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BOOKS: BIBLICAL STUDIES (1500BC-AD70) / EARLY CHRISTIAN PRETERISM (AD70-1000) / FREE ONLINE BOOKS (AD1000-2008)
The Last Disciple, one of three books planned by Hanegraaff and his co-author, Sigmund Brouwer, has sold 50,000 copies in six weeks (vs. 85,000 for Left Behind in its first year). |
New Take on Rapture puts authors in apocalyptic feud
Hank Hanegraaff | The Bible Answer Man and Preterism, circa 1995+/- | Hank Hanegraaff "The Bible Answer Man", author of The Last Disciple: "John ...was writing about the times he was living in, using symbolism from the Old Testament prophets to describe conditions in the first century. All the major elements of the Book of Revelation - Tribulation, Armageddon, Rapture - took place at that time." | Hank on Voice of Reason 11/21 | CARM: "The Last Disciple" By Hank Hanegraaff Discussion
What if the Rapture has already happened? What if Revelation's prophecies have been fulfilled? These questions are unthinkable for those Christians who believe that the end of the world is, well, still to come – and that it will unfold in accordance with apocalyptic interpretations of the Book of Revelation: the Rapture, the sudden snatching up of millions of the faithful into heaven, followed by the seven-year Tribulation, during which the world is ruled by the Antichrist, followed by the return of Jesus and his triumph in the battle of Armageddon. That's more or less the story line hewed to in the phenomenally popular Left Behind series. Now, however, Tyndale House, the Christian publisher of Left Behind, is planning a new fictional series with a very different view – one that posits that Revelation actually tells the story (in code) of the first-century persecution of Christians and of the fall of the Jewish Temple. Tyndale officials say they're simply presenting different sides of an important theological issue. But the Rev. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind books, called the decision by his publisher "stunning and disappointing" and said he felt betrayed. "They are going to take the money we made for them and promote this nonsense," he said. The co-author of the new series, obviously, disagrees. "I am elated with Tyndale's support," said Hank Hanegraaff, the host of a syndicated call-in radio show, The Bible Answer Man. The first book in the new series, written with Sigmund Brouwer, is The Last Disciple. Additional volumes are planned. The decision to publish two different – some would say competing – apocalyptic series was made by Ron Beers, senior vice president of Tyndale, which is based in Wheaton, Ill. "As a Christian publisher, we want to represent a diversity of viewpoints," said Mr. Beers. "There is nothing strange about Tyndale selling both views. There are a variety of perspectives on the end times. Some people had a problem with the theology in the Left Behind books." Mr. Beers was the Tyndale executive who purchased the Left Behind series and saw it grow, over nine years, into a sales empire rivaling those built by John Grisham, Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling. The 12 Left Behind books have sold about 42 million copies, counting both paperback and hardcover sales. When children's editions, graphic novels and the like are counted, the figure is 62 million. In addition, there are spinoff products, from calendars and music CDs to greeting cards and computer software. The most recent book in the series, Glorious Appearing, sold almost 2 million copies even before it hit the stores last March. It was supposed to have been the 12th and final installment, in which Jesus returns to earth and presides at the Last Judgment. But already, at least four sequels or prequels are planned. Dr. LaHaye is a former Southern California pastor. Mr. Hanegraaff heads a Christian research institute based in Southern California. From their comments about each other's work, it seems unlikely that the two men will be exchanging signed copies of their books. "I don't know what science fiction he is reading," said Dr. LaHaye. "We believe the Rapture is going to come, not his nonsense that Christ came back in 68 A.D." "I am reading the Bible, specifically Revelations it was written for first-century Christians," retorted Mr. Hanegraaff. "I am not relying on some wooden, literal interpretation that is unsupportable." The Last Disciple, the first of at least three books planned, depicts the Roman emperor, Nero, as "the beast." In the book, Christians in Rome and Jerusalem are suffering through the Tribulation. Nero is trying to find the Apostle John's letter (the Book of Revelation) and destroy it. To survive, the early Christians must decipher a mysterious code. (The code for Nero's name