From the Scofield Reference Bibles
1917 and 1967 editions
(Referenced as SRB 1917 and SRB 1967)
As a very young Bible school teacher I obtained books on the Christian life, principles of interpretation, doctrine and prophecy that were duly approved in "Fundamentalist" circles. Also I was given a copy of the 1917 Scofield Reference Bible. I ran into problems of squaring what they taught with what I was learning as I studied and taught the Scriptures. Now I am past 80, having studied, ministered, and taught for 64 years around the world. Many others have helped and still help me. Please hear some Scriptures bearing on biblical interpretation that must be clarified.
l Sa 2:30: "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: BUT NOW the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Definitely forever does not mean unconditionally. We see God's promises are conditioned by his person and sovereignty. Then we realize that IF a so called unconditional promise COULD be made it would nullify God's sovereignty -- an absolute impossibility. So any claim of this or that promise being unconditional is false. God says, "IF thou wilt...then will I." There is always an IF.
See also Jer 18:5-10, quoting 7-10, "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them."
These words spoken to Israel were applicable to lsrael as a nation. It totally eliminates all so called unconditional promises and prophecies to Israel or to any nation. God is no respecter of persons or nations, but is just and fair to all alike with abundant mercy to all who call upon him in truth.
Hope was not blotted out despite the destiny prophesied for the carnal apostates. (lsa 5:1-14.) Any person who would repent could find mercy and blessing with the godly Remnant. (Isa 1: 16-20: Joel 2:32.) Furthermore, God promised a sure attainment of the promises of Ex 19:5-6 when he would make a New Covenant with the house of lsrael and the house of Judah. (Jer 31:31, 34-37.)
The Lord spoke of his Remnant in Mal 3: 16-17:"...they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts, when I make up my jewels." (Heb Cegulah). The same peculiar treasure (Cegulah) as at Ex 19:5-6. The same Remnant of lsa 10:22-23, and of Hos 1:10 and 2:23, spoken of by Jesus at Jn 1:11-13, by Paul at Ro 9:23-26, and by Peter at 1 Pe 2:3, 910. These who love God continually honor the Lord of that New Covenant as the Lord taught them, (Lk 22:19-20 ) and as Paul taught, (1 Co 11:23-26) for the Promised SEED gave himself for whosoever, for the Jew first and also for the Gentiles. (Ge 22:18; Jn 3:16; Gal 3:8-16, 29; Heb 8:6-13; 9:15; 12:22-28.)
Now we have moved scripturally and in boundaries of apostolic principles so far and have stepped on the toes of some holding unintended errors.
Jesus, the Impregnable Rock of the New Covenant, may not be chipped, altered, moved, obscured or ignored without disastrous consequences. His ministry was to bring this New Covenant, (lsa 42:6; 49:8; Jer 31:31-37; Mal 3:1-2; Mat 24:35,) bringing the fulness of divine revelation. (Jn 8:47; Dt 18:18-19; Acts 3:22-23.) Moses' great prophecy emphasizes that Christ would bring the fulness of the Word of God. Heb 12:1-2 is comparable to Moses' prophecy.
In Dt 18:18, God says. "I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Then Peter declares that whoever will not hear HIM shall be destroyed from among the people. (Ac 3:23. ) And Paul says, "If any man teach otherwise and consent not to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is proud, knowing nothing, destitute of the truth; from such withdraw thyself." (1Ti 6:3-5.) Consider: Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Any omission or variation of his word is a departure from the Truth and the Way, and we fear, from the Life itself. (Col 2:8-9; Tit 1:9-11,14; 1Ti 3:3-4,7; 2Ti 4:2-4.)
The list of Scripture passages that are ignored, resisted, twisted, shaded, perverted, brushed by or veiled by diversionary notes is a testimony against its content in the preaching and Bible teaching of this 20th century, including the creeds and dogma on which it may seek to justify itself. Men today, as the Pharisees did, are doing these things to Christ.
When men preach a doctrine that finds no room for a full clear presentation of Mt 13:36-43 or of Acts 3:22-23, then they are committing that very sin. And when they build a doctrine that has no room for the full meaning of 2Pe 3, Ro 8:18-23 and 2Th 1:6-10, then they have built a false doctrine for itching ears. When men begin to see the truth in God's word and realize that to confess it would cost money, job, esteem or leadership, and fail to take a stand for truth, then they too have joined the Pharisees with their vested interest. Every sin mentioned here is rampant in our time.
