A Comprehensive Review of Dake’s “God’s Plan for Man”

Exposing the Dangerous Heresies That Have Influenced Millions

When a Christian opens Finis Jennings Dake’s massive work “God’s Plan for Man,” they expect to find biblical truth systematically explained. The book promises over 1,000 pages of “Bible Truths Backed by a Profusion of Scripture Texts” with “Thousands of Questions on All Bible Subjects and Prophecy Answered with Scripture.” What they actually find is something far more dangerous: a comprehensive system of theological error that departs from historic Christian orthodoxy at nearly every crucial point.

This review examines Dake’s “God’s Plan for Man” from the perspective of conservative evangelical theology, identifying and refuting the numerous heresies that permeate this influential work. As a biblical Christian committed to the foundational truths of the faith, I write this not to attack a person but to defend the truth once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). The errors in Dake’s book are not minor disagreements about secondary issues—they strike at the heart of the Christian faith itself.

Part 1: The Man Behind the Teaching

Before examining the theological errors in “God’s Plan for Man,” we must understand who Finis Jennings Dake was and how he came to develop such unorthodox views. Born in 1902 in Missouri, Dake experienced a dramatic conversion at age seventeen. By his own testimony, he read the Bible through three times in his first year as a Christian and eventually read it more than forty times, memorizing over 20,000 verses.

This dedication to Scripture study sounds admirable, but hermeneutics—the science of biblical interpretation—involves more than just reading the Bible repeatedly. Dake’s approach to Scripture was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. In his early work “Revelation Expounded,” written when he was only twenty-four, Dake revealed his interpretive philosophy: “He had to make a decision either to believe that God was intelligent enough to express Himself in human language as men do (and that He did do so) or, that God gave His revelation in terms different from those used by men, to deliberately confuse them regarding the true meaning of His revelation.”

This false choice—either interpret everything literally or accuse God of confusion—became the foundation for all of Dake’s theological errors. He couldn’t conceive that God might use metaphor, symbolism, or other literary devices to communicate spiritual truth. This hyperliteral hermeneutic led him to interpret anthropomorphic language about God as literal descriptions, resulting in his teaching that God has a physical body.

More troubling than his theological errors was Dake’s moral failure. In 1937, while pastoring in Wisconsin, he was convicted of violating the Mann Act for transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines for immoral purposes. He served six months in federal prison. The Assemblies of God, his denomination at the time, expelled him from ministry. Rather than accepting this discipline, Dake simply joined another denomination and continued his ministry as if nothing had happened.

This pattern of rejecting correction—both moral and theological—characterized Dake’s entire ministry and explains how his errors became so extreme.

Part 2: The Foundation of Error – Dake’s View of Scripture

“God’s Plan for Man” begins with what appears to be a high view of Scripture. Dake claims to take the Bible literally and seriously. However, his actual approach to Scripture creates more problems than it solves. His hyperliteral interpretation fails to recognize different literary genres, cultural contexts, and the progressive nature of revelation.

In the book’s introduction, Dake writes: “When God’s Plan for Man was first published the author had been a diligent student of the Bible for many years, spending over 75,000 hours searching the Scriptures before he was 37. By the time this work was to be put into book-form and he had published other books and a later work — Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible — the author had spent nearly 50 years studying the Word, with more than 100,000 hours being devoted to searching the Scriptures, always following consistently this all-important fundamental principle of taking the Bible literally where it is at all possible.”

The problem isn’t taking the Bible seriously—it’s Dake’s failure to understand how language works. When the Bible says God has “eyes” or “hands,” Dake interprets this literally, leading to his heretical teaching that God the Father has a physical body. When Scripture uses phenomenological language (describing things as they appear), Dake takes it as scientific description. When the Bible uses symbolic numbers or poetic parallelism, Dake turns them into literal mathematics.

The Atomistic Approach

Dake’s method involves what theologians call an “atomistic” approach to Scripture—treating individual verses as isolated units of meaning rather than understanding them in context. He pulls verses from throughout the Bible to support his predetermined conclusions, ignoring their literary and historical contexts. This allows him to make the Bible say things it never intended to communicate.

For example, when defending his view that God has a body, Dake lists dozens of verses mentioning God’s “hands,” “eyes,” “feet,” and other body parts. He never considers that these might be anthropomorphisms—human language used to describe God’s actions in ways we can understand. The result is a god who is not the infinite, omnipresent Spirit of biblical revelation but a limited, located being more like the gods of paganism.

