Dispensationalism is a theological framework developed by John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) of the Plymouth Brethren that divides all of history into distinct ‘dispensations’ or epochs in which God deals with humanity under different covenantal arrangements. Its distinctive doctrines: the sharp distinction between Israel and the Church (God has separate programs for each); the Pretribulation Rapture (the Church will be secretly removed from earth before the Great Tribulation); a literal 7-year Tribulation period; and a literal 1,000-year millennial kingdom with a rebuilt Temple and restored Jewish sacrificial system. Dispensationalism spread through Darby’s extensive travels to America, through the Scofield Reference Bible (1909), through Dallas Theological Seminary, and through the Left Behind novels. It is probably the most widely held eschatological system among American evangelical Protestants, though it is largely unknown outside that context.