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Matthew 26:64 is NOT a "Preterist Time Indicator" Pointing to AD70 "In short, the usage of "Apo Arti" in Matthew 26:64 [Apo ("from" - Strongs 575) and Arti ("now on" - Strong's 737)] is highly suggestive of the themes that have been previously offered at this blog ; that is, a series of revelatory recognitions of the power and glory of Jesus Christ's dominance by friend and foe alike. Though the typically pret-friendly Weymouth translation would like to make Jesus say "later on, you will see.." this is not really honest. I would rather say that it was simply a mistake, but I find it impossible to believe that neither Richard Francis Weymouth ("If this belief ever obtains general acceptance the earlier date of the Apocalypse will also be regarded as fully established. For it will then be seen that the book describes beforehand events which took place in 70 A.D.") nor Earnest Hampden-Cook (co-editor and author of "The Christ Has Come") were aware of how important (ironically) a futurist spin on this passage is to uphold their Preterist assumptions. However, not only is there no sense of futurity in this very emphatic Greek phrase, but rather we see quite the opposite.
Nebuchadezzar's Statue in Larkin, "Dispensational Truth" notice that the toes are as long as the rest of the body.
Nebuchadezzar's Statue in Larkin, "Dispensational Truth" notice that the toes are as long as the rest of the body. Gary DeMar
CHAMPION EMERITUS: "What a way to live! With optimism, with anticipation, with excitement. We should be living like persons who don’t expect to be around much longer" ”I also said that ‘if’ a generation was forty years and ‘if’ the generation of the ‘fig tree’ (Matthew 24:32-34) started with the foundation of the state of Israel, then Jesus ‘might come back by 1988.’ But I put a lot of ifs and maybes in because I knew that no one could be absolutely certain.”
Jack Van Impe "Procreation still takes place during this era of time because those who survived the tribulation hour enter the Millennium with human bodies. The believers upon the thrones possess resurrected bodies and do not bear children, but the others do." "By the year 2001, there will be global chaos. (It will) usher in international chaos such as we've never seen in our history.. drought, war, malaria, and hunger afflicting entire populations throughout the [African] continent..." "the composition of the number “666” spells the word VISA – the exact name of today’s most accepted and popular credit card” (11:59 and Counting, pp.106,107) "Israel could have accepted (Jesus) as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have "I have had my physical appearance duplicated by demons." "Our future is at stake, I'm battling the forces of darkness and I've got to know that you are there and you care about me remaining behind this microphone to deal with the devil and expose what the forces of evil are doing to destroy your home, your church, and your family so back me now!"
Richard Noone PLANETS LINING UP! "5/5/2000: Ice, The Ultimate Disaster,'' predicted the planetary alignment would trigger a chain of events that will cause the Earth's crust to slide and poles to shift. ``It would be a geological Armageddon'
“brethren, the Roman 1843 is past and our hopes are not realized. Shall we give up the ship? No, no… We do not believe our reckoning has run out. It takes all of 457 and 1843 to make 2,300, and must of course run as far into ’44 as it began in the year 457 before Christ” (quoted in shaw , 65) “I confess my error, and acknowledge my disspointment” (Quoted in Nichol, 170-171) “I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door”
Jason Hommel Full Apology - "I was one of the loudest voices on the newsgroups speaking about a "Rapture on Feast of Trumpets" this year. I'm sorry. I was wrong." Ronald Reagan "In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations, and it says that Lybia will be among them. Do you understand the significance of that? Lybia has now gone communist, and that's a sign that the day of Armageddon isn't far off." (Ronald Reagan - 1971, recounted in San Diego Magazine, 8/85, by James Mills, president pro tem, California Senate) Hal Lindsey (of Late Great Planet Earth fame) recently said, "The Battle of America has begun! So be it!" Evangelist John Hagee told his congregation in San Antonio, Texas, "You can hear the Four Horsemen riding to Armageddon." New York minister David Wilkerson preached on September 16, "One network anchor declared, "Think of it, our two symbols of power and prosperity have been smitten in one hour.' Little did he know, he was quoting Revelations 18:10: "Alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.'"