I have often spoken against the Scofield Reference Bible notes as being an abomination and advised students against using a Scofield Bible lest their minds be affected because of the evil heresies it contains. Such statements must be substantiated or the person who makes them repudiated. Some persons are so wedded to the error and so blinded by it, that they will receive no teaching, but Jesus said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" (Lk 6:46.) "Not everyone that saith to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Mt 7:21.)
True Bible study takes time and labor and careful faithful attention to what a writer is saying without trying to make him say what we want him to say. Teaching in the Old Testament was veiled and much could not be understood until the Messiah came. The New Testament writers remove the veil for us. They taught the whole revealed will of God. Many teachers today are teaching doctrines the Apostles did not teach and some which they thoroughly condemned.
The dispensational scheme that Scofield picked up from others divided time into seven dispensations during which time man is tested, he said, in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God.
He lists seven periods of time:
This is Scofield teaching, not the Bible. He gives no scriptural authority for there is none to be given. These divisions are arbitrary and they all overlap. God made a promise in Eden of a Coming One. Adam had a conscience for he hid after he disobeyed. No one can be saved apart from God's grace in any age.
In the Bible, the word oikonomia means stewardship, i.e., "Give account of thy stewardship." (Lk 16:2; 12:3; Col 1 :25.)
INSTEAD, God dealt with his people by Seven Covenants:
When Albertus Pieters wrote about the Scofield Bible in 1938, he said it was one of the most dangerous books on the market.
The leaven of these teachings has permeated everywhere, even where his notes are unknown. For proof to back up my accusations see the following:
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) from the Introduction to THE FOUR GOSPELS: "All (gospels) record Christ's offer of Himself as King."
ANSWER: That statement is plainly false. Nowhere does Jesus ever suggest in the faintest way that he is waiting for popular or national approval to establish his kingdom or to be an earthly king. Jn 6:15, "When Jesus perceived that they would come to take him by force to make him a king, he departed..." His offer of the kingdom is the same he made to Nicodemus at the beginning of his ministry, "Except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the Kingdom of God," Jn 3:3. Also Jn 3:14-16. Take it and be saved; neglect it and be lost.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 4:17: " 'At hand' is never a positive affirmation that the person or thing said to be at hand will immediately appear, but only that no known or predicted event must intervene." The verse reads "From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
ANSWER: Scofield is speaking pompous nonsense. Mk 1:15 reads: "The time is fulfilled for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel." The Scripture gives us plenty of examples as to what the term at hand means. In Mt 26:46, Jesus said, "He that betrayeth me is at hand." And while he was yet speaking Judas came and kissed him and betrayed him. 'At hand' means something within your reach. So the Scripture uses it continually.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 4:17: "When Christ appeared to the Jewish people, the next thing, in the order of revelation as it then stood, should have been the setting up of the Davidic kingdom. In the knowledge of God, not yet disclosed, lay the rejection of the kingdom and the King, the long period of the mystery-form kingdom, the worldwide preaching of the cross and the out-calling of the church. But this was as yet locked up in the secret counsels of God." Then he gives Mt 13:11,17 and Eph. 3:3-10.
ANSWER: The first statement -- "When Christ first appeared to the Jewish people the next thing should have been the setting up of the kingdom," is the error of the Pharisees, that Christ should appear as a mighty warrior conquering the world for Israel and setting up such a kingdom on earth. Scofield's notes reveal this as his understanding of the kingdom. He declares that is what should have been according to the revelation to that point. Nothing could be further from the truth. That is absolute heresy. Israel, clinging to this false hope, lost everything in A.D. 70. Scofield falsely assumed that the Davidic Covenant prophesied an earthly enthronement of Christ upon the throne of David with Jews ruling over all.
The first year of Christ's ministry is given in the first four chapters of John. In Jn 3:1-2, we read, "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, the same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him, 'Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.'" Who came? Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin. He came by night to talk with Jesus alone.
The Sanhedrin knew that Jesus was a teacher come from God. What then was on their minds? The Messiah! They were looking for the kingdom. They knew the prophecy that Messiah should come 490 years or so, after the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. It was now time for Messiah to appear. That is why they sent inquirers to John the Baptist and why Nicodemus has come to question the Lord.
Jesus answered him, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto you except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (Jn 3:5-7.) That was the beginning of Jesus' ministry and at its very beginning he is preaching the kingdom. What kind? A kingdom with a sword-rattling, warrior Messiah? No way! A Messiah who will be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:14-15.)