is the number 666, regarded by many as the mark of the Antichrist.) Sound farfetched? Maybe. But scholars of eschatology, the branch of theology dealing with the end of the world, note that biblical references to the end times are almost always ambiguous, highly symbolic and subject to widely varying interpretations. "The Bible, in particular the Revelation of John, is open to many dramatic readings," said Harvey Cox, a professor at Harvard Divinity School. "Unfortunately, some are merely a paste-up of what the Bible actually says, a pulling from various passages to craft a theology that the bulk of New Testament scholars do not support." He said Revelation "was a polemic against the corruption, debauchery and greed of the Roman Empire" and that it was "meant to be an encouragement for the people who were living under persecution. "Christians were being fed to the lions. John was writing in exile, fearful for his life." The book is dense with symbols, visionary images and descriptions that seem allegorical, such as the lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, believed to represent Jesus. John "had to write it in code," Dr. Cox said, "because it was circulating around and might have fallen into the hands of the emperor." The professor said the Left Behind series is based on the notion of "premillennialism" or "dispensationalism," which he said is "the belief that the world is getting worse and worse, and that Christ will come to get the Christians, the born-again Christians." This helps explain the series' popularity, he said. "You can look at the world these days and see the kind of killing that has gone for a century now. ... Who would not believe things are getting worse? We have had a Holocaust, wars, massacres. "The books celebrate the notion that the worse things become, the happier Christians should be, because Christ is coming." Dr. LaHaye said the viewpoint expressed in his books is backed by "300 years of church teaching." But Dr. Cox said dispensationalism was considered heresy in ancient times and suppressed. It re-emerged in the 19th century, thanks to "a New Age-y, mystical type sect in Scotland." The Last Disciple, on the other hand, is based on the notion of "preterism," which holds that most if not all major prophetic events in the New Testament have happened. According to this view, the great war of Armageddon occurred in 70 A.D., around the time the Roman general and future emperor, Titus Flavius, destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus talked about the end of the world, according to preterists, he was referring not to the physical world but to an old worldview held by Jews in his time. "John was not writing about the future," Mr. Hanegraaff said. "He was writing about the times he was living in, using symbolism from the Old Testament prophets to describe conditions in the first century. All the major elements of the Book of Revelation – Tribulation, Armageddon, Rapture – took place at that time." How will readers react to the new series? Will they buy it? Dr. LaHaye, predictably, doesn't think so. "There are 85 percent of evangelical Christians who believe as we do. We'll see if they will be successful with the 15 percent who don't." Mr. Hanegraaff, predictably, disagrees. He said his books will lure readers "in an age where most people aren't even reading the Bible. ... I want them to go back to Revelation and see if they will read it the same way, after they have read The Last Disciple." LETTER TO THE EDITOR Clarifying his views Re: "New take on Rapture puts authors in apocalyptic feud," Nov. 6 Just a note to clarify some misconceptions concerning my view of biblical eschatology communicated in the article. First, Tim LaHaye's assertion that I subscribe to the "nonsense that Christ came back in 68 A.D." is surely one of his more creative works of fiction. Such a notion is not even hinted at in my book, The Last Disciple, nor have I made such a statement in any forum. Dr. LaHaye simply manufactured this assertion out of whole cloth. Furthermore, I have never suggested that the Rapture has already taken place. Thus, the article's opening sentence, "What if the Rapture has already happened?" is misleading. In fact, unlike the Left Behind series – which is based on the pre-Tribulational Rapture theory posited and popularized in the 19th century by John Nelson Darby – The Last Disciple series is centered on the great and glorious truth of Resurrection. Finally, nowhere in The Last Disciple is there any suggestion that in order "to survive, early Christians must decipher a mysterious code." While deciphering the symbols of Revelation is often difficult for 21st-century Christians addicted to "newspaper theology," John's coded letter would have been substantially clear to first-century believers. Thank you for the opportunity to make the above clarifications and to affirm that I hold to what is taught in Scripture and codified in the creeds: Jesus is coming again; the dead will be resurrected; and the problem of sin will be fully and finally resolved. Hank Hanegraaff, president, Christian Research Institute, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. TIME MAGAZINE: Is It the End of the World as This Author Knows It? Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 Hanegraaff, known as the Bible Answer Man, counters that the Left Behind books are part of a trend toward sensationalism and "script torture" of the Bible. "There is a lot of hysteria because of the Left Behind books," he says. Tyndale decided to offer the alternate viewpoint after talking to biblical scholars. "We think debate is healthy in the church and will help both series," says publisher Ron Beers. The Last Disciple, one of three books planned by Hanegraaff and his co-author, Sigmund Brouwer, has sold 50,000 copies in six weeks (vs. 85,000 for Left Behind in its first year). But LaHaye says he isn't worried. He plans to deliver the four books he owes Tyndale and let readers decide how this story ends. From the Nov. 22, 2004 issue of TIME magazine
Send an email with your comments to todd @ preteristarchive.com Be sure to include the article name. They will be posted shortly upon receipt CommentsFor the record, Hank is a partial preterist. He looks for the resurrection and what he sees as the real Second Coming to happen in the future. His coming out in favor of any form of preterism, however, is a big step in the right direction. By the way, the partial preterist's attempt to separate the resurrection from the AD 70 great tribulation (as Hank does) simply does not work. Daniel 12:1-2 show them as happening at the same time. At the AD 70 shattering of the Jewish nation (Dan. 12:7) Duncan
CommentsDuncan, Hank said in that article that the *RAPTURE* "took place at that time." How can he believe that the Rapture is past and be a partial preterist at the same time????? [TDD: Hank was misquoted]
CommentsLet me answer your question by quoting Kenneth Gentry (who also is a partial preterist): "Paul's statement 'concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him' 2 Thess. 2:1...is speaking of the AD 70 judgment on the Jews... With the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, from that point on Christians will be 'gathered together' in a separate and distinct assembly. After Jerusalem's destruction God no longer tolerates Temple worship- indeed he makes it impossible." Ken Gentry, Perilous Times 100-101 So in this view the rapture is seen as the AD 70 spiritual gathering of the church in "a separate and distinct assembly." Gentry and Hank still look for a future Second Coming and resurrection. Duncan
CommentsSorry Duncan, that answer doesn't work. Like most or all partial preterists, Gentry believes that the "gathering" was fulfilled and he _absolutely rejects_ the idea that the "RAPTURE" was fulfilled. So, in radical contrast to Gentry and the whole partial preterist camp, Hank Haanegraf says that the "RAPTURE" was fulfilled. Hank has made a FULL preterist statement. Hank has some 'splainin' to do. <g>
CommentsI guess I am not aware of this partial preterist distinction between the gathering together and the rapture; could you provide a quote outlining this position? Thanks. What I do know is that I was listening to Hank a week or so ago and he was still making the partial preterist distinction between the AD 70 judgment coming of Jesus as opposed to the future Second Coming when the resurrection would happen. Duncan
CommentsI think it is great that the preterist interpretation is being presented in a way that will hopefully reach an audience that otherwise would not have known of it. This series of books will find a great many who will find its hopeful and optimistic world view a welcome change from the pessimistic hopeless world view of futurism. Perhaps even critics of christianity will take notice and find a new respect for the christian faith based on accomplished facts of history as opposed to the fanciful fairy tales of the failed eschatology of futurism.
CommentsI have gone back and read the Bible Answer Mans article on the Archive and now I am not quite so optimistic about these books. I hope his views have evolved into full pret but I am concerned that they have not. These books could do more harm to the clear teaching of Jesus and his Holy Apostles by causing confusion as to the nature of Preterism. I realize that these books will be fictional but had hoped they would still uphold the underlying truth of preterist theology.
