Dispensationalism

===Distinction between Israel and the Church===
Dispensationalists profess that there exists a historic and demographic distinction between Israel and the [[Christian Church]]. For them, Israel is an ethnic nation consisting of Hebrews ([[Israelites]]), beginning with [[Abraham]].<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=127}} The Church, on the other hand, consists of all [[salvation|saved]] individuals from the "birth of the Church" in Acts until the time of the [[rapture]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gotothebible.com/HTML/notwrath.html | title = Not Wrath, but Rapture | first = Harry A | last = Ironside | author-link = Harry A. Ironside | quote = The prophetic clock stopped at Calvary; it will not start again until 'the fullness of the Gentiles be come in'. | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160203075745/http://www.gotothebible.com/HTML/notwrath.html | archive-date = 2016-02-03 }}</ref> Classic dispensationalists refer to this period as a "parenthesis" or temporary interlude in the progress of Israel's prophesied history when God has paused his dealing with Israel and is dealing with his Church.<ref name="parenthesis">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yfBGAAACAAJ
|last=Ironside
|first=Harry A.
|author-link=Harry A. Ironside
|title=The Great Parenthesis
|publisher=[[Zondervan]]
|date=1943
|page=4
|quote=It is the author's fervent conviction that the failure to understand what is revealed in Scripture concerning the Great Parenthesis between Messiah's rejection, with the consequent setting aside of Israel nationally, and the regathering of God's earthly people and recognition by the Lord in the last days, is the fundamental cause for many conflicting and unscriptural prophetic teachings. Once this parenthetical period is understood and the present work of God during this age is apprehended, the whole prophetic program unfolds with amazing clearness.}}</ref><ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=134,177}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=DeMar |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tii3ulwqzW0C |title=Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church |publisher=American Vision |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-915815-35-7 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=410}}

There are differing views within dispensationalism as to when the church age began. Classic dispensationalism considers [[Pentecost]] in [[Acts 2]] as the beginning of the Church as distinct from Israel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Enns |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hlIAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22dispensationalism%22%2B%22church+age%22%2B%22Acts+2%22&pg=PT745 |title=The Moody Handbook of Theology |date=2014-03-27 |publisher=Moody Publishers |isbn=978-0-8024-9115-2 |language=en}}</ref> Charles Finney noted in 1839 that Pentecost was "the commencement of a new dispensation", emphasizing the role of the Holy Spirit as a distinction.<ref name=":17" />{{Rp|page=87}} [[C. I. Scofield]] did not make Pentecost itself the turning point but did emphasize its role in dividing the dispensations of "Law" and "Grace".<ref name=":17" />{{Rp|page=88}} In contrast, [[Hyperdispensationalism|hyperdispensationalists]] suggest that the church started later in Acts ("Mid-Acts") with the ministry of Paul, identifying the start of the church as occurring between the salvation of Saul in [[Acts 9]] and the Holy Spirit's commissioning of Paul in [[Acts 13]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Brock |first=Robert C. |title=The Teachings of Christ |url=http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/articles/1017958318.html |quote=The ministry of Christ did not stop with His ascension in the first chapter of the book of Acts. Christians have failed to realize that when Saul is saved in Acts 9, a NEW ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ is begun by God, and this NEW ministry ushers in this present age of grace. Saul's name is changed to Paul, and he is designated as the Apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). He is given revelations from the risen Christ, and these are the revelations embracing Christianity.}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Couch |first=Mal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPeo38M2d9UC |title=Dictionary of Premillennial Theology |publisher=Kregel Publications |isbn=978-0-8254-9464-2 |pages=98 |language=en}}</ref> [[E. W. Bullinger]] and the ultradispensationalists taught that the church began in [[Acts 28]].<ref name=":12" />  According to [[progressive dispensationalism]], the distinction between Israel and the Church is not mutually exclusive, as there is a recognized overlap between the two.<ref name="blaising">{{Cite book |last1=Blaising |first1=Craig A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsumJRsOWVMC |title=Progressive Dispensationalism |last2=Bock |first2=Darrell L. |publisher=BridgePoint |year=1993 |isbn=1-56476-138-X |location=Wheaton, Illinois |language=en-us}}</ref>{{rp|295}} The overlap includes [[Jewish Christian]]s like [[James, brother of Jesus]], who integrated Jesus's teachings into the Jewish faith, and Christians of Jewish ethnicity who held varying opinions on compliance with Mosaic law, like [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle]]. Progressive dispensationalism "softens" the Church/Israel distinction by seeing some Old Testament promises as expanded by the New Testament to include the Church. However, progressives never view this expansion as replacing promises to its original audience, Israel.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Progressive Dispensationalism
 |first       = Mike
 |last        = Stallard
 |url         = http://faculty.bbc.edu/mstallard/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/PDChallenge.pdf
 |quote       = some OT promises can be expanded by the NT. However, this expansion is never viewed as replacing or undoing the implications of that OT promise to its original audience, Israel. For example, the Church's participation in the New Covenant taught in the NT can add the Church to the list of recipients of the New Covenant promises made in the OT. However, such participation does not rule out the future fulfillment of the OT New Covenant promises to Israel at the beginning of the Millennium. Thus, the promise can have a coinciding or overlapping fulfillment through NT expansions of the promise.
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719142144/http://faculty.bbc.edu/mstallard/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/PDChallenge.pdf
 |archive-date = 2011-07-19
}}</ref>