"You mean that Jews cannot see the kingdom of God unless they are born again?" Nicodemus, you are Jewish flesh, a member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee. Your Mosaic religion, Abrahamic descent, your Jewish flesh with all its pride, none of it can get you into the kingdom of God--only the new birth."
This is the kingdom that Jesus preached from the beginning of his ministry, but Scofield twists things up to make it appear Jesus was preaching the Pharisees' earthly kingdom.
Look at the second statement where Scofield says, "In the knowledge of God, not yet disclosed lay the rejection of the kingdom and King." Scofield thereby denies great and clear prophesies where the rejection, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and enthronement of Christ in glory are all set forth. (lsa 53; Ps 2; Ps 16:8-11, Ps 110:1-4) Was he totally ignorant of these wonderful prophecies?
The third statement reads: "The long period of the mystery-form kingdom, the worldwide preaching of the cross and the out calling of the church. But this was as yet locked up in the secret counsels of God." (Mt 13:11,17; Eph 3:3-10) Using mystery in this context defines it as something beyond our knowing in this age. Jesus spoke to this age in Mt 13:11, saying, "...it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and Mark says "... unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God..." (Mk 4:11.) The prophets caught the reality of the Messianic, that is, the Christian, age. For example, in 1Pe 1: 12, "Unto whom it was revealed..." Also David, (Ac 2:25-31) and Moses, (Ac 3:22-23) concerning Israel. And Peter and Paul. (Ac 3:24 with 26:22, 23) Christ unveiled the mysteries of the kingdom for this age.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917) on Mt 6:33: "The kingdom of God is to be distinguished from the kingdom of heaven." Part (4), The kingdom of God ... is chiefly that which is inward and spiritual; while the kingdom of heaven is organic, and is to be manifested in glory on the earth." Scofield implies that one does not enter the kingdom of heaven by being born again, this is required only for entering the kingdom of God. See also Scofield note (SRB 1917, 1967) and (I Co 15:24 part 4)
ANSWER: Such a view causes more problems. Jesus said, "Except ye be converted ... ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 18:3) "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (Jn 3:3) The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are one and the same.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 11.11: "John Baptist was as great morally, as any man 'born of woman,' but as to the kingdom he but announced it at hand. The kingdom did not then come, but was rejected, and John was martyred and the King presently crucified. The least in the kingdom when it is set up in glory ... will be...in the fulness of power and glory. It is not heaven which is in question, but Messiah's kingdom."
ANSWER: Scofield here, as often, makes anti-christian Israel sovereign over God, as if their opposition spoiled God's plans and purpose and the kingdom had to be postponed. What impossible nonsense! (Cf. Isa 46:10)
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1967) on Jn 18:36: "'My kingdom is not of this world' -- this verse has erroneously been taken to mean that Christ was disavowing that his kingdom would be established on earth."
ANSWER: Read Eph 1:19-23, which shows this Scofield teaching is utterly false. This is God's description of Christ's present exaltation. It is described again in Php 2:9-10; 1Ti 6:15-17 and Mt 28:18.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 11:28: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." "The new message of Jesus. The rejected King, now turns from the rejecting nation, and offers, not the kingdom, but rest and service to such in the nation as are conscious of need. It is a pivotal point in the ministry or Jesus (1917).
ANSWER: Mt 11:28: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." How beautifully these words fit together with the very beginning of Jesus' message. These blessings are for those who are born again, finding rest in the loving care of Jesus.
"In old Israel when the Jews said the Shema, it was their formula for taking the yoke of the kingdom." (Life and Times of Jesus, pg. 267, par. 3, by Edersheim). "Take my yoke" in Jewish context meant entering the kingdom. Jesus never changed his message.
Scofield overlooked verse Mt 11:27. Jesus said, "All things are delivered unto me by my Father." Also Mt 28:18: "All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth." He is speaking of his kingship. (Ps 2:6-7; Ac 13:33. What is he saying? "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest unto your souls." You will have entered the kingdom that cannot be moved. l am able to care for you. All things are delivered into my hands. Scofield says the new message, "The rejected King now turns from the rejecting nation and offers, not the kingdom but rest and service to all who are in conscious need of his help," (1967). In Mt 12. Jesus healed a man deaf, blind and possessed of the devil. "And all the people were amazed and said, Is this not the son of David, the King?"