CommentsThis news is excellent. Thank you for giving preterism a hearing. It has been very hard to put up with the general presumption that dispensationalism is the right view. Now let them try to defend the indesfensible when preterism is given a fair hearing. Alan Allison
CommentsThere will always be those who will dispute the word of God . Those especially that can easily be used by satan. Which this man seems to be a likely candidate. I just hope he sees the light before its too late.
CommentsI was a Rapture believing Christian who believed the entire Dispensationalism stuff for years. I have been growing very concerned that Jesus hadn't come back as promised and that 2000 years is a long time to wait. I was taught that the early 1st Century Christians were wrong (and Jesus since he didn't know the hour of his coming) about the end times. I just couldn't believe this but I had no alternative until I saw Hank's book and suddenly the entire flood gates were opened up for me.....
CommentsI am interested in the latest position espoused by Hank, especially since I have found him to be one of the most proficient and blessed teachers of our times. What concerns me is the MARKETING, how noticeably absent these points of view have been on his show and in other materials, apparently in anticipation of this series. He has also said He is working on a non-fiction work of his view-point of eschatology, which if it is anything like his other non-fiction educational series, will undoubtedly be well documented and thought out. Let us not forget that our eschatalogical views should never be a dividing point - But a stimulus to study and seek the Lord Jesus Christ and the continual revelation of Himself to us through scripture, as our Lord said "I AM THE TRUTH". We should be lovers of the TRUTH even at the expense of disagreeing with our Grandpa's religion and tradition.
CommentsThis is indeed wonderful news and I wish Hank great success. Even if you're a full-pret you have to admit this is a big step in the right direction. After all, how many of you full-prets out there didn't wade through the waters of partial-preterism for a season? Mr. Hanegraaff is known and respected for his well thought-out work and I'm sure his efforts will reach a very wide audience. DBS
CommentsI've been a listener to the Bible Answer Man for a good many years now, and I can tell you with certainty that Hank does not believe that the rapture is an event that occurred in the first century. He has very clearly stated on his broadcast that he believes that the rapture occurs at the time of Christ's future second coming, on the last day. The author of this article is simply mistaken. If interested, search the CRI broadcast archive at www.equip.org for the broadcast in which Steven Gregg appeared as a guest. On this broadcast He clearly states his views regarding these issues.
CommentsWOW ...I THINK IT IS GREAT THAT HAMMERIN' HANK IS LEANING TOWARDS PRETERISM . HE IS THE ONE WHO HELPED STRAIGHTEN ME OUT OF "CRAZY PENTACOSTALISM ", WELL , HANK AND GOD . LOOKING FORWARD TO BUYING THE LAST DISCIPLE.
CommentsI believe that the majority of educated Christians who can read scripture for themselves would say that this article is nonsense. If you would go back through the Bible, and look at the history of the Bible's remarkable accuracy of prophecy that has been fulfilled, it is not that difficult to understand that the events that are spoken of regarding the second coming of Christ have yet to be fulfilled. You failed to mention in this article that not only is the second coming spoken of in Revelations, but throughout the Old Testament as well. If we were left to rely only on what is written in Revelations, interpretation would be admittedly difficult.
CommentsWell i read through each of the posts and found them interesting. I've listened to HH for years and I am looking forward to reading "The Last Disciple". I came to the Preterist View basically due to being fed up w/the Gloom and Doom teachings from most pulpits...and FINALY thinking and reading for myself. The plain teaching of ALL scripture, OT and NT is presented in the Preterist view. Thom From The WET! Coast of Oregon USA
CommentsI respect Hank a lot, but I hope to see someone else take on the mantel of a "Walter Martin". I do not see Hank as being in the same flavor as his mentor and predecessor. Walter Martin would have come "out of the closet" without consideration of losing a hearing constituancy, revealing his ideas on eschatology. Walter Martin would not necessarily been popular with the current pre-tribbers, but I believe that he would never cut himself adrift from biblical premillinialism. Hank seems to have grown cold in his participation with God pouring out of His spirit. While giving verbal assent to the possibility of the operation of the "extant" gifts of the Spirit found in places like 1 Corinthians chapters 13-15, he is not openly recognizing any current movement as a legitimate place where charismata is taking place today. Walter Martin was a lot more comfortable with Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Third-Wave believers, without giving to unbiblical teachings which came up from time to time. We need another Ambassador like Walter Martin.
