Al Mohler Lies About Not Being Dispensationalist

One of the bigger ironies in modern theological development is that Reformed leaders are rushing to adopt, defend or prop up dispensationalism as it is getting soundly rejected by Millennial and Zoomer Christians. Al Mohler is perhaps the biggest chameleon in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention, a man who has flip-flopped on numerous positions, such as women pastors, homosexuality, and even pretending to flip-flop on Critical Race Theory.

Perhaps eschatology is no different; however, I have never heard Al Mohler articulate a non-dispensationalist position. So it was surprising to hear Mohler claim to not be dispensationalist in his eschatology. But following Mohler’s renowncing of dispensationalism, he would make arguments in favor of supporting Modern Israel that are exclusive to a dispensational framework, in a bold face lie.

Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, appeared on Todd Friel’s Wretched to go after Tucker Carlson for opposing Christian Zionism in his interviews with Senator Ted Cruz and Ambassador Huckabee. Both of these interviews are old news, but Mohler and Friel acknowledge that, specifically, young men ages 16-30 that they regard as strong soldiers for Christ, are disillusioned with Evangelical support for Israel.

Mohler begins the interview specifically denying that he’s a dispensationalist, and later in the interview maintaining that he is a premillennialist. He claims that hermeneutics and eschatology are essential to understanding one’s approach to Modern Israel. Mohler does embrace the term Christian Zionist.

From there, Mohler’s theological foundation for supporting Modern Israel is exclusively dispensational in origin. Al Mohler agrees with Ted Cruz that the Genesis 12 promise to Abraham is applicable to Modern Jews and Israel. Perhaps the only caveat is that Mohler does not necessitate that this government of Israel is one that God will use in the endtimes. However, like any dispensationalist who supports Israel, Mohler emphatically argues that God made promises to Abraham that belong to his physical descendants, unbelieving Jews.

Numerous times, Mohler asserts that there are promises made to Jews and subsequently uses the social media argument that “God does not break promises.” He also asserts that Israel has a divine right to “Greater Israel,” expanding its border from the Nile to the Euphrates, agreeing with Huckabee.

But in the Biblical narrative, God jettisons ten tribes. Clearly, the promise no longer extended to them, despite their lineage. Moreover, Paul in Galatians provides a commentary on God’s promises to Abraham in Genesis, arguing “those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham” and concluding that “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Paul makes it explicitly clear that there is no special bloodline and that God’s covenant people is based solely on Christology. On this, Mohler attacks Tucker Carlson for questioning whether Modern Jews have a lineage in Abraham, despite the lack of provable evidence of patrilineal ancestry. (Modern Judaism uses matrilineal ancestry because of intermarriage and debauchery.)

Todd Friel is playing good cop while Mohler is bad cop, but both are propping up dispensationalism, despite claiming to be Reformed. Friel is at least honest about his eschatology, while Al Mohler is not.

Aside from his history, why is Al Mohler lying about not being a dispensationalist? Dispensationalism, throughout Mohler’s lifetime was often seen as kooky. So perhaps, Al Mohler does not want to be associated with Hal Lindsey, prophecy charts, and the zaniness. Or perhaps, Mohler has a dissenting view on the rapture, the antichrist, tribulation, etc. 

But dispensationalists commonly disagree on these items. While pretrib rapture is the prevailing view, midtrib and posttrib are also within the camp. This is to say that the distinctiveness of dispensationalism is not found in a timeline; it is found in the overarching belief that Israel and the church are prophetically separate entities and that promises are made to Modern Jews, including land and covenant. On this count, Al Mohler is 100% a dispensationalist and a liar.