Over the
years I have addressed this issue from various angles. I have even written
about my
own history as a dispensationalist (Christian Zionist) when I was younger.
I want to address this today from another perspective today, and bring in an
inquiry I had with Deepseek, an online free AI.
What I want
to do is show you that conversation, but at the same time I want this article
to serve as a template for using AI intelligently. Some people just ask AI a
question and then accept its answer. But AI is not an authority on anything, it
is an information aggregator that can very quickly search and summarize
information. This has its strengths and weaknesses.
In this piece
I am going to taken you through how I assessed dispensationalism, while also
using AI critically. I think the results are informing from both angles. AI
answers will be in italics, to distinguish them from my writing, and I have
summarized some of them to make this article more accessible.
My First
Question
Out of curiosity
I decided to ask Deepseek this question: “What theme is most prominent in the
Bible?”
It gave me an
incredible answer, one I was not actually expecting:
Excellent
question. While the Bible is a complex library of books written over centuries,
most theologians and scholars agree that one overarching theme binds it all
together:
The
Kingdom of God.
This theme
acts as the central narrative thread, and it can be broken down into a more
specific and powerful storyline: God's unfolding plan to redeem and
restore His broken creation through a promised Messiah.
Here's a
breakdown of why this is the most prominent theme and how it develops from
Genesis to Revelation:
1. The
Foundation: God's Good Kingdom Established and Lost
- Genesis 1-2: The story opens with God as
the good and sovereign King creating a perfect world (His kingdom).
Humanity, as His image-bearers, is tasked with ruling and filling the
earth under His benevolent authority. This is the "Shalom" of
God's kingdom—perfect peace, justice, and relationship.
- Genesis 3: The rebellion of Adam and
Eve (the Fall) shatters this kingdom. Sin, death, and broken relationships
rupture the world, and humanity is exiled from God's direct presence. The
rest of the Bible is the story of God's mission to fix this.
2. The
Promise: A Kingdom Plan Unveiled
God
immediately begins His rescue operation. He makes a covenant with Abraham,
promising him three key things that become the backbone of the Kingdom theme:
- A Land: A place for God's people to
live under His rule.
- A Great Nation: A people who belong to God.
- Universal Blessing: That through Abraham's
offspring, "all peoples on earth will be blessed" (Genesis
12:3). This is the promise of a Messiah—a deliverer who will defeat evil
and restore the kingdom.
3. The
Foreshadowing: The Kingdom in Israel
The story
of Israel—from the Exodus to the Monarchy—is a living parable of God's Kingdom.
- Exodus: God redeems His people from
slavery in Egypt, making them His own "kingdom of priests"
(Exodus 19:6).
- The Promised Land: The land of Canaan becomes
the geographical foothold of God's kingdom on earth.
- King David: David is the prototype of
the ideal king. God promises him an eternal dynasty, pointing forward to a
future perfect King, the Messiah (2 Samuel 7).
4. The
Prophets: A Kingdom Promised for the Future
When
Israel fails in its mission and is exiled, the prophets declare that God has
not abandoned His plan. They look forward to a future day—the "Day of the
Lord"—when God will:
- Make a New Covenant with
His people (Jeremiah 31:31).
- Send a Messianic King from
David's line to rule in justice and peace (Isaiah 9:6-7).
- Ultimately renew all of
creation itself (Isaiah 65:17).
5. The
Climax: The Kingdom Arrives in Jesus
The New
Testament announces that the long-awaited Kingdom has arrived in the person and
work of Jesus Christ.
- His Message: Jesus's core preaching was,
"The time has come... The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and
believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15).
- His Identity: He is the Messiah, the Son
of David, the promised King.
- His Work: Through His life, death,
and resurrection, Jesus defeats sin and death, inaugurating God's Kingdom.
He launches the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21) and
creates a new people of God (the Church) from every nation.
6. The
Consummation: The Kingdom Fully Realized
The
Bible's final book, Revelation, shows the culmination of this theme.
- The return of Jesus as the
conquering King.
- The final defeat of all evil,
sin, and death.
- The creation of a New
Heaven and a New Earth—the ultimate restoration of God's good kingdom,
where He will dwell with His redeemed people forever (Revelation 21:1-4).
Other
Major, Interconnected Themes
While
"The Kingdom of God" is the central narrative, it is supported by
other profound themes that are aspects of this main story:
- Covenant: The framework God uses to
relate to His people and advance His Kingdom plan.
- Redemption & Salvation: The means by
which God rescues people from sin and brings them into His Kingdom.
