Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 27:1 (Spring 2023)
Article: He Has Overcome The World: The Importance Of Dispensational Propositions In Addressing The Anxieties Of Millennials And Generation-Z Related To Salvation, Political Upheaval, And The Environment
Author: Christian Twombly

JMAT 27:1 (Spring 2023) p. 95

He Has Overcome The World: The Importance Of Dispensational Propositions In Addressing The Anxieties Of Millennials And Generation-Z Related To Salvation, Political Upheaval, And The Environment

Christian Twombly1

Key Words: Anxiety, Ecology, Generation Z, Millennials, Politics

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Introduction

Millennials and Generation Z are the most anxious generations on record in American history. Whether it is major media outlets2 or psychological studies from various research groups,3 all agree that Millennials and

JMAT 27:1 (Spring 2023) p. 96

Generation Z are collectively “the anxious generation.” And yet, with the rise in anxiety around subjects like environmental crisis, political upheaval and change, and even existential anxiety, there seems to be little that major Christian resource outlets have been able to do to slow this major rise. To the contrary, in many cases, conservative Christian resource centers feed into much of the anxiety or provide commentary on these issues which only serves to feed the anxiety of young people around these issues. Many such articles mean well, attempting to provide theological insights into the issues at hand, but lack the biblical, eternal scope for grounding these issues properly. Instead, Christian resource centers either focus on an issue’s imminent concerns, only further legitimizing the anxious fixation of young people around these immediate concerns, or completely delegitimize these concerns, only to build resentment among younger people.

In meeting these concerns, dispensationalism is uniquely positioned as a system with propositions that meet the anxiety of young people within the proper eternal scope without delegitimizing their concern. In particular, dispensationalism’s use of a doxological purpose for God’s plan, distinct economies in God’s unfolding revelation, the Israel-church distinction, and its well-developed premillennial eschatology, each provide accessible biblical grounding for mitigating Millennial and Generation Z anxieties around the environment, politics, and existential fear, without delegitimizing the concerns of these individuals.

The Matter At Hand: Millennial And Generation Z Anxiety

In 2018, the American Psychological Association published its annual “Stress in America” report which found that 91 percent of Generation Z individuals surveyed experienced symptoms of intense stress.4 Only a year prior, the same survey found that 58 percent of Mille...