Part 3: The Heretical Doctrine of God

The most serious errors in “God’s Plan for Man” concern the nature of God Himself. These aren’t minor disagreements but fundamental departures from biblical monotheism that place Dake outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy.

God Has a Body

Throughout “God’s Plan for Man,” Dake insists that God the Father has a physical body. He writes: “God has a personal spirit body… shape, image, likeness, bodily parts such as, back parts, heart, hands and fingers, mouth, lips, tongue, feet, eyes, hair, head, face, arms, loins, and other bodily parts.”

This teaching directly contradicts Jesus’ words in John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” It denies God’s omnipresence—if God has a body located in one place, He cannot be everywhere present. It contradicts God’s infinitude—a body by definition has limits and boundaries.

Dake attempts to defend this view in “God’s Plan for Man” by arguing: “The fact that God came down from heaven to earth on different occasions proves He moves from place to place and is not omnipresent in body, but in Spirit through the Holy Spirit.” This creates a division within the Trinity, making the Father limited while the Spirit provides His omnipresence. This is not the God of the Bible but a finite deity bound by space and time.

Three Separate Gods

Even more shocking than his teaching about God’s body is Dake’s explicit tritheism—the belief in three Gods rather than one God in three persons. In “God’s Plan for Man,” particularly in Lesson Twenty-Seven on “The Doctrine of the Trinity,” Dake writes:

“The doctrine of the Trinity bewilders the most acute and is frankly BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF THE MOST LEARNED.” He then proceeds to “solve” this mystery by denying it entirely, teaching instead that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “three separate and distinct persons” each with “a personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense that each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit.”

This is not Christianity but polytheism. It contradicts the most fundamental confession of biblical faith: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Dake attempts to redefine the word “one” in biblical passages about God’s unity. He claims it means “one in unity” rather than “one in number,” similar to how a husband and wife are “one flesh” or believers are “one body.” But this interpretation fails because:

First, the Hebrew word “echad” in Deuteronomy 6:4, while it can mean a compound unity, is used here with “LORD” (YHWH) which is singular, not plural. The verse literally reads “YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.”

Second, the New Testament authors, writing in Greek, had perfect opportunity to clarify if they meant three Gods united in purpose. Instead, they consistently affirm monotheism. Paul writes, “There is one God” (1 Timothy 2:5), not “there are three Gods acting as one.”

Third, the early church fought this exact battle against various forms of polytheism and tritheism. The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) and the Council of Constantinople (381 AD) affirmed that the Son and Spirit are “of the same substance” (homoousios) as the Father, not separate beings.

Limited Omniscience and Omnipresence

Because Dake’s God has a body located in heaven, questions arise about His knowledge and presence. Dake’s solution is to limit God’s direct knowledge and presence while maintaining He knows and is present through the Holy Spirit. This creates a divided knowledge and presence in the Godhead, making God’s omniscience and omnipresence derivative rather than essential.

In “God’s Plan for Man,” Dake writes about God “coming down” to see what’s happening on earth, taking passages like Genesis 11:5 (“And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower”) literally. He fails to recognize this as anthropomorphic language describing God’s direct intervention, not literal travel.

Part 4: The Dangerous Dispensationalism

A major portion of “God’s Plan for Man” is devoted to Dake’s dispensational system, outlined in his supplementary work “Ages and Dispensations” which is included with the book. While dispensationalism itself can be a legitimate theological framework, Dake takes it to such extremes that it undermines the gospel itself.

The Basic Framework

In “Ages and Dispensations,” Dake writes: “A dispensation as applied to the various ages means a moral or probationary period in history in which God tests free moral agents according to a fixed standard of conduct.” This definition seems reasonable, but Dake applies it in ways that fragment Scripture and create multiple plans of salvation.

According to Dake, God’s plan unfolds through strictly separated ages:

• The Dispensation of Innocence (Eden)
• The Dispensation of Conscience (Adam to Noah)
• The Dispensation of Human Government (Noah to Abraham)
• The Dispensation of Promise (Abraham to Moses)
• The Dispensation of Law (Moses to Christ)
• The Dispensation of Grace (Church Age)
• The Dispensation of Divine Government (Millennium)

Multiple Plans of Salvation

The most dangerous aspect of Dake’s dispensationalism is his teaching that different dispensations have different plans of salvation. While orthodox dispensationalists maintain that salvation has always been by grace through faith, Dake teaches that the actual basis and means of salvation change.

