Not To Be Confused With
Dispensationalism keeps Israel and the Church distinct with separate programs; covenant theology unites them as one people. Both are intramural evangelical frameworks, not tests of orthodoxy.
Systematized by J. N. Darby and spread by the Scofield Reference Bible, dispensationalism reads history as a sequence of stewardship-eras and expects a future literal fulfillment of Israel's promises. It pairs naturally with premillennialism and the rapture. Progressive dispensationalism softens the Israel/Church divide.