- Love: The fundamental character
of God the King and the law of His Kingdom (loving God and loving
neighbor).
- Holiness: The distinguishing mark of
God's Kingdom and His people.
- Sacrifice & Atonement: How the penalty for sin is
paid, making reconciliation with the King possible.
In
summary, the most prominent theme in the Bible is the story of the Creator-King
who, out of love, is on a mission to redeem His fallen creation and restore His
benevolent reign over it, ultimately through the work of Jesus the Messiah. It is a unified story of
creation, fall, redemption, and glorious restoration.
I was amazed
by this answer. It had basically almost perfectly summarized the Bible how
Graeme Goldworthy would, and I how I have done so myself in sermons over the
years. Goldsworthy is a prominent Australian scholar, he is also Reformed.
While I am not a Calvinist, as I have written about, I broadly agree with the
Covenantal framework for understanding the Bible, as the Bible is clearly a
unified story.
In fact, this
Deepseek response was such a good answer that I was a little bit suspicious as
it could have simply summarized Goldsworthy’s book, Gospel and Kingdom,
and I thought that maybe it had. So, this led me to further inquiry. So I asked:
Why does
Dispensationalism not see this unified story in the Bible?
That's an
excellent and perceptive question. It gets to the very heart of the difference
between Dispensationalism and other interpretive systems like Covenant
Theology.
Dispensationalism does see
a unified story in the Bible in the sense that it believes in one God, one plan
of salvation through faith alone, and one ultimate author. However, the way
it defines that unity is fundamentally different. It doesn't see a
single, overarching "Kingdom of God" narrative unfolding in a
continuous, organic way. Instead, it sees a series of distinct, successive
administrative systems.
Here’s a
breakdown of the key reasons why Dispensationalism does not see the unified
"Kingdom of God" story as described in the previous answer:
1. A
Different Hermeneutic: Literal Interpretation and the Israel/Church Distinction
This is
the most critical factor. Dispensationalism is built on a foundation of
"consistent literal" or "historical-grammatical"
interpretation. This means, unless the context clearly indicates a symbol or
figure of speech, words are understood in their plain, ordinary sense.
- Result for Israel: When God made promises to
Abraham and David about land, a nation, and a kingdom,
Dispensationalists believe these must be fulfilled literally for the
ethnic, national people of Israel. A "spiritual" fulfillment in
the Church is seen as invalidating the plain meaning of the text.
- The Radical Distinction: This leads to a fundamental
separation between Israel (the physical descendants of
Abraham) and the Church (a new entity born at Pentecost
in Acts 2). In this view, the Church was a "mystery" (Ephesians
3:1-10) not revealed in the Old Testament. It is a parenthetical period in
God's plan, which is primarily focused on Israel.
Because of
this distinction, the unified "People of God" theme—where believing
Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28-29)—is seen as specific to
this present Church age, not the fulfillment of Israel's promises.
2. A
Different View of the Kingdom: Postponed, Not Inaugurated
In the
unified story, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God. It is both
"already" (in His ministry and the Church) and "not yet"
(in its final consummation).
- Dispensational View (Classic): When the nation of Israel
(specifically its leaders) rejected Jesus as their Messiah, the promised
earthly, Davidic kingdom was postponed. Jesus offered the
literal, political kingdom to Israel, but they refused it. The Church Age
is thus a "parenthesis" or intercalation in God's prophetic plan
for Israel. The Kingdom in its full, literal sense will be established
when Jesus returns a second time and reigns from Jerusalem for
1,000 years (the Millennium).
- Result: The Kingdom teachings of
Jesus (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount) are often interpreted in one of two
ways:
- As a description of the ethics
of the postponed Millennial Kingdom.
- Or, in more progressive
dispensationalism, as applicable to the Church, but still within the
framework of a future literal kingdom for Israel.
3. A
Different Structuring Principle: Dispensations, not Covenants
While
Covenant Theology structures the Bible around a series of unifying covenants
(Covenant of Grace), Dispensationalism structures it around dispensations.
- Dispensations are seen as distinct
periods of time in which God administers His rule and relates to humanity
in different ways. Each has a specific responsibility, test, failure, and
judgment. Examples include the Dispensations of Innocence, Law, Grace, and
the Millennium.
- Result: This framework emphasizes
the discontinuities between different parts of the Bible. The
way God dealt with Moses under the Law is different from how He deals with
Paul under Grace. This makes it harder to see a single, seamless narrative
of redemption and instead highlights the changes in God's administrative
rules.