In discussing the Dispensation of Law, Dake suggests that Israelites were saved by keeping the Mosaic Law. He writes about various dispensations having different “tests” that determine salvation. This contradicts the clear biblical teaching that Abraham was justified by faith (Genesis 15:6), that David knew salvation apart from works (Psalm 32:1-2), and that all the Old Testament saints were saved by faith (Hebrews 11).

The apostle Paul explicitly states: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This has been true in every dispensation.

The Return to Animal Sacrifices

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Dake’s dispensationalism is his insistence that animal sacrifices will be restored in the Millennium. In “God’s Plan for Man” and his related writings, Dake teaches that the temple will be rebuilt and animal sacrifices will resume during Christ’s thousand-year reign.

He writes: “There is no question but what God intends to have a temple, an earthly priesthood, sacrifices, and feasts in the future, for that is what He revealed to Ezekiel (chapters 40-48) and promised Israel when He gave them ordinances to be observed throughout all their generations forever.”

This teaching effectively denies the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and represents a return to the shadows after the reality has come.

The book of Hebrews explicitly refutes this idea: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). To suggest that animal sacrifices will resume, even as “memorials,” is to say that Christ’s sacrifice needs supplementation or repetition. This strikes at the heart of the gospel.

Part 5: The Gap Theory and Pre-Adamite Races

One of the most elaborate constructions in “God’s Plan for Man” is Dake’s teaching about a pre-Adamic world that supposedly existed for millions of years before Genesis 1:2. This “Gap Theory” posits that an entire civilization existed, ruled by Lucifer, populated by a pre-Adamite race, and destroyed when Satan rebelled.

The Pre-Adamite World

Dake writes in “God’s Plan for Man”: “The creation of the pre-Adamite world included the first inhabitants of the Earth, called ‘nations’ over whom Lucifer ruled (Isa. 14:12-14), ‘man’ who built cities (Jer. 4:23-26), and ‘the world (Greek, kosmos, social system) that then was’ (2 Pet. 3:5-8). The pre-Adamites were Earthly creatures as proved by the fact that they were drowned in the pre-Adamite flood.”

This theory has no biblical support. The passages Dake cites don’t teach what he claims:

• Genesis 1:2’s “without form and void” simply describes the initial unformed state of creation, not judgment destruction
• Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 primarily address historical kings, with possible secondary reference to Satan’s fall
• Jeremiah 4:23-26 describes future judgment, not past catastrophe
• 2 Peter 3:5-7 refers to Noah’s flood, not a pre-Adamite flood

Theological Problems with the Gap Theory

The Gap Theory creates numerous theological problems:

Death Before Sin: If pre-Adamites lived and died before Adam’s sin, then death is not the wages of sin (Romans 6:23) but part of God’s original creation. This undermines the entire biblical narrative of creation, fall, and redemption.

The Meaning of “Very Good”: Genesis 1:31 states that everything God made was “very good.” If the earth was already littered with fossils from a destroyed civilization, how could God call it “very good”?

Multiple Human Races: The suggestion of pre-Adamite races opens the door to racist ideology by implying different human groups might have different origins. While Dake doesn’t explicitly make this connection, his framework has been used by others to justify racial discrimination.

Undermining Biblical Authority: The Gap Theory attempts to reconcile Genesis with evolutionary geology, but it satisfies neither biblical creationists nor scientists. It represents a compromise that undermines the authority of Scripture without gaining scientific credibility.

Part 6: The Racial Segregation Heresy

One of the most shameful aspects of “God’s Plan for Man” and Dake’s broader teachings is his advocacy for racial segregation. In his original Dake Annotated Reference Bible, he included “30 reasons for segregation of races” that claimed biblical mandate for racial discrimination.

Misuse of Scripture

Dake twisted various biblical passages to support segregation:

• He misinterpreted God’s command not to intermarry with Canaanites (a religious prohibition) as a racial prohibition
• He applied Old Testament ceremonial distinctions to modern racial categories
• He ignored New Testament teaching about unity in Christ

This teaching contradicts the clear biblical message that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men” (Acts 17:26) and that in Christ “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

Part 7: Errors About Humanity and Salvation

Dake’s errors extend beyond his doctrine of God to his understanding of humanity and salvation. These teachings might seem less serious than his tritheism, but they have profound implications for Christian life and faith.

Humans in the “God Class”

One of Dake’s most problematic teachings is that humans belong to what he calls the “God class” of beings. In “God’s Plan for Man,” he suggests that humans are essentially the same type of being as God, just at a lower level of development. This teaching appears in various forms throughout the book, particularly when discussing humanity’s creation in God’s image.