CommentsBOTH BOOKS ARE FICTION AND NEITHER WRITER HAS IT CORRECT. JESUS JUST RETURNS ONE TIME AS THE SCRIPTURES PREDICT NOT BEFORE THE TRIBULATION AND AGAIN AFTER THE TRIBULATION BUT AS JESUS LAID IT OUT PLAINLY IN MATTHEW 24, AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS THEN YOU WOULD SEE HIM COMING IN THE CLOUDS.
CommentsIts nice to see that Hank has some guts to put out such a book finally I might be able to join a local church that allows me to express my views instead of telling me not to say anything.
CommentsI believe Christ is returning in my lifetime. I am 28 years old and My household and I are saved as the bible promises. As far as debating. The bible warns against itin Romans capter one in reference to those who will not live eternally. 2Thessalonians also says that God will send some a strong delusion so that they will believe a lie. Pray that you will be found worthy to escape Gods wrath to come. If Christ already returned then what happened to the 7 years and Armaggedon? Why are we still here? Jesus is coming again. Please pray for Gods TRUTH, not mans. God will not mislead you nor leave you or forsake you. Please donot harden your hearts to the truth and be turned to a reprobate mind. There will be false prophets that the devil is using as pawns. Take delight in righteousness and the truth of God found in His infallible Word. Wash yourself in His (Jesus) blood and living water (WORD). Be not deceived. The only one you can truly trust in is God and His truth will set you free indeed. God bless you.Beware to wolves that come in sheeps clothing because inward they are ravening! Don't let man send you to hell by lisening to winds of doctrine and false teachers/antichrists. Just pray and read Gods Word and listen to His Spirit ONLY! God doesn't want any to perish. Jesus is the Way,the Truth,and the Life and NO man cometh unto to God the Father except through Him. If you try you are the same as a thief and a robber and you know they don't have eternal life abiding in them. Trust in God! Love Jerome and Trisha Kelly
CommentsHello fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! First off I pray that some people pay for the scales to be removed from their eyes and their hearts to be softened to the TRUTH of Gods infallible Word. If the rapture happened when they say it did the world would no longer exist and Christ would have already reigned for 1000 years,There would be a new heaven and a new earth and there would be no sin in it. But as far as I can tell people are missing alot more scripture then just the rapture. Besides the gospel has t be preached around the world and then the end will come. in that time they didn't have the means to o so like we do today(radio,television,cars,airplanes,ect.) They certainly wouldn't hve had a system to keep track of the world. I pray that people wil read more than one book of the bible so they can get the BIG picture. False teaching is rampantg and the devil will deceive even the very elect in the end times. God bless and may you all pray for Gods Truth-NOT mans. Love in Christ,Jerome and Trisha Kelly
CommentsWoe to all of us if our present condition is described in Revelation 21:4. Do you all really think that this is the best God can do in accomplishing His Word? The verse reads, "and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; and the first things have passed away." The Risen Saviour I serve does not promise these things and then serve us a cold dish of the world as we know it. The prophesies may have been fulfilled in 70 AD. I think there is an awful lot of allowances that have to made to say that things like the battle of Armegeddon have already happened. I am a dispensationalist and my escatology follows that. On this secondary issue I am willing to concede that I may be proven wrong one day. I think that Hank has laid out a cohesive arguement. I disagree with his conclusions in that I think Nero was a type of Anti-Christ, not the antitype. No big deal. We Pre-mil types have hope in stuff like Romans 6-8. We find our hope in Christ, whatever the state of the world. Please don't paste us all as gloomy. Grace and Peace! IRW
CommentsLaHaye is clearly suffering a case of sour grapes. Anyone with historical awareness surely can see that his premillennial confabulations are, as St Paul once put it, a cartload of dung. The mental gymnastics required to make a "Rapture" out of the supposed proof-texts usually quoted is surely a sight to behold. I fear for America, and the West, that such tripe has proven so popular.