If he had withdrawn the offer of the kingdom, why would the kingdom be so much on the people's minds? But the Pharisees said, "This fellow does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils." What disturbed the Pharisees? These people were getting the idea that Jesus was indeed the king. They didn't like it. So they smeared the name of Jesus, saying he was possessed of the devil.
Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself, how then shall his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges, but if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then The Kingdom of God has come unto you."
Casting out devils manifested authority over Satan's realm. This must indeed be the Messiah, the people thought. "Is not this the son of David'?" How that disturbed the Pharisees with their idea of a warrior king. They didn't want anything like this. The kingdom was not waiting to come. It had not been postponed to the millennium. It was there and in action then and if they could believe and accept it, they could be born into that kingdom. Jesus never changed his message. They did kill the King, but three days later God gave him his eternal throne. Rev 1:4-6 is the present kingdom. (Cf. Mt 28:18; Ps 16:8-11) We know he arrived in heaven because he sent the Holy Spirit back. (John 7:39; Ps 110: 1-4)
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 3:2: "The kingdom of heaven ... signifies the Messianic earth rule of Jesus Christ." (1917) "The kingdom of heaven will be realized in the future millennial kingdom" (1967).
ANSWER: That is heresy! Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight." His kingdom is of the new creation. Peter in Acts 2:22-26 and Paul in Acts 13:22, 33, 47, their first recorded sermons, make it clear that the Davidic Covenant is fulfilled with its accompanying Messianic Psalms, 2 and 110:1. Paul comments on 110:1 at 1Co 15:24-26, showing Christ in his present session working from his heavenly throne conquering every enemy. There is no honest teaching that would bring that throne to earth for the Father says it is in heaven and the Son is to sit there UNTIL he puts all enemies under his feet. Ps 110:2 indicates he has enemies in Zion.
Those wedded to the millennial heresy seem to be capable of any atrocity against the Word of God to try to support that teaching, even if Scripture has to be flatly contradicted to fit it.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 8:11-12: HE HAS NO NOTE on these verses, "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
ANSWER: These verses are Jesus' tremendous prophecy of the fate of Israel at his Second Coming. Scofield ignores it and teaches just the opposite elsewhere. These Scriptures show all the evil persons burning in hell fire and all the saved ones in the glory of God's kingdom. (cf. Lk 13:24-28) Scofield flatly denies this and the words of Mt 13:37-43. He says, No, the millennium comes next and the judgment pictured here is one thousand years later. In all these contradictions, he is contradicting him whom he calls Lord. "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (Mt 16:27) The final day of judgment is at the end of this age--the end of all things of this fallen creation.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Ro 11:1-6, last paragraph: "That the Christian now inherits the distinctive Jewish promises is not taught in Scripture. The Christian is of the heavenly seed of Abraham and partakes of the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, but Israel as a nation always has its own place, and is yet to have its greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God."
And SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Ro 11:26, last paragraph: "According to the prophets, Israel regathered from all nations, restored to her own land and converted, is yet to have her greatest earthly exaltation and glory."
ANSWER: This is the millennium of the Pharisees, not of the Bible. It contradicts the plain prophecies of Jesus himself. Israel's only hope is Ro 11. Paul says they were cast away because of unbelief but verse 23 says, "If they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again." See lsrael's end as in Jer 23:39-40; 24:910; 29: l0-11 and Isa 65:1-15. Israel after the flesh is not an heir of God and never, ever will be. Israel is cast out. 1Co 15:50, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit." Gal 4:21-30 says. "Shall not be heir with...."
See also 2Th 1:6-10: "...And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power: when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."
See also Lk 17:26-27; Mt 24:35-39: "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." Why not believe the Lord'? Oh, but that millennium.
See also Lk 17:29-30: "The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
If the flood takes away all the unsaved in this one day, where does a millennium come in? Only those in the ark are saved. There are no others left. Scofield has no note on this. He cannot give an honest comment for it would ruin his teaching, such as in his note on Mt 3:2: "The prophetic aspect, the kingdom is to be set up after the return of the King in glory."
You cannot ignore any Scripture and pretend honesty in interpretation. Jesus has all power. What more could be given him? He is above all now. ( Mt 28:18: Eph 1:20-21)
In Lk 19:11-27, Jesus teaches by parable, about his kingdom because the Jews supposed it should immediately appear. But, in verse 12, he taught them he must leave and go to a far country to receive his kingdom and after that return; but his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us." Upon his return he would judge his servants and his enemies. The parable illustrated his judgments of his servants, good and bad. He said, "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." (v. 27.)
