The Scofield Bible

It is often referred to in short as simply the Scofield Bible, which is actually a reference Bible containing the entire text of the King James Version along with commentary on the biblical text and a scripture cross-reference. The first Scofield Reference Bible was published in 1909 and was revised by the author in 1917. Dr. Cyrus I. Scofield passed away in 1921 and since another Bible reference was released in 1967 under the Scofield name, which is not considered a true "Scofield Bible" by many Christians.

Evangelist Billy Graham is known to promote or use the Scofield Bible. The Baptist Church tends to promote and reference the Scofield Bible. The Scofield Bible supports Gap creationism Theory seeing the "days" of Genesis 1 as 24-hour but considering that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, resulting in an earth that is much older than the 6000 years that young earth creationists believe.

Dr. Cyrus I. Scofield was a Dispensationalist, believing in a quite literal meaning to the text of the Bible. Consideration of the literal meaning is in contrast to those that try to interpret the bible into metaphoric meaning rather than the literal word of God. Dispensationalism also recognizes different periods of time or ages ordained by God. Between Genesis and the Apocalypse there are seven different periods of God and man. The Scofield Bible outlines a timetable for these periods and Bible prophecy. Dispensationalism is in contrast to Covenant Theology.

Dispensationalism points out a clear distinction between Israel and the church in God's plan. There are two distinct peoples of God, that is the people of Israel and the church. The church has not "replaced" Israel and the Old Testament promises made to Israel have not been "transferred" to the church. In the Old Testament God promised the Jews their land, many descendants, and blessings. According to Scofield, this will be fulfilled in the 1000-year period spoken of in Revelation chapter 20. This is by reading the text in the King James Bible. Even though at this time God is focused on the Church, God will again someday focus attention on Israel (the Jews.)

Israel and the Jews

In the Old Testament "man" was divided into two groups, the Jews and the Gentiles. This was due to the covenants God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and with their descendants through Moses. The difference between these two groups is referenced throughout the Holy Bible.

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
-Ephesians 2:11-13King James Version (KJV)

In the New Testament Christ promised he would build the church. As a result, there are now three divisions of mankind: Jews, Gentiles and the Church. These three groups all exist in the modern world. The Church division was created through offering to both Jews and Gentiles a "new covenant" relationship with God. This did not bring Gentiles under the Jewish Mosaic Law, but delivered from it those coming into the church, both Jews and Gentiles.

A major theme to dispensationalism is that the Church and Israel refer to different groups of people. The Church has its own purpose and destiny that is not the same as that of the Jews. In the book of Acts, for example, both Israel and the Church exist simultaneously but the terms "Israel" and "Church" always refer to two distinct groups of people. There is not a single instance in the entire Bible where Israel refers to anything other than the Jewish people (Israel = Jew.)

Christ stated that Israel must be restored to the land before he returns. Since the nation of Israel was established in 1948 after WW2, the dispensationalist belief is that we are nearing the End of Days and the Second Coming of Christ. Christ will preside over Israel and rule our world for 1000 years. This is the literal prophecy as told in the King James Bible and explained by Dr. Cyrus I. Scofield. It is in stark contact to Covenant Theology in which they believe Christ is presently ruling from the throne of David.

Criticism

Some Christians take issue with the eternal distinction of Jews, Gentiles, and the Church. The idea that the Church will one day inherit heavenly mansions, while Israel will inherit the earth is considered unfair. However, dispensationalists believe that national Israel will one day come to accept Christ as their savior too (see Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 13:35.) Mankind's perception of fairness seems like a weak argument against dispensationalism.

Another criticism of the Scofield Bible has to do with the age of the earth. Young Earth Theory (or Young Earth Creationism) is not supported by Dr. Cyrus I. Scofield. The Scofield Bible promotes a form of Old Earth creationism known as gap creationism. This neither pleases young earth Christians nor those more scientific Christians believing in Progressive creationism.

Larger criticism of dispensationalists, and directly against Dr. Scofield is by those believing in a Great Zionist Conspiracy to alter the meaning of the Bible. They believe that the reference text created by Scofield is intended on being purposely Zionist-friendly in an attempt to influence American Christians. If the Scofield Bible is meant to promote the modern State of Israel, this conspiracy implies that the planning of the nation of Israel occurred long before WW2.

The Christian Zionism movement in recent years openly discusses the merits of the Scofield Bible. It is this group along with the Oxford University Press that continues to release updates to the Scofield Bible, known as The New Scofield Bible, including the 1967 Oxford 4th Edition. Apparently, the conspiracy also implies that making use of the Scofield Bible as a tool to promote the hatred of the Arabic people and thus extending to the hatred of all Muslims will help further the political agenda for U.S. involvement in the middle east. Yet this theory also has flaws as the so-called Zionist Jew establishment seems to openly abandoned Israel.