CommentsI remember when Hank used to say he was pan-trib (assuming also he was premillennial) He even had someone on his program or staff (I think it was Ron Rhodes) who was pre-trib. I think it was his friendship with R.C. Sproul who has been on his program at least once. Personally I think if he wasn't sure about premillennialism he should have just been neutral or pan-millennial. I sometimes have to wonder if all these books (even before the Last Disciple) that he has written in the past fews is to save himself financially because of the controversy concerning him. By the way I'm also not a fan of Left Behind as well - it's not good theology as it tells people they need to get saved now but then tells them that many will be saved in the tribulation. I'm so surprised that Hank would even touch the subject of eschatology in so much detail. This is not the person I used to hear on the radio.
CommentsI have listened to Hank show for years now, and knew he was hiding somethng up his sleeve on eschatology. I used to tell my wife, Hank is hiding something. Now the cat is out of the bag, the first century paradigm has taken another victim. Eventually i feel this preterist view is going to explode, people want the truth, not fiction, not fantasy, time for people to lay down their presuppositions, and embrace the truth. thanks wayne O
CommentsIf Hank ascribes the "Return of Christ" to the AD70 Event, and the "Coming in the Clouds" to that same event, then what terminology does he save for the future? The "Second Coming of Christ"? But to claim that AD70 was definitively *A* coming of Christ would mean that the next one is the THIRD COMING OF CHRIST.. Henry Hammond had the guts in the 17th century to call AD70 the Second Coming and the "end of the world" return of Christ the "third coming." How about "The Rapture"? Indeed, the rapture has not happened, nor will it ever. But you won't find it in the Bible, either. It seems to boil down to this: Was the "Coming of the Son of Man on the Clouds of Heaven" a REAL coming? If so, as F.W. Farrar said in the 19th century, "the Fall of Jerusalem was, *in the fullest sense*, the Second Advent of the Son of Man which was primarily contemplated by the earliest voices of prophecy"
CommentsDispensationalist is theologically challenged. Scripture has to be taken ought of context and put together to make their hypothesis. First, you have to swallow that Jesus comes back twice. One of the scriptures dispensationalist use for this states that He will come like a thief in the night. Within the context it says to those who are asleep, not walking in the Spirit, He will come like a thief. I think Dispensationalism is a doctrine of demons and can easily be debunked by reading the Bible contextually.
CommentsDate: 10 Nov 2004 Time: 08:18:09 Comments I am interested in the latest position espoused by Hank, especially since I have found him to be one of the most proficient and blessed teachers of our times. What concerns me is the MARKETING, how noticeably absent these points of view have been on his show and in other materials, apparently in anticipation of this series. He has also said He is working on a non-fiction work of his view-point of eschatology, which if it is anything like his other non-fiction educational series, will undoubtedly be well documented and thought out. Let us not forget that our eschatalogical views should never be a dividing point - But a stimulus to study and seek the Lord Jesus Christ and the continual revelation of Himself to us through scripture, as our Lord said "I AM THE TRUTH". We should be lovers of the TRUTH even at the expense of disagreeing with our Grandpa's religion and tradition. AMEN. Clearly the study of the endtimes is entering judgement and what cannot be shaken shall remain. I repost this post because it points to an attitude of humility which is sadly lacking. After all: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." The one thing we all should know is that we don't know. Nevertheless if we humbly submit to one another and to God, the Spirit will reveal, as promised in Amos 3, what is coming. Steve
CommentsHank is going to be forced to debate the full or Biblical Preterist view. He will have to do so because so many futurists are going to be applying Hank's own hermeneutics (Mt. 24 / 1Thess. 4) and conclude that he believes the second coming already happened. Something I already see has happened :)Hank will have to debate us to "prove" he is "orthodox" and isn't a "Hyper-Preterist." Even though it is a compromising position, I am thankful for all the Christians that will be exposed to a hermeneutical principal that will point them in the right direction. In Christ, Mike Sullivan
Comments
CommentsHank is a slenderous kook. He always has been. puffed up heretic himself.