"Oh no," some would say. "We have a greater revelation. After he comes again he is crowned king and the kingdom is set up and those, who would not have him, now see him in his glory and believe in him and with him reign over the Gentiles for a thousand years."
Now, that is something indeed! Isn't it amazing what can be done by just a little art of interpretation?
Mt 13:47-50 gives the parable of the net cast into the sea, in which good and bad fish are drawn in and sorted. The bad are thrown away. "So shall it be at the end of the 'aion' age: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." This is an ignored text, as some prefer to teach the opposite.
In Ps 110:1, Jehovah, the Father, says to the Son, David's Lord, "Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." In 1Ch 29:23 we see David's throne: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord, i.e., of Jehovah as king instead of David his father." The same throne, not a make do, nor a special throne just for Jesus, but the throne of Jehovah in each case, and now Jesus sits upon it in heaven. It is God's throne and kingdom, and God has promised that Jesus would be there forever. (1Ch 17:14.) The same throne at 1Ch 28:5; 29:23 and 2Sa 7:5, 16 is also called David's throne forever. So it is one eternal throne over one eternal kingdom of God and of Christ, which was shown on earth in type form as David's.
But David in Hebrew means, The Beloved, and is the name of Christ at Eph 1:6 and at several prophetic references, including Eze 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Isa 55:3-4: Ps 89. God has exalted Jesus to sit upon that throne forever. And Jesus took that throne at his Resurrection.
If it is "forever" then why does the Psalmist prophesy "till I make thine enemies thy footstool?" That is a set time, the time of the struggle with evil, the measure of this age with its gospel work and mercy For whosoever will. John in Rev 1:9 calls it "His kingdom and patience." Peter speaks of the time measure and its work in Ac 2:29-36; 3:20-21. It is 2Pe 3:8-10. David says in Ps 110:2. "Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." It is now and it will end at his coming, for this session of his reign will bring every enemy into submission, and that from his heavenly throne, not after he comes back to earth, but definitely before. (1Co 15:24-26 and verses 50-54) The early church, the reformers, Calvin, Luther. Melancthon, Ridley, Arminius, Latimer, Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley and Spurgeon all saw this truth. Eph 1:19-23 shows the Scofield teaching utterly false. This is God's description of Christ's present exaltation, described again in Php 2:9-10 and 1Ti 6:15-16 and Mt 28:18.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Dt 30:3: "It is important to see that the nation (Israel) has never as yet taken the land under the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant, nor has it ever possessed the whole land."
ANSWER: The conditional physical land promise to Moses and the nation, (Ex 3:8, 17; Lev 18:28) was completely fulfilled. (Jos 21:43,45) "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel, all came to pass."
The unconditional land promise to Abraham's SEED was a different promise. The Apostle Paul defined this different promise in Gal 3:16, saying God made promises to Abraham concerning Abraham's SEED that the promises were to the single descendant, Jesus Christ, in whom all the nations would be blessed, (Ge 22:17-18); the same to Isaac, (Ge 26:4) and to Jacob, (Ge 28:13-14.) Scofield very conveniently HAS NO EXPLANATORY NOTES on these Scriptures. Many modern Bible translations have furthered Scofield's Abrahamic Covenant error by changing SEED from the singular (Christ) to the plural "descendants" and thus have substituted the many physical descendants as heirs to the promises in place of the one true spiritual inheritor, Jesus Christ! This is a crucial error of immense import. Paul further develops the meaning of SEED to include all those who are one in the Body of Christ. (Gal 3:26-29; Ro 12:5.) The promises of the land and of multiplying the SEED are fulfilled forever in the saints of the Body of Christ who have, do now, and will occupy his Kingdom in this present age. (Heb 11:8-16.)
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Lev 23:24: "...these trumpets, always symbols of testimony, are connected with the regathering and repentance of Israel after the church, or pentecostal period is ended."
And SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Lev 23:27, last lines: "Historically the fountain of Zec 13 was opened at the crucifixion, but rejected by the Jews of that and succeeding centuries. After the regathering of Israel the fountain will be efficaciously 'opened' to Israel."
ANSWER: Scofield speaks above as if he were God. But Lk 13:2528 says, "When once the master of the house has risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord open to us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are ... depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves shut out."