This doctrine blurs the Creator-creature distinction that is fundamental to biblical theology. Humans are made in God’s image, but we are not gods or potential gods. Isaiah 45:5 declares: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.”

The “little gods” doctrine, which has infected parts of the prosperity gospel movement, finds support in Dake’s teaching. If humans are in the God class, then the serpent’s temptation “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5) becomes a promise rather than a deception.

Confusion About the Nature of Salvation

Because of his extreme dispensationalism, Dake creates confusion about the nature of salvation. While he affirms salvation by grace in the current dispensation, his teaching about other dispensations having different requirements undermines the consistency of God’s salvific plan.

In “God’s Plan for Man,” Dake suggests that people in the Millennium will need to keep certain laws and that rebellion will result in execution. This implies that salvation in the kingdom age will involve works-righteousness, contradicting the New Testament’s clear teaching that salvation is always by grace through faith.

The Eternal Security Question

Dake’s position on eternal security—whether a truly saved person can lose their salvation—is complicated by his dispensational system. If God changes the requirements for salvation between dispensations, how can believers be sure their salvation is secure? This creates unnecessary doubt and fear among believers.

The Bible teaches that those who are truly born again are kept by God’s power: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). God doesn’t change the rules in the middle of the game.

Part 8: Hermeneutical Disasters – How Dake Misinterprets Scripture

Understanding how Dake went wrong helps us avoid similar errors. His hermeneutical method—his approach to interpreting Scripture—contains several fatal flaws that lead to his theological disasters.

Ignoring Literary Genre

The Bible contains various literary genres: historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, apocalyptic literature, epistles, and more. Each genre has its own interpretive rules. Dake largely ignores these distinctions, interpreting poetry as prose, apocalyptic visions as literal descriptions, and metaphors as scientific statements.

For example, when the Psalms speak of God having “wings” (Psalm 91:4), this is clearly poetic imagery of protection, not a literal description of God’s anatomy. When Revelation describes locusts with faces like men and crowns like gold (Revelation 9:7), this is apocalyptic symbolism, not a biological field guide.

Proof-Texting Without Context

Proof-texting—pulling verses out of context to prove a point—characterizes Dake’s method throughout “God’s Plan for Man.” He strings together verses from throughout the Bible without considering their contexts, creating meanings the original authors never intended.

For instance, to support his Gap Theory, Dake combines verses from Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 2 Peter that are addressing completely different subjects. Genesis 1:2 describes creation’s initial state, Isaiah 14 condemns Babylon’s king, Jeremiah 4 predicts future judgment, and 2 Peter 3 refers to Noah’s flood. Only by ripping these verses from their contexts can Dake make them seem to support his theory.

Rejecting Theological Tradition

While Scripture is our final authority, the theological wisdom of the church through the centuries provides important guidance. The core doctrines of Christianity—the Trinity, the dual nature of Christ, salvation by grace—were clarified through centuries of careful biblical study and theological reflection.

Dake rejected this theological heritage, claiming to derive his teachings from Scripture alone. But his “new discoveries” were actually old heresies that the church had already examined and rejected. His tritheism is essentially the same error the early church councils addressed. His teaching about God having a body resurrects the anthropomorphite heresy.

As Proverbs 11:14 warns: “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” By rejecting theological counsel, Dake fell into predictable errors.

Part 9: The Damage to Core Christian Doctrines

Dake’s errors don’t exist in isolation—they form an interconnected system where each error reinforces others. Understanding these connections helps us see why his teaching is so dangerous.

The Doctrine of God

Every Christian doctrine depends on a proper understanding of God’s nature. When Dake teaches that God has a body, is not omnipresent, and exists as three separate beings, every other doctrine suffers:

• Creation: How can a God with a body create the space He occupies?
• Providence: How can a located God govern the entire universe?
• Prayer: How can a God in one location hear prayers from everywhere?
• Incarnation: What’s special about God becoming man if He already has a body?
• Worship: Are we worshipping one God or three?

The Doctrine of Scripture

While claiming to honor Scripture, Dake’s method actually undermines biblical authority. By imposing his hyperliteral grid on the text, he makes the Bible say things it doesn’t say. This gives skeptics ammunition to attack Scripture’s credibility and confuses believers about what the Bible actually teaches.

When someone trained in Dake’s method encounters poetic or symbolic language in Scripture, they either force a literal interpretation (creating absurdity) or abandon their literalism (creating inconsistency). Either way, confidence in Scripture suffers.

