Question: Should we be wary of the Scofield Bible?

Question (composite of several): Should we be wary of the Scofield Bible? I’ve heard Christian conference speakers warn against it. YouTuber Ian Carroll says that the Scofield Bible includes “…all of these new interpretations of the text…with Jewish influence” and that “…that’s where Judeo-Christianity kind of came from…[and that] Christianity got kind of Jewified.” John Rich, on the Tucker Carlson show, said that Darby came up with the Secret Rapture Theory and that Scofield publicized it, both funded by the Rothschild family. Carlson responds that he suspected the Scofield Bible is deceptive and that it has had massive implications on domestic and foreign policy that have been very negative and resulted in the deaths of lots of people.

Response: The Scofield Reference Bible is known for its literal and historical system of biblical interpretation. Like Tucker Carlson, C. I. Scofield was a self-described “nominal Episcopalian” until Scofield gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1879 at age 36. Thirty years later, Oxford University Press published his first edition of the Scofield Study Bible.

The most obvious flaw in the Scofield Bible is that Scofield embraced the Gap Theory, a doctrine developed to accommodate the great ages demanded by evolutionary geologists. The Gap Theory takes a planet full of evidence for a global cataclysm and attributes it to a never-elsewhere-mentioned pre-creation destruction.

The Gap Theory, however, is not why the Scofield Bible has received criticism in the church and in political circles. The Scofield Bible is dismissed because its literal, historical view of the Bible includes the nation and people of Israel having ongoing significance, and because its literal, historical view of the Bible indicates a pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

The Scofield Bible was first published in 1909 by Oxford University Press. It was not a new version of the Bible, as some have stated; rather, it used the King James Version of the Bible as its text and included notes from C. I. Scofield. Today’s most popular versions of the Old Scofield Study Bible are based on the updated 1917 version, which improved the font and incorporated Ussher’s chronology (approximate dates on every page for every book of the Bible except the Psalms).

Antisemitism seems to be the basis of much of the anger directed at the Scofield Bible. While the individuals attacking are not necessarily antisemitic, Satan has tried to destroy the Jewish people since the days of Jacob (See Judgment Day! Chapter 2; August 1988 TBC newsletter “Anti-Semitism”; September 1988 TBC newsletter “The Kingdom of God”; April 1991 TBC newsletter “Israel—Some Historical Reminders”; etc.). 

God, on the other hand, has declared, “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD” (Jer:31:35-37 [35] Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: [36] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. [37] Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
See All...).

Many of the political attacks against Israel are focused on the massive outlay of foreign aid by the United States of America despite a $36 trillion national debt. Israel’s case is unique. Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust simply for being Jewish. There is no other people or nation on earth where the goal of its enemies is the total annihilation of every living member of the race. Even from a pragmatic view, it is logical to support the only free nation in the tinderbox that is the Middle East.

The other main reason for the attacks on the Scofield Bible is based on its embrace of the doctrine of a pre-Tribulation Rapture. The Rapture and the Second Coming cannot logically be the same event. The Rapture occurs during a time of peace and prosperity, when the world does not expect God’s judgment (1 Thes:5:1-3 [1] But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. [2] For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. [3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
See All...; Mat:24:37-39 [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, [39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
See All...): the Second Coming occurs in the midst of the worst war in history (Mat:24:21-22 [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
See All...; Zec:12:3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
See All...; Rev:6:8-17 [8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. [9] And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: [10] And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [11] And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. [12] And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. [15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; [16] And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: [17] For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
See All...; 9:15, 16:3-21). At the Rapture, the Lord is coming for His saints to meet them in the air (1 Thes:4:16-17 [16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
See All...). At the Lord’s Second Coming, He comes with His church to reign on earth (Zec:14:3-9 [3] Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [6] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: [7] But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. [8] And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. [9] And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
See All...; Rev:19:11-20 [11] And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. [12] His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. [13] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. [14] And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. [15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. [16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. [17] And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
See All...:6).

Critics will say that those of us who believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture are escapists, that we just want to avoid the trials that Christians throughout history have faced. It is true that, since the beginning of the church, millions of Christians have been slaughtered in Rome, Spain, France, England, Germany, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria…throughout the world—and that many may suffer before our Lord’s return. The Great Tribulation, however, is different: it is not the wrath of this world and the enemy of our souls poured out on the church, it is the wrath of a patient God poured out on a rebellious world, even as He poured out His wrath at the time of the Flood when a few were saved on the ark.

Finally, C. I. Scofield was not operating without godly counsel. He counted among his friends and collaborators D. L. Moody, Hudson Taylor, Arno Gaebelein, and A. T. Pierson. The Scofield Bible was also the Bible carried by J. Vernon McGee, Chuck Smith, and Dave Hunt throughout their lives. As with any writings, including ours at The Berean Call, you should test it against the Scriptures. You can find concerns with any non-scriptural writings, especially those as exhaustive as the Scofield Study Bible, but many Bible students find it a helpful tool.