In
conclusion, Dispensationalism
doesn't deny the unity of the Bible in terms of its divine authorship or the
consistency of salvation by faith. However, its commitment to literal
interpretation, especially regarding prophecy and the promises to Israel, leads
it to see a plan with two distinct peoples (Israel and the Church) and a
kingdom that was postponed, not fully inaugurated by Christ. This creates a
different structural framework that emphasizes the distinctions between
biblical eras rather than their organic unity in Christ.
Deepseek’s
answer here was also interesting. Because it clearly was able to summarize Dispensationalism
quite well, and even in a somewhat favourable manner. It even acknowledges the
difference between classic dispensationalism and progressive dispensationalism.
This is an important distinction, because the artificial separation placed on
the story of the Bible by classic dispensationalists is clearly so wrong that
even many of their own scholars have moved back to a more classically
Protestant understanding of a unified story in the Bible.
Of course,
the Christian Zionist fascination and focus on a separate plan for Israel is still
defended widely by them, and it is so widespread today that we see it popping
up in even non-dispensational circles now. But at least we see that even some
dispensational scholars realize that Darby and Schofield went to far. Their
framework really does harm to universal message of God’s plan for all peoples,
and also to understanding the unfolding of God’s plan in the Bible.
But this got
me thinking, if Deepseek could summarize Dispensationalism so well, why did it favour
understanding the bible in light of the Covenantal framework? So, I asked this question:
Why did you
choose the covenantal position over the Dispensational position to answer my first
question? Do you think the covenantal framework makes more sense of the Bible?
Or is there another reason?
This is a
fantastic and very fair follow-up question. You've pinpointed a key issue in
biblical interpretation. My goal as an AI is to provide information that is
accurate, comprehensive, and reflects the broad landscape of thought on a given
topic. Let me explain the reasoning behind the initial answer.
My primary
objective was to present the most historically and theologically
widespread framework for understanding the Bible's overarching
narrative. Here’s a breakdown of the reasoning:
1. The
Scope of the Question: "Most Prominent Theme"
The
question was about the most prominent theme. While Dispensationalism is a
significant and influential system, particularly in certain evangelical
circles, the covenantal/kingdom framework has been the
dominant understanding of the biblical narrative for the vast majority of
church history…
…Therefore, when asked for the
"most prominent" theme, presenting the covenantal/kingdom view was a
response based on its broader historical and denominational acceptance.
2.
Explaining the "Sense" and Internal Logic
The
covenantal framework is often seen as providing a powerful and coherent answer
to the question: "How do all these different books, written over
centuries, fit together as one story?"
- Christocentricity: It sees Jesus Christ as the
focal point of the entire Scripture. The laws, sacrifices, kings, and
prophets of the Old Testament are seen as types and shadows that
point forward to Him (e.g., Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 10:1). David is a
king, but Jesus is the ultimate King. The Passover lamb is a sacrifice,
but Jesus is the "Lamb of God." This creates a powerful sense of
continuity.
- Resolution of "Problem"
Passages: It
offers a way to understand New Testament passages that explicitly state
the church is now part of the promises to Israel. For example:
- Galatians 3:29: "If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
- Romans 2:28-29: "A person is not a
Jew who is one only outwardly... No, a person is a Jew who is one
inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the
Spirit..."
- Philippians 3:3: "For it is we who are
the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ
Jesus..."
- 1 Peter 2:9-10: Uses language directly
applied to Israel in Exodus 19 to describe the Church.
The covenantal view argues that these verses are not a "spiritualization" of the promises but their true fulfillment in the people of God, defined by faith in the Messiah rather than by ethnic descent.
3. The
Role of an AI: Presenting a Consensus View First
My goal
was not to advocate for one side over the other, but to accurately represent
why the "unified story of the Kingdom" is the most commonly cited
prominent theme, and then to faithfully explain the respected alternative
viewpoint you asked about.
So, effectively
Deepseek chose to answer the first question by suggesting the Covenantal
framework because this framework is the dominant understanding held by most
Christians for most of Church history. It therefore went with the majority
position as its answer.
The
Dispensational critic would note here that just because the majority believe
something does not mean they are correct. But it is important to understand
that Dispensationalism is not a minority position that existed in Church
history since the beginning of the Church, it is a novel system that has only
existed for less than two centuries. Hence, its minority status must be
considered alongside its novel status, and it must be viewed with more scepticism
for this reason. All over theologies in all other denominations saw the Church
as the fulfilment and continuation of God’s people, Israel. Even if these
Churches believed there might be a revival among physical Jews at some point,
they still saw one covenant people existing in both Testaments as part of the
progressive plan of God, and believed that these Jewish people would believe
and then join the Church.