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Dispensationalism Doomsday Dementia | Dispensational Futurism | Dispensationalism | Zionism | Christian Zionism "It is mortifying to remember that I not only held and taught these novelties myself, but that I even enjoyed a complacent sense of superiority because thereof" Philip Mauro GLOSSARY: Amillennialism | Apocalyptic | Christian Zionism | Dispensationalism | Eschatology | Hermeneutics | Historicism | Idealism | Millennial Reign of Christ | Preterism | New Covenant Theology | Postmillennialism | Premillennialism | Pre-Tribulational Rapture | Reconstructionism | "Seventy Weeks" | Theo-Politics | Parousia | Universalism
Louis Berkhof (1937)
Alan
Patrick Boyd (1977) Dr.
Robert G. Clouse (1999) Kenneth
Kanzer
(1987)
Philip Mauro
Gary DeMar
COMMENTS BY DISPENSATIONALISTS Charles Ryrie (1995) Dwight Wilson (1991) Abeka Books' "Bible Doctrines For Today" Louis S. Bauman (1950) "But, behold, we who now live are seeing the most significant event of all the agesIsrael revives-still spiritually dead, yet in his very deadness he stands upon his feet, awaiting the breath of God!" L. Nelson Bell
(Father-in-law of Billy Graham; First executive editor of
Christianity Today,
1948) W.E. Blackstone (1916) "How inspiring is the thought that, if 1915 or 1916 shall prove to be the first terminal date, then the nineteen years more to 1934 or 1935 may cover the end time with its whirl of events, including the reign of the "ten kings," the antichrist, the 7-year covenant, the complete destruction of Gentile government, the repentance, forgiveness, and new birth of Israel,a nation born at once, restored; and under Gods grace and favor to become the center of a world-wide theocracy." ("The Times of the Gentiles" The Weekly Evangel, May 13, 1916, pp. 6-9.) Harold Camping (1993) "You know, Im like the boy who cried wolf again and again and the wolf didnt come. This doesnt bother me in the slightest. The interesting things is that when we tried to search the scriptures for more information, another date came up. ("The man who prophecied the end of the world, SF Chronicle, March 12, 1995) John Cumming (1855) "I do not prophesy; I do not foretell the future; I only forth tell what God has said; but I do feel, that if 1864 be not the close of the age that now is, and the commencement of a better one, it will be a time unprecedented since the beginningportentous, startling, and terrible to the enemies of God; but glorious, holy and full of joyous scenes to the people of God." (p. 73) "I do not say our existing complications are the fulfillment; because one does not like to dogmatize; but is it not remarkable that here the prediction is that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, or Russia in all its divisions, and the descendants of Gomer, or the Germans, should coalesce, and form as one this great confederacy? Does it not look as if the fulfillment were taking place before our eyes? Is not Prussia practically allied to Russia?. . . I may ask, is it not at least, as the most skeptical before me will admit, a remarkable coincidence, that the prediction in Ezekiel, that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and all his bands, should be united together in one great confederacy, is at this moment a historical fact?" (The End, pp.264-265)
J.N. Darby
Jerry Falwell Arno C. Gaebelein (1949) Dan Gilbert
(1944) Billy Graham
(1984) D. P. Holloway
(1949) Dave Hunt (1990) Harry A. Ironside (1938)
"The tocsin of doom is sounding. The yellow peril becomes more and more ominous. The preparation of the day of the Lord goes on apace. Christian, lift up your head. Your redemption draweth nigh." (The Kings Business, January, 1938) "Has not this almost taken shape already? Now look at the northern part of the stage. Is there no significance in the apparent determination of Russia to dominate Germany? Take the Church of God out of the world tomorrow, and that confederation might spring into existence at once." ["Setting the Stage for the Last Act of the Great World Drama," Our Hope, LVI (1949-50), 22.] William T. James (1997) Grant Jeffrey (On The 'peace' of the 'Millennium') Salem Kirban (1977) "Based on these observations, it is my considered opinion, that the