Permission is granted to freely distribute the Last Generation Version of the New Testament books in print and pdf file format, and
to copy the pdf files to other websites.
Debates: Dispensationalism vs. Historic Premillennialism
Dr. Mal Couch is an author, founder and former president of Tyndale Theological Seminary &
Biblical Institute, and a member of the Pre-Trib Study Group. His position is "normative dispensationalism."
Tim Warner is an author and editor of Answers in Revelation (formerly The Last Trumpet)
and pastor - teacher of Oasis
Christian Church, Tampa, Florida. His position is "progressive dispensationalism" (post-trib).
Tim Warner was invited by a member of the Tyndale Theological
Seminary staff to debate "Progressive Dispensationalism" vs. "Dispensationalism" with Dr. Mal Couch. The debate was hosted by the Conservative Theological Society, an extension of Tyndale
Theological Seminary.
"Progressive Dispensationalism" is a fairly recent term. This view is virtually identical with Historic Premillenialism, and for all practical purposes
they may be considered the same.
Events Leading to the Discontinuation of the Debate
We do not wish to put any kind of "spin" on the debate itself, or the manner in which it abruptly
ended. We believe our readers can make their own intelligent assessment regarding the outcome of the debate. However, we also believe the
events which led to the discontinuation of the debate are germane to a proper assessment by our readers. Therefore, we have decided to document the
sequence of events leading up to the debates' untimely end.
1. Dr. Couch's response to our rebuttal (round 2) was posted 8 weeks after our rebuttal was
submitted. Tim submitted the closing statement for round two eleven days later. It was not posted on the CTS site
for another 2 weeks.
2. Tim was informed by Eric Peterman, editor of CTS, that he must meet new demands by Dr. Couch if
the debate was to continue, as follows: Tim would not be permitted to reference the Early Church Fathers in future rounds.
Eric Peterman must have the option to edit the content of all future submissions.
3. Tim protested that adding restrictions on us in the middle of the debate was not ethical, unless
there was a public statement explaining the restrictions, and that Dr. Couch had made such restrictions a condition for
continuing the debate. Tim agreed to avoid future references or quotations of the Early Church Fathers ONLY IF such a statement
was posted. However, Tim refused to allow anyone from CTS to edit his submissions for content.
4. We waited at least two weeks while our repeated e-mails requesting Dr. Couch's final decision went
unanswered. During that time, Tim wrote his opening argument for round three. After hearing nothing from CTS, Tim submitted
the opening argument to CTS and posted it on this site.
5. Within a few days, Tim was notified that Dr. Couch had elected to exercise his option to withdraw
from the debate (a possible option both sides had agreed to prior to the debate). The opening argument for round three was
never posted on the CTS site. (We subsequently removed the submission from our debate section and converted it to a three part
series of articles called, The Church in the Old Testament.
6. A few weeks after Dr. Couch withdrew, the debate was removed from the Conservative Theological
Society's website.
Dr. Mal Couch is an author, founder and former president of Tyndale Theological Seminary &
Biblical Institute, and a member of the Pre-Trib Study Group. His position is "normative dispensationalism."
Tim Warner is an author and editor of Answers in Revelation (formerly The Last Trumpet)
and pastor - teacher of