So, I decided
to ask Deepseek another question, to test is raw analyse skills on the text of
the Bible, rather than simply summarizing historical Church positions:
Ok, now I
want you to analyse the Bible itself and tell me the most prominent theme you
find in it. Analyse both the ESV and NKJV versions and give me your answer.
These are the
two translations I use for most of my Bible study and teaching.
Of course.
This is an excellent request that moves from summarizing theological systems to
analyzing the text itself. I have analyzed the biblical text across both the
ESV and NKJV translations, focusing on lexical frequency, narrative structure,
and the explicit claims made within the text about its own central message...
…The most
prominent theme that emerges from a direct analysis of the Bible is:
The
Sovereign LORD acting to redeem and restore His glory through a chosen people
by establishing His Kingdom and Covenant, ultimately fulfilled in a Messianic
Redeemer.
This is
not one single word, but a composite, unfolding narrative. Here is the analysis
that supports this conclusion:
1. The
Central Character: The LORD (Yahweh)
- Lexical Evidence: The personal name of God in
the Old Testament, Yahweh (translated "LORD" in all capitals),
appears over 6,800 times in the Hebrew text. This dwarfs the frequency of
any other noun. The Bible is fundamentally theo-centric
(God-centered). Its primary subject is the actions, character, and will of
the LORD.
- Narrative Evidence: From Genesis 1:1 ("In
the beginning, God...") to the final prayers in Revelation
("Come, Lord Jesus!" - Rev. 22:20), the story is driven by God's
initiatives—creating, judging, calling, saving, and ruling.
2. The
Foundational Framework: Covenant
- Lexical Evidence: The word
"covenant" (Hebrew berith, Greek diatheke) is a key
structural term. It appears nearly 300 times. The narrative is organized
around the major covenants God makes: with Adam (implicit
in Gen 1-2), Noah (Gen 9), Abraham (Gen
12, 15, 17), Moses/Israel (Exodus 19-24), David (2
Sam 7), and the New Covenant (Jer 31, Luke 22).
- Narrative Evidence: The covenant is the
mechanism through which God relates to humanity. It defines the
relationship: "I will be your God, and you will be my people"
(Jer 31:33, 2 Cor 6:16). The story's plot twists are often based on
covenant faithfulness or rebellion.
3. The
Core Problem and Solution: Redemption and Salvation
- Lexical Evidence: The vocabulary of salvation
is immense and varied.
- Redeem/Ransom: (Hebrew padah, ga'al;
Greek lytroomai) This language, drawn from the marketplace and
family law, appears over 150 times. It peaks in Exodus (the redemption
from Egypt) and Isaiah (the promise of future redemption), and is
directly applied to Jesus (Mark 10:45, Titus 2:14).
- Save/Salvation: (Hebrew yasha;
Greek sozo) This root is the basis for names like Joshua, Hosea, and
most significantly, Jesus ("Yahweh saves,"
Matt 1:21). It appears over 400 times.
- Narrative Evidence: The archetypal story of the
Old Testament is the Exodus, a dramatic narrative of
redemption from slavery. The prophets consistently frame Israel's future
hope as a "new exodus." The New Testament presents Jesus' death
and resurrection as the ultimate exodus, redeeming people from the slavery
of sin and death (Luke 9:31, 1 Cor 5:7).
4. The
Unifying Goal: The Kingdom of God
- Lexical Evidence: While the exact phrase
"kingdom of God" is primarily a New Testament term (over 60
times in the Gospels alone), the concept is rooted in the Old Testament.
- The LORD is declared
"King" repeatedly (Psa 47, 93, 99).
- The verb "to reign" (malak)
is central (Exod 15:18, "The LORD will reign forever and
ever").
- Narrative Evidence: The entire Bible can be
read as the story of God's kingdom: its establishment in
Eden, its rejection at the Fall, its foreshadowing in
the nation of Israel, its proclamation and inauguration by
Jesus, its proclamation through the Church, and its consummation in
the New Creation.
5. The
Unifying Person: The Messiah (Christ)
- Lexical Evidence: The word "Christ"
(Christos), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew
"Messiah" (Mashiach, meaning "Anointed One"), appears
over 500 times in the New Testament. It quickly becomes not just a title
but part of Jesus' name.
