Being 10 Studies of the More Important
Divisions of the Scripture
What are the important divisions of Scripture?
Since it was first published in 1885,
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth has helped millions around the
world to better understand the Word of God.
The ten chapters include:
(1)
The Jew, the Gentile, and the Church;
(2) The Seven Dispensations;
(3) The
Two Advents;
(4) The Two Resurrections;
(5) The Five Judgments;
(6) Law and
Grace;
(7) The Two Natures;
(8) The Believer’s Standing and State;
(9)
Salvation and Rewards;
(10) Believers and Professors.
About
the Author:
Born in Lenawee County, Michigan,
August 19, 1843, C. I. Scofield became one of the foremost names among Bible students. He
received his early education in Tennessee.
Although his parents were Christian and the Bible was read
in the home, Cyrus didn't consider it a book for investigative study but one to enjoy
merely for its stories. His religious experience prior to conversion was superficial.
The Civil War prevented him from entering the university
and he never did receive a formal collegiate education. At seventeen he entered the
Confederate Army, and because he was an excellent horseman he became an orderly. He
frequently carried messages under gunfire. The Confederate Cross of Honor was awarded him
for bravery at Antietam.
When the war was over, Scofield studied law in St. Louis,
and afterward moved to Kansas, where he was admitted to the bar in 1869. He served in the
Kansas State Legislature and at the age of twenty-nine was appointed by President Grant as
United States District Attorney for Kansas. Later he returned to St. Louis and reentered
law practice. During this time he began to drink heavily. However, his passion for drink
was completely removed when he trusted Jesus Christ through the efforts of Thomas S. McPheeters, a YMCA worker.
Scofield immediately became active in Christian work. He
was ordained in Dallas, Texas, October 1883, where he began his ministry as pastor of the
First Congregational Church. As a result of diligent and systematic study of the
Scriptures during his years of ministry, he produced the Scofield Reference Bible and the
Scofield Bible Correspondence Course.
Through the influence of private talks with Hudson Taylor
of the China Inland Mission and also a book by a brilliant journalist traveler, William
Eleroy, Scofield established the Central American Mission in 1890.
Concerning the Reference Bible, he asked himself this
question: "What kind of reference Bible would have helped me most when I was first
trying to learn something of the Word of God, but ignorant of the very first principles of
Bible study?" This was a tremendous undertaking and took a great deal of tedious work
and genius. He and his wife made trips to England and the continent while completing the
work. The Oxford libraries were opened to him, and the Oxford University Press published
it. It was completed in 1907 and presented to the public in January 1909.
In reflecting upon his own lifetime Scofield recalls the
two great epochs of his life: "The first was when I ceased to take as final human
teachings about the Bible and went to the Bible itself. The second was when I found Christ
as Victory and Achievement." Scofield died on Sunday morning July 24, 1921, at
Douglaston, Long Island. Hundreds of thousands have appreciated and use his famous
Scofield Reference Bible.