The Doctrine of Christ

Dake’s Christology—his teaching about Christ—contains serious errors. His tritheism makes Christ a separate God rather than God the Son. His dispensationalism suggests Christ’s work might need supplementation with future animal sacrifices. His teaching about God having a body undermines the uniqueness of the incarnation.

In “God’s Plan for Man,” Dake also teaches a form of adoptionism—the idea that Jesus became the Son of God at some point rather than being eternally the Son. He writes about Jesus becoming the Son at His incarnation and becoming the Christ at His baptism. This denies the eternal relationship within the Trinity and suggests Jesus was promoted to divine status rather than being eternally God.

The Doctrine of Salvation

Dake’s multiple plans of salvation and changing requirements between dispensations strike at the heart of the gospel. The good news is that Christ has accomplished our salvation once for all. But if God keeps changing the rules, if animal sacrifices will resume, if different groups have different destinies, then the gospel becomes uncertain and incomplete.

Paul warned against any alteration to the gospel: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). Dake’s system, with its multiple gospels for different times, falls under this apostolic condemnation.

Part 10: Why Intelligent People Fall for These Errors

A puzzling aspect of the Dake phenomenon is how intelligent, sincere Christians can accept such obvious errors. Understanding the appeal of Dake’s teaching helps us address it more effectively.

The Appearance of Scholarship

“God’s Plan for Man” impresses readers with its size (over 1,000 pages), its thousands of Scripture references, and its systematic organization. Dake’s claim to have studied for 100,000 hours and memorized 20,000 verses gives him an aura of authority. His detailed charts, extensive cross-references, and comprehensive indices create the appearance of scholarly thoroughness.

But quantity isn’t quality. Having many Scripture references doesn’t guarantee correct interpretation. Systematic organization can systematize error as easily as truth. True scholarship involves not just collecting verses but understanding them in context, considering various interpretations, and submitting to peer review.

Answers to Everything

Humans naturally desire comprehensive explanations, and Dake provides them. Where did demons come from? The pre-Adamite world. Why does evil exist? Lucifer’s rebellion before Genesis 1:2. How do we reconcile Genesis with geology? The Gap Theory. What happens in the future? Detailed dispensational charts.

Orthodox theology is often more modest, acknowledging mystery where Scripture is unclear. But this humility can seem less satisfying than Dake’s confident answers to every question. People prefer teachers who seem to have everything figured out, even if their answers are wrong.

The Pentecostal Context

Dake’s influence is strongest in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, partly because he was one of the few study Bible authors from that tradition. Believers who value spiritual gifts, divine healing, and the miraculous found that most study Bibles were produced by cessationists who denied these things. Dake’s Bible filled this vacuum, even though it filled it with error.

This highlights the need for theologically sound resources from within the Pentecostal tradition. Believers shouldn’t have to choose between orthodox theology and continuation of spiritual gifts. Both are biblical, and both should be represented in study resources.

The Anti-Intellectual Tendency

Some Christians are suspicious of theological education, viewing seminaries as “cemeteries” where faith goes to die. Dake capitalized on this suspicion, presenting himself as a self-taught student who discovered truths that educated theologians missed or suppressed.

While academic credentials don’t guarantee truth, theological education provides important safeguards against error. Learning biblical languages, studying church history, and understanding hermeneutics help prevent the kinds of mistakes that characterize Dake’s work. Anti-intellectualism might seem spiritual, but it leaves believers vulnerable to deception.

Part 11: Responding to Those Influenced by Dake

Many sincere Christians have been influenced by Dake’s teachings. How should we respond to them? With patience, love, and careful biblical instruction.

Approach with Humility

Remember that those who follow Dake’s teachings are usually sincere believers trying to understand Scripture better. They’re not enemies but brothers and sisters who have been misled. Approach them with humility, remembering that we all have blind spots and have believed errors at some point.

1 Peter 3:15 instructs us: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Note the emphasis on meekness—gentleness and humility—not harsh condemnation.

Focus on Core Issues

Don’t try to address every error at once. Focus on the most serious issues—the nature of God and the gospel. If someone understands that God is one being in three persons (not three separate beings) and that salvation is by grace through faith alone (not different requirements in different dispensations), other errors become easier to address.