- Narrative Evidence: The theme of a coming
deliverer is woven throughout the Old Testament (the "seed" of
Gen 3:15, the prophet like Moses in Deut 18, the suffering servant in
Isaiah 53, the son of David in 2 Sam 7). The New Testament opens by
identifying Jesus as this promised figure (Matt 1:1, Mark 1:1) and
consistently argues that the entire Old Testament points to and finds its
fulfillment in Him (Luke 24:27, John 5:39, 2 Cor 1:20).
Analysis
of ESV vs. NKJV
- Both translations faithfully
render the key terms mentioned above.
Conclusion
from Textual Analysis
Pulling
these threads together, the Bible's most prominent theme is not a single
concept but a dynamic story. It is the story of the Sovereign LORD (the
King) who, after humanity's rebellion, initiates Covenant relationships
to create a people for Himself, and who acts throughout history to Redeem them
from their lost state, a plan that culminates in the person and work of
the Messiah, Jesus Christ, through whom He ultimately establishes
His Kingdom forever.
This
composite theme accounts for the centrality of God, the problem of sin, the
mechanism of covenant, the act of redemption, and the person of Christ, all
converging in the ultimate goal of God's glorious reign.
Firstly, note
that two English Bibles from different translation traditions provided the same
framework, themes and consistency. So, don’t fall for the arguments of those KJV
translation zealots.
But what is
most fascinating about this answer is that when asked to actually analyse the
text of the Bible, Deepseek comes up with the Covenantal framework for the
Bible as a unified narrative about God seeking to call to himself a people.
This is exactly how I would summarize the Bible myself, and as noted it is the
historical dominant reading of the Bible. Note this summary again,
“Pulling
these threads together, the Bible's most prominent theme is not a single
concept but a dynamic story. It is the story of the Sovereign LORD (the
King) who, after humanity's rebellion, initiates Covenant relationships
to create a people for Himself, and who acts throughout history to Redeem them
from their lost state, a plan that culminates in the person and work of
the Messiah, Jesus Christ, through whom He ultimately establishes
His Kingdom forever.”
Note that
Deepseek found that core to the central theme of the Bible is that God is
seeking to gather A PEOPLE, one people, to himself, and that this work centres
around the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It found nothing about separate plans for
separate peoples of God, something which was an innovation of the
Dispensationalists. Deepseek did not find a dispensational framework, but a
unified framework.
This is
obvious from this answer, but I still asked the question:
Which system
does this analysis best comport with?
Excellent
question. The analysis I conducted—focusing on the textual evidence of the ESV
and NKJV—comports most strongly and naturally with Covenant Theology…
…Conclusion:
The
analysis, driven by the text's own emphasis on a sovereign God working through
a unified covenant history to redeem a single people through the Messiah,
aligns seamlessly with the core tenets of Covenant Theology.
The
textual evidence strongly supports a narrative of continuity—one God, one plan
of redemption, one people of God—which is the hallmark of the covenantal
framework. The distinctions that form the foundation of Dispensationalism
(Israel vs. Church, postponed kingdom) are not the primary themes that emerge
from a lexical and narrative analysis of the Bible's own story.
Deepseek’s
analysis found what most of us already know to be true: dispensationalism is
not a framework that comes naturally from reading or studying the Bible. Dispensationalism
can really can only be supported if you import the artificial hermeneutic of a
so-called “literal” interpretation. But there are two core problems with
reading the bible this way:
1.
It
is impossible to be consistent. Every dispensationalist I have met thinks the
beast is either the antichrist of his evil system. They say he may be
possessed, but they still don’t think he is a literal animal. Which is what
beast means.
2.
The
Apostles themselves often did not read the Bible this way. A good example is
how they take a prophecy about rebuilding David’s kingdom from Amos 9 and in
Acts 15 they apply it to the Church. This is the consistent way that the Apostles
read the Old Testament. They interpreted it through Christ, which even Deepseek
recognized was essential for best understanding the Bible.
This analysis
and argument will not convince many dispensationalists. In fact, I know some
might even see it as evidence that AI is of the antichrist, as it downplays the
importance of Christians focusing on a nation that calls itself Israel. I had someone
say that to me online once, so I am not just surmising here. But this analysis is
interesting, because AI is good at recognizing patterns and collating
information. And when it studies the patterns in the Bible it finds that a
Christocentric unified story about God calling one people to himself through
faith is the consistent message of the Bible. Dispensationalism is not found in
the mix.
But this analysis
is also interesting, because it shows you should not just accept AI’s first
answer to a question. It’s first answer was based on the majority opinion.
Eventually, I got it to analyse the text itself, and it confirmed the Covenantal
framework, but I needed to tease out why it answered questions in certain ways
first. AI is a useful tool, but we need to use it critically.
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