Three WHAT ARE THE DISPENSATIONS? THE NUMBER OF DISPENSATIONS The Importance of the Question In the previous chapter we have seen that covenant theologians (such as Hodge and Berkhof) list four and five dispensations in their concept of the outworking of the covenant of grace. This points to the fact that recognizing dispensations does not automatically make a person a dispensationalist. The essence of dispensationalism is (1) the recognition of a consistent distinction between Israel and the church,
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