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Lk 13:28: HE HAS NO NOTE HERE. What could he say that would not contradict Jesus?
Jesus also gives the parable of the tares in the field that shall be destroyed first at his coming at the harvest at the end of the age: (Mt 13:37-43; 13:47-50) No second chance. The end of the age will bring every person to his eternal destiny.
Any doctrine that clearly contradicts a plain, clear statement of Scripture, be it prophecy or the words of Jesus, cannot be true, no matter how many Scriptures are quoted in an attempt to prove otherwise or that contradict Moses' statement in Ac 3:22-23: "Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you ... Every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people."
God said upon condition of your disobedience, "I will make Jerusalem a curse to all nations of the earth." (Jer 26:4-8) Those pinning their hopes on an earthly city will be cursed along with her. There is no salvation at all for the earthly city, as Gal 4:22-30 plainly teaches.
The book of Revelation is a book of signs and symbols; if a few verses in chapter 20 about a thousand year period contradict Jesus, Peter, Paul and Moses, something is wrong with the interpretation of the passage. Scofield is the arch heretic of all church history and his notes have influenced, and in some cases have controlled, a large portion of church thinking for this century.
These strong words may draw blood, but the Scripture warns, "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." (Jer 48:10) There is much good material in the Scofield 1917 notes, and more in the 1967 edition, but the old heresies are still there. No poison pill is all poison, only enough to kill you.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) from Introduction to THE FOUR GOSPELS part 1: "...the mind should be freed from presuppositions, especially the notion that the Church is the true Israel."
ANSWER: Scofield asks you to free your mind from the truth of the biblical teaching of the Church and swallow his false teaching. Listen to Paul, (Ro 2:28-29): "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." See also Ro 9:6b-8: "They are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called." That is, "They which are the children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the SEED." (cf. Hos 1: 10; Ro 9:24-26)
G. Campbell Morgan, in 1943, two years before he passed to be with the Lord, wrote to a correspondent concerning the union of Israel and the church: "I am quite convinced that all the promises made to Israel are found, are finding and will find their perfect fulfillment in the church. It is true that in time past, in my expositions, I gave a definite place to Israel in the purposes of God. I have now come to the conviction, as I have just said, that it is the new and spiritual Israel that is intended." (Letter to Rev. H.F. Wright, New Brunswick, Victoria. From A New Heaven and a New Earth, Archibald Hughes, Presbyterian and Reformed Press, Box 185, Nutley, N.J.)
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 28:18-20: The Great Commission. He gives a dissertation concerning the name of the Trinity, but nothing about the exalted authority of Christ or the command to go and teach all nations to observe whatever he commanded his disciples. Nothing about Christ backing them up and being with them all the days.
ANSWER: Then what do these notes amount to? They are an extensive diversion to turn your mind away from the real meaning of the passage, for Scofield is against these teachings having anything to do with the Church of Jesus Christ.
Look at the Great Commission: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Power here is Greek -- authority). "All authority is given unto me." ALL AUTHORITY. There is no other. "Go ye therefore, and teach (or disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Whatever he commanded his disciples, all nations were to be taught to keep and obey. Then he said that he would be with them to the end of the world. A literal rendering would be, "I am with you all the days, even unto to the end of the age."
This word has come to us, and Jesus has commanded us to keep all the commandments that he gave his disciples when he was with them. Shall we send back word to the Lord that we are not about to do so on the authority of Scofield?
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917) on Introduction to 2 Corinthians: (This outrageous heresy has been removed from the 1967 Scofield Bible. However, millions of copies of the 1917 Bible are still being used around the world so I am including this note from p. 1230.)
"It is evident that the really dangerous sect in Corinth was that which said, 'And I of Christ."' He puts in parenthesis, (1Co 1: 12) and continues, "They rejected the new revelation through Paul of the doctrines of grace, grounding themselves, probably, on the kingdom teachings of our Lord as a minister of the circumcision, (Ro 15:8) seemingly oblivious that a new dispensation had been introduced by Christ's death. This made necessary a defense of the origin and extent of Paul's apostolic authority."
ANSWER: What made it necessary? Some people said, "I am of Christ," and they were wrong? Is PAUL the one who has the new revelation for this dispensation? This completely rejects all the teachings of Christ and acceptance of his death. Scofield says his teaching as a minister of the circumcision had been blotted out by his death. His teachings had been kingdom teachings, which according to Scofield, are postponed until his hypothetical millennium and they were oblivious to Paul's new revelation.