Start with clear Scripture passages that contradict Dake’s teaching:

• For God’s spiritual nature: John 4:24
• For God’s unity: Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 2:5
• For salvation by grace: Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:1-5
• For Christ’s sufficiency: Hebrews 10:10-14

Provide Better Resources

It’s not enough to remove error—we must replace it with truth. Recommend sound study Bibles, commentaries, and theological resources. Some excellent conservative evangelical resources include:

• Study Bibles that maintain orthodox theology while taking Scripture seriously
• Systematic theology books that explain doctrine clearly
• Commentaries that interpret Scripture in context
• Church history resources that show how doctrines developed

Be Patient with the Process

Abandoning deeply held beliefs takes time. Someone who has used Dake’s Bible for years won’t immediately recognize its errors. Be patient as they work through these issues. Answer questions honestly, provide biblical support for orthodox positions, and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide them into truth.

Remember that salvation doesn’t depend on perfect theology. Someone can be genuinely saved while holding some of Dake’s errors. Our goal isn’t to attack their salvation but to help them grow in biblical understanding.

Part 12: Lessons for the Church

The widespread influence of Dake’s errors teaches important lessons for the contemporary church.

The Need for Biblical Literacy

Many Christians accept Dake’s teachings because they lack biblical literacy. They don’t know Scripture well enough to recognize when it’s being misinterpreted. Churches must prioritize biblical teaching that goes beyond superficial familiarity to deep understanding.

This means teaching:

• The overall narrative of Scripture
• Basic hermeneutical principles
• The historical and cultural contexts of biblical books
• How to study the Bible inductively
• The importance of reading Scripture in context

The Importance of Theological Training

Pastors and teachers need solid theological training to protect their flocks from error. This doesn’t necessarily mean formal seminary education, but it does mean serious study of biblical theology, systematic theology, and church history.

Churches should invest in their leaders’ theological education through:

• Providing theological libraries
• Funding continuing education
• Encouraging participation in theological conferences
• Creating mentorship relationships with trained theologians
• Establishing accountability for theological accuracy

The Value of Theological Tradition

While Scripture is our final authority, the theological tradition of the church provides important guidance. The creeds and confessions of the church represent centuries of careful biblical reflection. When someone claims to have discovered new truth that contradicts this tradition, extreme caution is warranted.

Churches should teach their theological heritage:

• The Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed
• Their denominational confessions or statements of faith
• The historical development of key doctrines
• Why certain teachings were rejected as heretical
• How to evaluate new teachings against historical orthodoxy

The Danger of Personality Cults

Dake’s influence demonstrates the danger of following any human teacher too closely. When Christians become devoted to a particular teacher or study Bible, they risk accepting error along with truth. Only Scripture is infallible; all human teachers are fallible.

Churches should encourage:

• Comparing multiple commentaries and study resources
• Testing all teaching against Scripture
• Maintaining healthy skepticism toward novel interpretations
• Accountability in biblical interpretation
• Focus on Christ rather than human teachers

Part 13: The Continuing Danger

Although Dake died in 1987, his influence continues through his publications and those he influenced. Understanding the ongoing danger helps us remain vigilant.

Digital Proliferation

The internet has given Dake’s teachings new life. His materials are available online, often without warning about their errors. Young believers searching for biblical answers encounter his confident assertions without knowing they contradict orthodox Christianity.

Churches and Christian organizations need to:

• Create online resources that refute Dake’s errors
• Optimize these resources for search engines
• Provide orthodox alternatives to Dake’s materials
• Educate believers about evaluating online theological resources
• Monitor and respond to the spread of these errors on social media

Second-Generation Influence

Many teachers influenced by Dake don’t mention him by name but propagate his errors. They teach tritheism without calling it that, promote the Gap Theory without attribution, or spread extreme dispensationalism without acknowledging its source.

Believers need to recognize Dake’s teachings even when his name isn’t mentioned:

• God having a physical body
• Three separate Gods united in purpose
• Pre-Adamite races and civilizations
• Animal sacrifices resuming in the Millennium
• Different gospels for different dispensations

The Prosperity Gospel Connection

Some of Dake’s teachings have been absorbed into the prosperity gospel movement. His idea that humans are in the “God class” supports the “little gods” doctrine. His emphasis on biblical promises without consideration of context feeds the health-and-wealth message.

While not all prosperity teachers use Dake directly, many of their ideas find support in his theological framework. This connection shows how theological error compounds—one false teaching provides foundation for others.

Part 14: Specific Examination of “God’s Plan for Man”

Let’s examine specific sections of “God’s Plan for Man” to see how Dake’s errors manifest throughout the book.