CommentsHank is a slanderous kook. He always has been a puffed up heretic himself.
CommentsSome confusion about Hank's views regarding the end-times has resulted from a recent newspaper article that first ran in the The Dallas Morning News, November 6, 2004, and about a dozen newspapers across the nation have reprinted it. In response to the misinformation published in that original article, Hank wrote the following letter to the editor, which The Dallas Morning News printed December 11, 2004: Re: "New take on Rapture puts authors in apocalyptic feud," Nov. 6 To the Editor: Just a note to clarify some misconceptions concerning my view of biblical eschatology communicated in the article. First, Tim LaHaye's assertion that I ascribe to the "nonsense that Christ came back in 68 A.D.," is surely one of his more creative works of fiction. Such a notion is not even hinted at in my book, The Last Disciple, nor have I made such a statement in any other forum. Dr. LaHaye simply manufactured this assertion out of whole cloth. Furthermore, I have never suggested that the Rapture has already taken place. Thus, the article's opening sentence, "What if the Rapture has already happened?" is misleading. In fact, unlike the Left Behind series—which is based on the pre- Tribulational rapture theory posited and popularized in the 19th century by John Nelson Darby—The Last Disciple series is centered on the great and glorious truth of Resurrection. Finally, nowhere in The Last Disciple is there any suggestion that in order "to survive, early Christians must decipher a mysterious code." While deciphering the symbols of Revelation is often difficult for 21st-century Christians addicted to "newspaper theology," John's coded letter would have been substantially clear to firstcentury believers. Thank you for the opportunity to make the above clarifications and to affirm that I hold to what is taught in Scripture and codified in the creeds: Jesus is coming again; the dead will be resurrected; and the problem of sin will be fully and finally resolved. —Hank Hanegraaff, president, Christian Research Institute, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
CommentsI think Hank doesn't take anything Literal in the Bible, which I'm concerned about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He tries to use his Intellect to explain the Scriptures instead of being lead by the Spirit. Jesus said in Mathew 24 that his return would be like the days of Noah and Lot and were seeing them now. Hank should be concerned about the Apostasy which is coming and hope that he's not part of it. People thought they were going through the Tribulation and Paul said that there would be a falling away before the Son of Perdition would be revealed. I think Hank should get back to basics and talk more about Salvation which I never hear him mention about his conversion. If he hasn't had one, it would be no suprise that his teachings are off.
CommentsI've listened to Hank several times and I have a lot of respect for him. One of the posts above implies that Hank wants to sell those books to get himself out of financial trouble. I don't buy that. Besides, the grass is much greener on LaHaye and Jenkin's side of the fence. Hanegraaff is much like Gary Demar. You have to read very closely to find that he's not a full preterist. I wouldn't be outspoken about it either if I was a partial preterist. It's extremely easy to get stuck to a theological tarbaby. Without divine intervention, I believe guys like Hanegraaff and Demar have come as far as they ever will towards full preterism. There are steep consequences to being a consistent preterist. Everyone wants to call you a wolf and beat you with a stick. However, for twenty years of my life I never knew what a preterist was. It was a Gary Demar book that led me in a preterist direction and I respect him highly for his work. I think Hank's new book is something to be optimistic about - especially for those who will read it and know: truth is infinitely more comforting than comfort alone.
CommentsThe post immediately above was by Derek Truesdale. nerdwithoutalife[AT IF YOU'RE NOT A SPAMBOT]yahoo.com Date: 03 May 2005 Date: 22 Nov 2005 Date: 30 Dec 2005 Date: 29 Jan 2006 Date: 26 Feb 2006 Date: 10 Jun 2006 Date: 03 Jul 2006 Date: 01 Aug 2006 Date: 17 Sep 2006 Date: 22 Sep 2006 Date: 15 Oct 2006 Date: 28 Nov 2006 Date: 28 Mar 2007 Date: 29 May 2007 Date: 06 Sep 2007
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