Ryrie famously reduced dispensationalism to three essentials, which he reiterated in the later revision to his book, retitled Dispensationalism. Thesesine qua non include the following. First, dispensationalism “keeps Israel and the church distinct.” Second, this distinction arises from “a system of hermeneutics that is usually called literal interpretation.” Third, God’s underlying purpose in the world consists not only in the provision and application of salvation, but in the glory of God.

Dispensationalism has always come in different varieties. It has also developed over time. For example, few (if any) present-day dispensationalists accept Scofield’s complete system. In spite of the differences, however, dispensationalists also display similarities. Charles Ryrie tried to identify these similarities in his 1969 volume Dispensationalism Today. Ryrie was not articulating a new form of dispensational theology so much as seeking to articulate the common features that distinguished dispensational theology from other approaches to Scripture.

Ryrie famously reduced dispensationalism to three essentials, which he reiterated in the later revision to his book, retitled Dispensationalism. Thesesine qua non include the following. First, dispensationalism “keeps Israel and the church distinct.” Second, this distinction arises from “a system of hermeneutics that is usually called literal interpretation.” Third, God’s underlying purpose in the world consists not only in the provision and application of salvation, but in the glory of God.

In spite of Ryrie’s (and others’) explanations of these distinguishing marks, confusion remains. Do not covenant theologians also emphasize the glory of God? Furthermore, do dispensationalists not recognize many non-literal passages in the Bible? As for Israel and the Church, does not the New Testament itself apply many Old Testament Scriptures to the Church that were first spoken to Israel? Rather than counting against Ryrie’s sine qua non, these questions reflect poor understanding of dispensationalism’s core ideas.

For example, dispensationalists acknowledge that other theologies strongly emphasize the glory of God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (hardly a dispensational document) insists that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How, then, can Ryrie say that God’s doxological purpose is a difference between his system and theirs?

The answer lies in how each system sees God glorifying Himself. Non-dispensationalists believe that God glorifies Himself in the world primarily through the salvation of individuals. For their part, dispensationalists acknowledge that individual salvation is one way in which God glorifies Himself, but they see His doxological plan as much grander and more complex. God plans to get glory when people are brought to salvation, but He also plans to get glory when He finally judges the wicked. He plans to get glory from the elect angels, and He also plans to receive glory through the fate of the angels who sinned. God’s plan includes not only individuals, but also ethnic groups (nations) such as Egypt and Assyria (Isa. 19:19-25). God’s plan includes the restoration of the created order, its dissolution, and the creation of a new order (2 Pet. 3:9-14).

Both dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists understand that God’s purpose in the world is to bring glory to Himself, and both yearn to see Him glorified. The dispensationalist, however, insists that God’s glory is so magnificent and manifold that it must be revealed in many ways. For the dispensationalist, salvation history is one of those ways, but only one.

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