Part I: The Origin of All Things (Lessons 1-8)

In the opening section, Dake immediately introduces his Gap Theory. He writes: “The first perfect earth was created in the beginning when God created the heavens and the Earth in the dateless past, and not in the six days of Adam’s time.”

This interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2 has no biblical warrant. The Hebrew construction of these verses doesn’t support a gap. The phrase “tohu wa-bohu” (without form and void) describes the initial unformed state of creation, not destruction from judgment. Dake imposes this theory on the text rather than deriving it from the text.

He continues: “Between the creation of the heavens and the Earth in Gen. 1:1 and the condition of the Earth in Gen. 1:2, there is ample time and reason for all the ages that geology seems to demand.” This reveals Dake’s true motivation—accommodating secular geology rather than interpreting Scripture faithfully.

Part II: God’s Historical Dealings with Man (Lessons 9-18)

In this section, Dake elaborates his extreme dispensationalism. He divides history into rigid compartments with different requirements for each. Regarding the Dispensation of Innocence, he writes: “The test was obedience to abstain from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

While this observation is correct, Dake goes on to suggest that if Adam had passed this test, he would have earned eternal life through obedience. This contradicts the principle that even unfallen creatures depend entirely on God’s grace. Adam’s obedience wouldn’t have earned God’s favor—it would have maintained the favor graciously given.

For the Dispensation of Law, Dake writes: “The test in this dispensation was the keeping of the whole law.” This suggests Israelites were saved by law-keeping, contradicting Paul’s clear teaching that “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20).

Part III: God’s Present Dealings with Man (Lessons 19-36)

Here Dake discusses the current Dispensation of Grace. While he affirms salvation by grace for the present age, his system suggests this is temporary. He writes about the Church Age as a “parenthesis” in God’s plan, after which God will return to dealing with Israel through law and sacrifices.

This creates a fragmented view of God’s redemptive plan. Rather than one unified story of redemption culminating in Christ, Dake presents disconnected episodes with different rules. This contradicts Ephesians 1:10, which speaks of God “gathering together in one all things in Christ.”

Part IV: God’s Future Dealings with Man (Lessons 37-52)

The final section contains some of Dake’s most problematic teachings. He describes the Millennium in hyperliteral terms, including the restoration of animal sacrifices. He writes: “All the feasts and offerings of Israel will again be observed.”

When confronted with Hebrews’ clear teaching that Christ’s sacrifice ended all other sacrifices, Dake argues these future sacrifices will be “memorial” rather than atoning. But Hebrews 10:18 states: “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” The grammar doesn’t allow for memorial sin offerings—there is “no more offering for sin” of any kind.

Dake also teaches that rebellion during the Millennium will result in execution, suggesting that salvation in the kingdom age will require perfect obedience. This returns to works-righteousness and denies the sufficiency of grace.

Part 15: The Theological Method Behind the Madness

Understanding Dake’s theological method helps us see how he consistently arrives at erroneous conclusions.

The Concordance Approach

Dake’s method resembles someone using a concordance without considering context. He looks up every verse containing a particular word and assumes they’re all talking about the same thing. This leads to bizarre constructions where verses about completely different subjects are combined to create doctrines the Bible never teaches.

For example, to support his view that God has a body, he lists every verse mentioning God’s “hand” or “eyes” without considering that these might be anthropomorphisms. A concordance is a useful tool, but it becomes dangerous when used as Dake uses it—as a substitute for contextual interpretation.

The Hyperliteral Grid

Dake imposes a hyperliteral interpretive grid on all Scripture. Everything must be taken literally unless absolutely impossible. This sounds pious—taking God’s Word seriously—but it actually distorts Scripture by ignoring how language works.

When Jesus says “I am the door” (John 10:9), He’s not claiming to be made of wood. When Scripture says God “rides on the clouds” (Psalm 104:3), it’s not teaching divine meteorology. Dake’s hyperliteralism turns profound spiritual truths into absurd physical claims.

The System Over Scripture

Once Dake develops his system, he forces Scripture to fit it rather than letting Scripture shape his theology. Verses that contradict his system are reinterpreted or explained away. This is eisegesis (reading meaning into the text) rather than exegesis (drawing meaning out of the text).

For instance, when John 4:24 says “God is spirit,” which contradicts Dake’s teaching about God having a body, he adds qualifiers not in the text. The verse becomes “God is a spirit being with a spirit body.” This isn’t interpretation—it’s manipulation.

Part 16: A Call to Biblical Fidelity

As we conclude this extensive review of “God’s Plan for Man,” we must move from critique to constructive response. How should the church respond to the continuing influence of Dake’s errors?

