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principles, much obscurity appears to me to have arisen from a want of
simple attention to scripture.’ 636 He went on to claim:
‘For my part, if I were bound to receive all that has been said by the
Millenarians, I would reject the whole system, but their views and
statements weigh with me not one feather. But this does not hinder
me from enquiring by the teaching of the same spirit ... what God has
with infinite graciousness revealed to me concerning His dealing with
the Church.’ 637
‘… because it was in this the Lord was pleased, without man's
teaching, first to open my eyes on this subject, that I might learn His
will concerning it throughout.’ 638
Darby therefore justified his own dispensational scheme on the basis that
others had not studied the scriptures correctly and his interpretation was right
because the Lord had revealed it to him personally.
1.2 Scofield’s Contribution to a Dispensational Literal Hermeneutic
Scofield’s own dispensational scheme draws heavily on Darby’s writings. 639
Nevertheless, he claims Dispensationalism recovers for the Bible, ‘a clear and
coherent harmony of the predictive portions’:
‘The Dispensations are distinguished, exhibiting the majestic,
progressive order of the divine dealings of God with humanity, the
“increasing purpose” which runs through and links together the ages,
from the beginning of the life of man to the end in eternity. Augustine
said: “Distinguish the ages, and the scriptures harmonize.”’ 640
Whether Augustine understood ‘ages’ in terms of Scofield’s
dispensations is questionable. Nevertheless, Scofield claimed his scheme
was natural and self evident:
636
J. N. Darby, ‘The Covenants’ The Collected Writings of John Nelson Darby, edited by
William Kelly (Kingston on Thames, Stow Hill Bible and Trust Depot, 1962). Doctrine I,
III, p68.
637
J. N. Darby, ‘Reflections Upon the Prophetic Inquiry, and the Views Advanced in It,’
Collected, op.cit., Prophetic I, II. pp6-7.
638
J. N. Darby, ‘Evidence from Scripture for the passing away of the present dispensations’
Collected, op.cit., Prophetic I, II. p108.
639
‘The parallel between Scofield’s notes and Darby’s works only too clearly reveals that
Scofield was not only a student of Darby’s works, but that he copiously borrowed ideas,
words and phrases.’ Clarence B. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Eerdmans, 1960), p18. See also Loraine Boettner, The Millennium, (Grand
Rapids, Baker, 1958), p369f.
640
Scofield, Scofield, op.cit., piii.
141