Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 26:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Dispensational Kingdom Postponement Theology As A Safeguard For The Edenic Divine Institutions
Author: Paul Miles

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Dispensational Kingdom Postponement Theology As A Safeguard For The Edenic Divine Institutions

Paul Miles

Key Words: Postponement Theology, Dispensationalism, Ecotheology, Critical Theory

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The doctrine of kingdom postponement is a watershed for developing and defending a distinctly dispensational worldview. Postponement theology comes from a grammatical-historical approach to progressive revelation, so this article divides the doctrine of postponement into two phases: the kingdom as described in the Old Testament and the kingdom as offered, rejected, and postponed in the life of Christ. Both sections feature a non-dispensational trend in theology and a dispensational critique. Two trends have been selected due to the imminent threats that they pose to the divine institutions that were established in the garden of Eden: Christian ecojustice as a threat to responsible labor shall be handled in relation to OT kingdom descriptions; and Christian social justice, specifically relating to feminist and queer theology, as a threat to marriage and family shall be discussed in relation to the kingdom offer. But first, an overview of divine institutions and postponement theology is in order.

Divine Institutions And Postponement Theology

Divine Institutions

As one reads Genesis, certain divine institutions emerge that inform the dispensational worldview in light of a postponed kingdom. Charles Clough describes divine institutions as

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“absolute social structures instituted by God for the entire human race—believers and unbelievers alike.”2 These institutions are designed for the protection and prosperity of mankind. Three divine institutions find their roots in the garden of Eden as the divine ideal and carry over to the post-fall world. These are responsible labor (Gen 1:26–30; 2:15–17; Ps 8:3–8), marriage (Gen 2:18–24), and, as a result of responsible labor and marriage, family. Sin has rendered each of these institutions dysfunctional.

God established more divine institutions in later chapters of Genesis, but the first three led to the global population and so it could be said that they lay the foundation for the subsequent institutions. After the flood and the Tower of Babel, two divine institutions emerged to restrain evil: these are civil government (9:5, 6)...