See 1Co 1:10-17. Paul says, "It is reported to me that every one of you is saying, I am of Paul. I am of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ." Then, he points out it was not Paul or Cephas who died for them, but Christ. Paul, Apollos, Cephas are only those who helped, but Christ is the center. Then concluding, he says, "All things are yours, whether of Paul, or Cephas or life or death or things present or things to come, but all are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." (1Co 3:21-23.) Paul rebukes them for some things, but he never rebukes the ones who said, "I of Christ." In that you are right, you are of Christ.
Scofield is saying that Paul is the mediator of the new covenant. That the new dispensation begins with Paul. That he reveals the gospel. That Jesus was only teaching law. Scofield makes that clear in his notes (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 5:2-20 where he claims, when you look closely, that Jesus taught law and that it was not our privilege or duty to keep all his words. Here we have heresy of the first water. Jesus, over and over in his discourse to the disciples in the upper room, emphasizes the necessity of keeping his commandments because they are the will and Word of God. Scofield says, "No, put it all away."
This is major heresy. This is what Paul says to withdraw yourself from. Scofield takes the death of Christ as the turning point of the dispensation, whereas Jesus took the coming of John Baptist as the turning point. (Lk 16:16. Satan deceived Scofield.)
See Heb 2:1-4: "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will."
Where did the gospel begin? "...which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, [not by Paul, but by the Lord] and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him," --the twelve plus Paul, for Paul heard him also. The source of the gospel is not Paul, as Scofield teaches. The gospel of grace came by our Lord Jesus Christ. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." We all agree that anyone who gets saved gets saved by the grace of God, forgiveness of sins, and the regenerative work of God through the Holy Spirit, and only then. But when this has taken place, it will manifest itself in obedience. Note Heb 5:8-9: "Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience through the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation, unto all them that obey him." Now that's clear. In 1Jn 2:4, we read: "He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him."
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Mt 5:17: "Christ's relation to the law of Moses may be thus summarized: 1. Christ was made under the law. 2. He lived in perfect obedience to the law. 3. He was a minister of the law to the Jews, clearing it from rabbinical sophistries, enforcing it in all its pitiless severity upon those who professed to obey it."
ANSWER: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, for his commandments are not grievous." (1Jn 5:3.) Even the Ten Commandments could not be called grievous, that a person should be true to God and not depart to idols. That was not grievous, or that one should honor God and not take his name in vain. Was that a painful commandment, or to honor his father and mother, to keep the Sabbath day of rest, to refrain from lying about his neighbor, or not to commit adultery, or not to covet things that were not his own? Are these things pitiless? Scofield speaks as if they are. He speaks of Christ as being a minister of the law to the Jews clearing it from rabbinical sophistries and enforcing it in all its "pitiless severity." My Bible says the law was added because of sin, but grace did much more abound, cf: Jn 8:1-11 I don't see anything pitiless about God dealings with the Jews. Certainly, there is none in the Sermon on the Mount.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on Jn 14:6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me." Scofield HAS NO NOTE on Jn 14:6.
ANSWER: Scofield denies Jn 14:6 elsewhere by teaching that Israel is still God's people, walking with the Father, but at Christ's Second Coming they will then accept Christ. See 1Jn 2:22-23, "Who is a liar but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son. hath not the Father." See also 1Jn 4:1-6.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917) on Mt 13:47 last lines: "He sees the redeemed of all ages, but especially his hidden Israel, yet to be restored and blessed."
SCOFIELD notes (SRB 1917, 1967) on Rev 3:21 and 2Sa 7:16: These notes advocate that we are not to assume 'the throne of his father David,' is synonymous with 'my Father's throne,' or that the 'house of Jacob' is the Church composed of both Jew and Gentile. (cf. 1Ch 29:23: Ps 110:1; Ac 2:29-35 of the throne and 1Ch 17:14.)
ANSWER: See Lk 1:32-33. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." One throne forever, all others are destroyed. Ac 3:22-23 describes the house of Jacob.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917); Ro 4:2-6: "Paul speaks of that which justifies man before God; faith alone, wholly apart from works."
ANSWER: False, for works of obedience are the fruit of faith, Jas 2:14-26; 1Co 9:25.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967); Ac 7:38: "Israel in the land is never called a Church (SRB 1917)." "A better translation would be 'the congregation' (SRB 1967)."
