispensationalism gradually. At one time he was claiming that Boutros Boutros-Ghali was the one man anti-Christ. He later realized - in the very early years of the 21st century - he was teaching a false doctrine, and that while there is a spirit of anti-Christ there is no one man anti-Christ.
Anyway, James Lloyd is not a pretrerist or a historicist, and neither is Dean Gotcher. But Gotcher has not focused much on dispensationalism, but rather has created a criticism of the dialectic which can be applied to dispensationalism.
As John says in I John 2: 18 there were many anti-Christs around when he wrote and in I John 4: 3 he says the spirit of anti-Christ was already in the world. The prophecy of anti-Christ is not for any one time, but is ongoing, and so the issue of it being future is false.. This is a point that William Tyndale made in his book The Parable of the Wicked Mammon.
Just as the prophecy of the appearing of the anti-Christ being fulfilled only in the future is false, so the preterist or historicist claim that all New Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the First century is false. The appearing of the anti-Christ, by which is meant , the spirit of anti-Christ (I John 4: 3) is ongoing.
Dispensationalism makes use of a particular kind of futurism in its view of Bible prophecy. The one man anti-Christ figure is important in dispensationalist end time prophecy. And the appearance of that one man dispensationalist anti-Christ is always a future event in that theology.
The Calvinist and Lutheran reformers, however, did not believe that the arrival of the anti-Christ, by which they may not have meant just one individual, was always an event in the future. They thought that the Catholic Church and the Pope were anti-Christ then, at that time.
Then, at the Council of Trent, in 1545 to 1563, the Catholic Church authorized the Jesuits to combat the Protestant doctrine that the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church were anti-Christ at that time.
The Jesuits, or at least two of them in succession, created the doctrine that the anti-Christ was to come in the future, not at that time, so that the Pope and the Catholic Church could not be said to be anti-Christ at that time.
On the site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ribera it is said
that "In order to remove the papacy of the Catholic Church from
consideration as the Antichrist (as an act of countering the
Protestant Reformation), Ribera began writing a lengthy (500 page)
commentary in 1585 on the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) titled In
Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin
Commentarij, proposing that the first few chapters of the Apocalypse
apply to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future
period of 3½ literal years, immediately prior to the second coming."
The Catholic Church did not teach the doctrine of the pre-tribulation
rapture of the Church.
Manuel or Emmanuel Lacunza, 1731-1801, was a Jesuit priest who wrote
The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty (1790).
From: Chapter 3 of Stephen Sizer, Christian Zionism: Its History,
Theology and Politics, AAARGH Internet Editions 2005,
Edward Irving (1792-1834)
The Rapture and the Rupture Between Israel and the Church
"In 1826 Irving was introduced to the views of Manuel Lacunza a Spanish
Jesuit who wrote a book under
the pseudonym of Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra, allegedly a converted Jew,
entitled, 'The Coming of the Messiah in
Glory and Majesty'. Lacunza interpreted all but the first three
chapters of the Book of Revelation as describing
apocalyptic events about to happen.
Irving was so excited by Lacunza's speculations, he mastered Spanish
in order to translate and publish
the work in English.7 Irving added a 203 page preface to the
translation in which he presented with great
conviction his own unique prophetic speculations about the end of the
world, predicting the apostasy of
Christendom, the subsequent restoration of the Jews and finally the
imminent return of Christ."
Edward Irving was an associate of John Darby, known as the founder of
dispensationalism or Christian Zionism.
On http://www.poweredbychrist.com/Manuel_Lacunza.html
It is said that a Jesuit priest named Manuel de Lacunza (using the pen name "Ben-Ezra" ) taught the pretribulation rapture belief and
introduced it in his notable work "The Coming of Messiah in Glory and
Majesty" (1812).
Both Ribera and Lacunza introduced a futurist view of the prophecy of anti-Christ, This was done to counteract the Protestant teaching that the Pope and the Catholic Church were anti-Christ.
In my experience, those who have come out of dispensationalism do not go into preterism or the historical method of interpreting end time Bible prophecy, but they come to accept a form of end time prophecy interpretation which can allow some prophecy to be fulfilled at a future time and other prophecies to have an ongoing fulfillment while still others can be said to be fulfilled in the past.
The remnant people I am aware of are influenced by Dean Gotcher and James Lloyd. I do not know if Gocher was once a dispensationalist or not, but he was a part of Church theology at one time and has a background in Christian Education and probably has at least a Bachelor's Degree from a Christian college or Bible School. I know that James Lloyd was a follower of the dispensationalism of Chuck Smith of Cavalry Chapel before he came out of dispensationalism gradually. At one time he was claiming that Boutros Boutros-Ghali was the one man anti-Christ. He later realized - in the very early years of the 21st century - he was teaching a false doctrine, and that while there is a spirit of anti-Christ there is no one man anti-Christ.
Anyway, James Lloyd is not a pretrerist or a historicist, and neither is Dean Gotcher. But Gotcher has not focused much on dispensationalism, but rather has created a criticism of the dialectic which can be applied to dispensationalism.
As John says in I John 2: 18 there were many anti-Christs around when he wrote and in I John 4: 3 he says the spirit of anti-Christ was already in the world. The prophecy of anti-Christ is not for any one time, but is ongoing, and so the issue of it being future is false.. This is a point that William Tyndale made in his book The Parable of the Wicked Mammon.
Just as the prophecy of the appearing of the anti-Christ being fulfilled only in the future is false, so the preterist or historicist claim that all New Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the First century is false. The appearing of the anti-Christ, by which is meant , the spirit of anti-Christ (I John 4: 3) is ongoing.