Difference between revisions of "Dispensation"

<p> οἰκονομία. This is literally 'administration of a house,' an 'economy,' and hence an ordered dealing with men by God in the varied administration of his ways at different times. In reviewing God's administrations with man, we may notice the state of <i> innocence </i> in Eden, though it hardly partook of the character of a dispensation. One law was given to Adam and Eve, and obedience was required, the penalty being announced if they failed. </p> <p> This was followed by the lengthy period of nearly 1600 years till the flood — a time of no ordered dealing of God with men, during which men corrupted their way, and the earth was filled with violence. Then the world was 'spoken to' by God in the person of Noah, who was 'a preacher of righteousness;' and their repentance was waited for in long-suffering mercy while the ark was preparing. &nbsp;1 Peter 3:20; &nbsp;2 Peter 2:5 . They repented not and the old world was destroyed. In the post-diluvian world government of man by his fellow was established by God, while a knowledge of God, as a God who judged evil, was spread abroad by the descendants of Noah; traditions of the [[Flood]] being found all over the earth. This was an additional testimony for God. Then followed the division of the earth into various nations and tribes, according to their families and tongues. Among these <i> ignorance </i> of God prevailed in spite of the testimony of God's power and divinity, and the admonition of conscience spoken of in &nbsp;Romans 1,2 . </p> <p> About 360 years after the deluge the Patriarchal Age was begun by the call of Abraham, a new and sovereign dealing of God; but this was confined to [[Abraham]] and his descendants. </p> <p> The [[Dispensation]] of <i> the Law </i> followed, strictly the first publicly ordered system of God's dealing with men, and administered by angels. The oracles of God were given to a nation, the only nation in all the earth that God had known in this way. &nbsp;Amos 3:2 . It was the dispensation of 'Do this, and live and be blessed; disobey, and be cursed.' This dispensation had three phases: </p> <p> a. About 400 years under the Judges, when God would have been their king, but during which time every one did that which was right in his own eyes. </p> <p> b. 500 years as a kingdom under royalty. </p> <p> c. 600 years from the captivity to the coming of Christ. Connected with this was prophetic testimony: the law and the prophets were until John. &nbsp;Luke 16:16 . </p> <p> During this 'Dispensation of Law' the Times of the [[Gentiles]] commenced in the political supremacy of Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold and king of kings. &nbsp;Daniel 51:37,38 . They still run their course, and will continue until the Lord Jesus commences His reign. </p> <p> 2. The Dispensation of <i> Grace and </i> <i> Truth </i> commenced, after the preaching of John, by the advent of Christ. During this economy the gospel is preached to every creature under heaven, and the calling out of the Church takes place, extending as a parenthesis, from the day of [[Pentecost]] to the rapture of the saints. &nbsp;Acts 2:1-4; &nbsp;1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 . Paul had a special 'dispensation' committed to him by God, both as to the gospel and to fulfil the word of God by the doctrine of the church as the body of Christ. &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:17; &nbsp;Ephesians 3:2,3; &nbsp;Colossians 1:25,26 . </p> <p> 3. The Dispensation of <i> the [[Reign]] of Christ </i> over the earth during the millennium. It is also called 'the dispensation of the fulness of times.' &nbsp;Ephesians 1:10; &nbsp;Revelation 20:1-6 . See [[Millennium.]] </p> <p> Under these varied administrations the goodness and faithfulness of God shine out, and the failure of man is everywhere made manifest. </p>

<div> '''1: οἰκονομία ''' (Strong'S #3622 — Noun [[Feminine]] — oikonomia — oy-kon-om-ee'-ah ) </div> <p> primarily signifies "the management of a household or of household affairs" (oikos, "a house," nomos, "a law"); then the management or administration of the property of others, and so "a stewardship," &nbsp;Luke 16:2-4; elsewhere only in the [[Epistles]] of Paul, who applies it (a) to the responsibility entrusted to him of preaching the Gospel, &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:17 (RV, "stewardship," AV, "dispensation"); (b) to the stewardship commited to him "to fulfill the Word of God," the fulfillment being the unfolding of the completion of the Divinely arranged and imparted cycle of truths which are consummated in the truth relating to the Church as the Body of Christ, &nbsp; Colossians 1:25 (RV and AV, "dispensation"); so in &nbsp; Ephesians 3:2 , of the grace of God given him as a stewardship ("dispensation") in regard to the same "mystery;" (c) in &nbsp;Ephesians 1:10; &nbsp;3:9 , it is used of the arrangement or administration by God, by which in "the fullness of the times" (or seasons) God will sum up all things in the heavens and on earth in Christ. In &nbsp;Ephesians 3:9 some mss. have koinonia, "fellowship," for oikonomia, "dispensation." In &nbsp; 1 Timothy 1:4 oikonomia may mean either a stewardship in the sense of (a) above, or a "dispensation" in the sense of (c). The reading oikodomia, "edifying," in some mss., is not to be accepted. See Stewardship. </p>