time clock is now at 11:59. When is that Midnight hour . . . the hour of the Rapture? I do not know!" (Countdown to Rapture (1977). p. 188) "if the coming of Jesus is as imminent as most of us think, it would seem reasonable to assume that the Anti-Christ is here.. It cannot be denied that a 'wild beast' has arisen up out of the sea of turbulent humanity and captured world attention and the admiration of revolutionaries. He is closer to the biblical pattern of the Antichrist than anyone who has appeared upon the world scene in the last decade. While we would not go so far as to call Kaddafi the Anti-Christ, he could well play some very important role in the windup of the ages." (Christ for the Nations, Oct. 1981) Peter and Paul Lalonde David Allen Lewis (1966)
"The Rapture will be a spiritual shock-quake producing almost unimaginable trauma in the terrified minds of those who are left on earth. The fear of the great unwashed massed will drive many to insanity, and many more to suicide" (Signs of his coming, 97, 43)
Hal Lindsey "I dont like cliches but Ive heard it said, God didnt send me to clean the fish bowl, he sent me to fish. In a way theres a truth to that" ("The Great Cosmic Countdown," Eternity, Jan. 1977, p. 21 ). "The decade of the 1980s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it." (The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon, p. 8 (emphasis is his); cf. pp. 12, 15.) "Jesus said "this generation shall not pass, till all these things come to pass." What generation ? The generation that would see all these signs. We are that generation! I believe you cannot miss it. Were that generation, and I believe were rapidly moving toward the coming of Christ." (Apocalypse Planet Earth videotape, 1990, HLM) "Obstacle or no obstacle, it is certain that the Temple will be rebuilt. Prophecy demands it." (The Late Great Planet Earth [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], p. 56). J.L. Martin (1877) (On Rev. 9:17-19) "John is pointing to the modern mode of fighting on horse-back, with the rider leaning forward, which, to his sight, and to the sight of one looking on at a distance, would appear as the great mane of the lion; the man leaning on his horses neck. He would, in fighting with firearms, have to lean forward to discharge his piece, lest he might shoot down his own horse that he was riding. In Johns day the posture was very different. . . . Now, I want to ask my friendly hearers if it is not as literally fulfilled before our eyes as anything can be? Are not all nations engaged in this mode of warfare? Do they not kill men with fire and smoke and brimstone? . . . Do you not know that this is just ignited gunpowder? . . . Could an uninspired man, in the last of the first century, have told of this matter? (Ibid., pp. 151f.) Christabel Pankhurst
(1923) Randall Price Ronald Reagan
"For the first time ever, everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. It can’t be too long now. Ezekiel says that fire and brimstone will be rained upon the enemies of God’s people. That must mean that they will be destroyed by nuclear weapons.”(Ronald Reagan - 1971, recounted in San Diego Magazine, 8/85, by James Mills, president pro tem, California Senate) Charles Ryrie ("face value" hermeneutic of Revelation 9:1-12 (the locusts from the abyss): Raymond Schafer (1977) Scofield Reference Bible (1909)
Lehman Strauss (1963)
Jack Van Impe "drought, war, malaria, and hunger afflicting entire populations throughout the [African] continent...By the year 2001, there will be global chaos." ("On the Edge of Eternity")
John F. Walvoord (1959) "Today we see precisely this setup: Russia about to move on the Middle East; Israel in its place, regathered; the wealth, the spoil of the nations there; the need for possessing the Middle East perfectly obvious to Russia; and the only thing deterring her the fear of our military might." (Moody Monthly, 1959) Edgar Wheisnant (1988) "Only if the bible is in error and I wrong, and I say that unequivocally. There is no way biblically that I can be wrong and I say that to every preacher in town." (88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988, p. 2) "I forgot about the extra year in zero A.D. Its going to be in September, 1989."