ANSWER: He is against the church being in the Old Testament; see 1Ch 28:8; 29:1,10, 20; Dt 23:1-8, Israel the Church of God, Ac 7:38. The Church in the wilderness -- ekklesia is Greek for Church. This appears over eighty times in the Old Testament. Qahal, Hebrew for Church, appears 133 times and is translated congregation. Edah, a synonym for Qahal, appears over 120 times. The Old Testament Church was a type of the New Testament Church. (Dt 23:1-8; Heb 9:7-10, 15, 23, cf. Ex 24:4-8) All are now New Testament. (Heb 12:22-24; Eph 2:11-22) Qahal equals Church in Salkinson's Hebrew New Testament. Congregation is not merely a better translation. It is synonymous with Church. It is the Church in the land.
SCOFIELD note (SRB 1917, 1967) on 1Co 14:1: "Tongues and the sign gifts are to cease, meantime they are to be used with restraint."
ANSWER: Scofield spins his prohibition to cease out of thin air. Nowhere do the Apostles, who gave us instructions for this age, call for a ceasing of the gifts of the Spirit. "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy. and forbid not to speak with tongues." (1Co 14:39.)
God set the ministry gifts in the Church: apostles, prophets, gifts of healing, helps, governments and diversities of tongues. These gifts of the Spirit were to empower the Church to carry out the Great Commission.
Lennard Darbee makes a thought provoking comment in Tongues the Dynamite of God: "Unlike ancient Israel, the Church no longer kills the prophets, it simply ignores them, and it is not so much the neglect of the fruits, but rather the contempt of the gifts that hamstrings the Church of our day. Does God go to great length describing the gifts of the Spirit--of which he would not have us ignorant, line them up like ninepins and then with love for a bowling ball, do away with them? We are to desire spiritual gifts." (pp. 26-27.)
Three chapters, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, give instructions for the Church about the value and use of the gifts of the Spirit.
SCOFIELD: This note on Mt 5:2-12 (SRB 1917) was also removed from the 1967 Bible. "For these reasons, the Sermon on the Mount in its primary application gives neither the privilege nor the duty of the Church. These are found only in the Epistles." Scofield explains that these words mean very little to you. They are reserved for a future kingdom.
ANSWER: That is rank heresy! Jesus says you will not get into his kingdom unless you are busy keeping his words. 1Ti 6:3-5 says "If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine according to godliness," (That, believe me, is the Sermon on the Mount). "He is proud, knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings. perverse disputings by men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth... From such withdraw thyself." Scofield calls Jesus, "Our Lord," but says it is not your duty or privilege to keep his sayings.
Peter quotes Moses in Acts 3:22-23, as he has told the people of Israel, "to repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out ... For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." Peter's preaching is quite different front Scofield's notes. Which one is the heretic?
There are many more errors in the Scofield notes. He was untaught in the Scriptures before being converted. He was pushed forward and licensed to preach in three years. He pastored and traveled for the Missionary Society and was very busy for years. But in 1901, he told Gaebelein he was thinking of producing a reference Bible. In 1904, he made a trip to England (to the birthplace of John Darby's Dispensationalism) for research. In 1909, the Bible was put on the market with advertising puff extraordinaire. It was swallowed by the Evangelical world and many Bible schools.
It was an absolute impossibility for one man to do the study and research necessary to annotate a whole Bible in seven or eight years. He had to use other men's material and the notes indicate that he must have used work firm John Nelson Darby, James Brookes and J R. Graves whose beliefs were similarly close to the Plymouth Brethren.
We have his own statement in the letter he wrote to Gaebelein, "By all means follow your own views of prophetic analysis. I sit at your feet when it comes to prophecy and congratulate in advance the future readers of my Bible on having in their hands a safe, clear, sane guide through, what to most is a labyrinth." It is noticeable that he avoids notes on subjects where his personal life did not square with the Scriptures.
His followers have a picnic using the captivity promises of the prophets to bring Israel back to Palestine, "Now being fulfilled before your eyes." They ignore Isa 10:22-23; 65:1-15; Gal 4:21-30 and deny the words of Jesus, Mt 8:10-12; Lk 13:24-29; etc.
I love the Jewish people and deeply desire to see them accept Jesus as their Messiah and be born into his Kingdom, but I cannot go beyond Scripture in showing the future of antichrist Israel as a nation. I feel that this Dispensational teaching is giving them false hope and in holding to it they could lose everything as their ancestors did in A.D. 70.