<li> A commission to preach the gospel (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:17; &nbsp;Ephesians 1:10; &nbsp;3:2; &nbsp;Colossians 1:25 ). <p> [[Dispensations]] of [[Providence]] are providential events which affect men either in the way of mercy or of judgement. </p> <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Dispensation'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/d/dispensation.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> (οἰκονομία, management, prop. of household affairs, hence Engl. economy; "stewardship," &nbsp;Luke 16:2-4; "edifying," &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:4, apparently reading οἰκοδομή ). </p> <p> '''(1.)''' By the divine dispensations are generally meant those methods or schemes which are devised and pursued by the wisdom and goodness of God in order to manifest his perfections and will to mankind, for the purpose of their instruction, discipline, reformation, and advancement in rectitude of temper and conduct, for the promotion of their happiness. These have 'varied in different ages' of the world, and have been adapted by the wisdom and goodness of God to the circumstances of his intelligent and accountable creatures. Divines designate these various dispensations as the Patriarchal, the Mosaic or Jewish, and the Christian; the first commencing with Adam, and reaching to the giving of the law; the second from the giving of the law to the death of Christ; the third from the death of Christ to the end of the world. All these were adapted to the circumstances of the family of man at these different periods: all, in regular succession, were mutually connected, and rendered preparatory to one another: all were subservient to the design of saving the world, and promoting the perfection and happiness of its rational and moral inhabitants (Watson, Theol. Dictionary, s.v.). "There is, perhaps no part of divinity attended with so much intricacy, and wherein orthodox divines so much differ, as in stating the precise agreement and difference between the two dispensations of Moses and Christ" (Jona. Edwards, On Full Communion, Works, N.Y. 1848, 1:160). See Pye Smith, First [[Lines]] of Christian Theology, book 4, chapter 3; Fletcher, Works (N.Y. ed.), volumes 2, 3, and the art. (See [[Federal Theology]]). </p> <p> '''(2.)''' Dispensations of Providence are any particular or unusual modes of visible treatment to which, under the divine government, mankind are subjected. They are either merciful or in judgment, though what appear to belong to the latter class are often blessings in disguise (Buck, ''Theol. Dict'' . s.v.). (See Providence). </p> <p> '''(3.)''' The word dispensation is used in ecclesiastical law to signify a power granted by the Church authorities to do or leave undone something which otherwise is not allowed. The Roman ecclesiastical law grants to the pope the right and power of dispensing with the law in certain (and numerous) cases, and of deputing this power to bishops and other church officers. "The limits of the dispensing power have been the subject of much discussion, not only in controversy with Protestants, but among Roman Catholics themselves. It is held by the extreme advocates of papal power that the pope may dispense in any divine law, except the articles of faith; by others, that his dispensing power does not extend to express precepts of the New Testament; some say that his dispensation is valid only when it proceeds upon just cause; some, that it is not properly a relaxation of the law's obligation, but merely a declaration that in the particular case the law is not applicable. The usage of the Church of Rome, however, agrees with the opinions of her theologians in making the pope supreme in releasing from oaths and vows; and a decree of the [[Council]] of [[Trent]] anathematizes all,who deny the power of the Church to grant dispensations for marriages within the prohibited degrees of the Mosaic law; while the multiplied prohibited degrees of the canon law give much occasion for the more frequent exercise of the same power" (Chambers). The dispensations in the Church of Rome are divided by Roman Catholic writers into papal and episcopal, pro foro externo et interno (according to the public or secret character of the impediment to be removed), dispensationes justitice et gratiae. Roman Catholics generally admit the fact that in former times it was common for bishops and provincial councils to dispense from general Church laws, and that only since [[Innocent]] III the canon law provides in what cases bishops and provincial councils may grant dispensations, while in all cases a special authorization by the pope is required — in cases pro foro externo through the apostolic Dataria, and in cases pro foro interno through the Poenitentiaria. (See [[Curia Romana]]). </p> <p> If the communication with the pope is interrupted, or if there is danger in delay, and the granting of the papal dispensation be highly probable, the bishop may exceptionally grant a dispensation which ordinarily is reserved to the pope; but in such cases the papal sanction must be solicited as soon as possible. The authorization of the bishops to grant dispensations is partly renewed every fifth year (facultates quinquennales), and partly given as a personal distinction (facultates extraordinariae); but they can only exercise it as papal delegates. "The only kind of dispensations now in use in [[England]] are those granted by a bishop to a clergyman to enable him to hold more benefices than one, or to absent himself from his parish. Formerly the pope's dispensations in England, as elsewhere, prevailed against the law of the land, not in ecclesiastical matters only, but in all that large department of civil affairs which, by an interested fiction, was brought within the scope of ecclesiastical government. This abuse was swept away at the [[Reformation]] by 25 Henry VIII, c. 21. The power of the pope was then conferred on the archbishop of Canterbury, in so far as it was not contrary to the law of God. The granting of special licenses of marriage, and the like, is the only form in which it is ever exercised. In former times, the crown claimed a dispensing power in civil, similar to that of the pope in ecclesiastical matters. The power was grossly abused by James II, and was consequently abolished by the Bill of Rights. The privilege of granting pardons in capital cases is the only form in which the dispensing power of the crown still exists" (Chambers). </p> <p> In the [[Protestant]] churches of the Continent of Europe, the right of dispensing with ecclesiastical laws has devolved upon the princes, who generally exercise it through the Consistories. If the prince needs an ecclesiastical dispensation himself, he usually calls for the opinion of a theological faculty.-Herzog, Real-Encykl. 3:423; Wetzer u. Welte, Kirch.- Lex. 4:178; Barrow, Works (N.Y. ed.), 3:204 sq., 278. </p>

'''''dis''''' '''''pen''''' '''''sā´shun''''' <i> '''''oikonomı́a''''' </i> &nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:17&nbsp;Ephesians 3:2&nbsp; Colossians 1:25&nbsp; Ephesians 1:10