In theology, one meaning of the term dispensation is as a distinctive arrangement or period in history that forms the framework through which God relates to mankind.
In the Baháʼí Faith, a dispensation is a period of progressive revelation relating to the major religions of humanity,[1] usually with a prophet accompanying it.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a dispensation is a period of time in which God gave priesthood authority to men on the Earth through prophetic callings.
Other Christian writers and leaders since then, such as Augustine of Hippo and Joachim of Fiore (1135–1202), have also offered their own dispensation arrangements of history.
[7] Below is a table comparing some of the various dispensational schemes: Although the divine revelation unfolds progressively, the deposit of truth in earlier time-periods is not discarded, rather it is cumulative.