Return to Biblical Authority

The church must reaffirm Scripture as our sole final authority while recognizing the importance of proper interpretation. This means:

• Teaching the whole counsel of God, not just favorite passages
• Interpreting Scripture in context, not as isolated verses
• Recognizing different literary genres and their interpretive requirements
• Submitting our interpretations to the broader Christian community
• Testing all teaching against the clear message of Scripture

Recover Theological Heritage

The church must reconnect with its theological heritage. The creeds and confessions aren’t infallible, but they represent centuries of careful biblical reflection. When someone claims to have discovered new truth that contradicts this heritage, extreme caution is warranted.

This doesn’t mean blind traditionalism but rather learning from those who have gone before us. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.”

Emphasize Core Doctrines

The church must clearly teach and defend core Christian doctrines:

• The Trinity: One God in three persons, not three Gods
• The Incarnation: God became man in Jesus Christ
• Salvation by Grace: We’re saved by grace through faith, not works
• The Sufficiency of Scripture: The Bible contains everything necessary for salvation and godliness
• The Unity of God’s People: All believers are one in Christ regardless of ethnicity or background

Train Teachers Thoroughly

Those who teach God’s Word bear tremendous responsibility. James 3:1 warns: “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” Churches must ensure their teachers are thoroughly trained in:

• Biblical content and context
• Sound hermeneutical principles
• Historical theology and why certain doctrines were rejected
• Systematic theology showing how doctrines relate
• Practical application without compromising truth

Conclusion: Standing Firm in Biblical Truth

Finis Jennings Dake’s “God’s Plan for Man” represents one of the most comprehensive systems of theological error ever published within evangelicalism. From his tritheistic view of God to his racist ideology, from his Gap Theory to his return to animal sacrifices, Dake’s teachings contradict biblical Christianity at nearly every crucial point.

The tragedy is that Dake appeared to love Scripture and devoted his life to studying it. But sincerity without sound interpretation leads to error, and zeal without knowledge leads to heresy. Dake’s hyperliteral hermeneutic, combined with his rejection of theological accountability, produced a system that might use biblical language but denies biblical truth.

The continuing influence of these errors demands that the church respond with clarity, courage, and compassion—clarity about what Scripture actually teaches, courage to confront popular but false teaching, and compassion for those who have been misled.

We must remember that behind the theological analysis lie real people whose faith has been damaged by these errors. Some have abandoned Christianity altogether after discovering they’d been taught falsehood. Others continue in confusion, mixing truth with error. Still others propagate these errors unknowingly, thinking they’re teaching biblical truth.

The church’s response must be both theological and pastoral. We must clearly refute the errors while gently restoring those who have been deceived. We must provide sound biblical teaching to replace the false doctrine. We must train a generation of believers who can recognize and resist theological error.

Most importantly, we must return to the simplicity and profundity of the gospel. God—the one true God who is spirit—loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to become man and die for our sins. Through faith in Christ, we receive forgiveness and eternal life. This salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. No additions, no changes, no supplements needed.

This gospel has transformed lives for two thousand years. It doesn’t need Dake’s elaborations or anyone else’s improvements. It needs faithful proclamation and careful exposition, not novel interpretation or systematic speculation.

As we face the continuing challenge of false teaching, may we heed Paul’s charge to Timothy: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

The faith once delivered to the saints doesn’t need revision or supplementation. It needs faithful transmission to the next generation. May we be found faithful in this sacred trust, teaching the truth in love, defending the gospel against error, and pointing always to Christ, who alone is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Let this extensive review serve as both warning and encouragement—warning against the dangers of theological error and encouragement to remain steadfast in biblical truth. The errors of “God’s Plan for Man” are serious, but God’s actual plan revealed in Scripture is glorious. May we never confuse the two.

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Bibliography

Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man: Contained in Fifty-Two Lessons, One for Each Week of the Year. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949.

________. Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963.

________. Revelation Expounded, or The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950.

________. The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950.

________. “Ages and Dispensations.” In God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949.

________. “Heavenly Hosts.” Published posthumously. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Publishing, 1995.

________. “The Truth about Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, n.d.

The Holy Bible. King James Version. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1611.

Westminster Assembly. The Westminster Confession of Faith. 1646. Reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2018.

“The Athanasian Creed.” In The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, edited by Theodore G. Tappert. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959.

“The Nicene Creed.” In Documents of the Christian Church, edited by Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder, 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

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