oikonomia

Semantic range

1. 1the office of a household steward
2. 2administration, arrangement, plan
3. 3a period of divinely arranged administration

Oikos (house) plus nomos (law): the running of a household. The KJV renders it "dispensation" in Ephesians 1:10, which speaks of "the dispensation of the fulness of times" in which God will gather together all things in Christ.

That verse is foundational for Latter-day Saints. A dispensation is a period in which the Lord dispenses His authority and gospel to the earth through a prophet; the present one is the last and gathers all the rest (D&C 27:13; 128:18–21). The word's household sense also underlies the Restoration's language of stewardship (D&C 104:11–13).

See also

• ἀποκατάστασιςapokatastasis
• ἀποστασίαapostasia
• μυστήριονmystērion