David Lutzweiler - C I Scofield: The Man, The Myth

This Scofield character, who was born in Michigan in 1843, and died in New York in 1921, produced “Oxford University Press’s best-selling book ever.“ 

From, “C.I. Scofield: God’s Self-Made Man” by Daniel G. Hummel: 

Since then, the “Scofield Bible” has been the spiritual keepsake for millions of American evangelicals and fundamentalists, and remains in print in dozens of languages. It was the greatest popularizer of the theology of dispensationalism, promoting a literal or plain reading of Scripture with attendant beliefs in an imminent rapture and a distinct prophetic future for the nation of Israel.

Wikipedia: 

Scofield’s correspondence Bible study course was the basis for his Reference Bible: an annotated and widely circulated study Bible first published in 1909 by Oxford University Press. Scofield’s notes teach futurism and dispensationalism, a theology advanced in the early 19th century by the Anglo-Irish clergyman John Nelson Darby, who like Scofield had been trained as a lawyer. Dispensationalism emphasizes the distinctions between the New Testament Church and ancient Israel of the Old Testament. Scofield believed that between creation and the final judgment there are seven distinct eras of God’s dealing with humanity and that these eras are a framework around which the message of the Bible can be explained. It was largely through the influence of Scofield’s notes that dispensational premillennialism became influential among fundamentalist Christians in the United States, and these notes became a significant source for popular religious writers such as Hal Lindsey.

Scofield, particularly through the Scofield Reference Bible, had a significant influence on the Christian Zionist movement. Scofield believed that Islamic holy sites would be destroyed and the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt. In the Scofield Bible, he wrote that antisemitism was a sin. Citing Genesis 12:3—”I will bless them that bless thee”—Scofield argues “The man or nation that lifts a voice or hand against Israel invites the wrath of God.”

David Lutzweiler (from the lecture below):

“Christians have given, in the last ten years, according to one authoritative source, Zev Chafets’s ‘A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man’s Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance.‘ In this book Zev Chafets shows that in the last ten years, well, this would be in the last twelve years now, because the book was published a couple of years ago, evangelical Christians have given to the modern state of Israel two hundred million dollars in donations. And the estimate I’ve seen in another source, which I don’t have here today, but it’s credible, ever since the creation in 1948 of that state until today, which is now over fifty years, 62 years, the total given by Christians is 2 billion dollars.”

Video Title: C I Scofield: The Man, The Myth. Source: JH2oMan. Date Published: September 22, 2024. Description: 

The late David Lutzweiler, author of The Praise of Folly: The Enigmatic Life & Theology of C.I. Scofield (https://amzn.to/3tS51lM). He not only exposes CI Scofield as a scandal-ridden man but a huckster, a man who abandoned his wife and children, and the man who popularized the theological construct known as “Dispensationalism.” We’ll also look and see how this theology not only made it into the American churches but also into our politics and foreign policy.