Our Hope (August 1916) The King's Business
(1922) The Prophetic News and Israel's Watch (1888) The Sunday School Times The Weekly Evangel "The Third Temple as outlined by Ezekiel will assuredly be rebuilt in our own generation." (Evangel, March 26, 1949, P. 10.) "With so much military activity in and around Palestine it seems that the nations are hastening on to their last great conflict at Armageddon." (March 9, 1940, p. 11.) "Nine countries of Eastern Europe are already united. The stage is setting for the great battle of Armageddon." ("God and the World Crisis," April, 1948) "Atomic war will start on, before, or at least by January 1953." (Evangel, May 21, 1949, p. 2.) United Evangelical Action
"As regards the significance of Christ and his Church in the world we are agreed: Nobody comes to the Father but through him. Nobody comes to the Father - it is different, however, for the one who needs no more to come to the Father because he is already with him." Christian Zionism | John Hagee's Other Gospel: Christian Zionism and Ethnic Salvation ‘End Times’ Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon - LA Times “In Christian theology, the first thing that happens when Christ returns to Earth is the judgment of nations,” said Hagee, who wears a Jewish prayer shawl when he ministers. “It will have one criterion: How did you treat the Jewish people? Anyone who understands that will want to be on the right side of that question. Those who are anti-Semitic will go to eternal damnation.”
J. Dwight Pentecost (1958) H.J. Schoeps
(1979) "As regards the significance of Christ and his Church in the world we are agreed: Nobody comes to the Father but through him. Nobody comes to the Father - it is different, however, for the one who needs no more to come to the Father because he is already with him." (Quoted by Jakob Jocz in The Jewish People and Jesus Christ p. 317)
John F Walvoord (1977)
What is Dispensationalism? By Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D. Introduction Since the mid-1800s, the system of theology known as dispensationalism has exerted great influence on how many Christians view the doctrines of ecclesiology and eschatology. In this article, we will survey the history of dispensationalism and look at the key beliefs associated with the system. History of Dispensationalism Theologians continue to argue over the historicity of dispensationalism. Those who are dispensationalists argue that the basic beliefs of dispensationalism were held by the apostles and the first generation church. Those who are not dispensationalists often argue that dispensationalism is a new theology that began in the 19th century. Whether the ideas associated with dispensationalism are found in the New Testament or not is heavily debated. What is clear, though, is that dispensationalism, as a system, began to take shape in the mid-1800s.
1. John Nelson Darby The beginning of systematized dispensationalism is usually linked with John Nelson Darby (1800—1882), a Plymouth Brethren minister. While at Trinity College in Dublin (1819), Darby came to believe in a future salvation and restoration of national Israel. Based on his study of Isaiah 32, Darby concluded that Israel, in a future dispensation, would enjoy earthly blessings that were different from the heavenly blessings experienced by the church. He thus saw a clear distinction between Israel and the church. Darby also came to believe in an “any moment” rapture of the church that was followed by Daniel’s Seventieth Week in which Israel would once again take center stage in God’s plan. After this period, Darby believed there would be a millennial kingdom in which God would fulfill His unconditional promises with Israel.1 According to Paul Enns, “Darby advanced the scheme of dispensationalism by noting that each dispensation places man under some condition; man has some responsibility before God. Darby also noted that each dispensation culminates in failure.” 2 Darby saw seven dispensations: (1) Paradisaical state to the Flood; (2) Noah; (3) Abraham; (4) Israel; (5) Gentiles; (6) The Spirit; and (7) The Millennium. By his own testimony, Darby says his dispensational theology was fully formed by 1833.
2. The Brethren Movement Dispensationalism first took shape in the Brethren Movement in early nineteenth century Britain. Those within the Brethren Movement rejected a special role for ordained clergy and stressed the spiritual giftedness of ordinary believers and their freedom, under the Spirit’s guidance, to teach and admonish each other from Scripture. The writings of the Brethren had a broad impact on evangelical Protestantism and influenced ministers in the United States such as D. L. Moody, James Brookes, J. R. Graves, A. J. Gordon, and C. I. Scofield.3
3. The Bible Conference Movement Beginning in the 1870s, various Bible conferences began to spring up in various parts of the United States. These conferences helped spread Dispensationalism. The Niagara conferences (1870—early 1900s) were not started to promote dispensationalism but dispensational ideas were often promoted at these conferences. The American Bible and Prophetic Conferences from 1878—1914 promoted a dispensational theology.
4. The Bible Institute Movement In the late 1800s, several Bible institutes were founded that taught dispensational theology including The Nyack Bible Institute (1882), The Boston Missionary Training School (1889), and The Moody Bible Institute (1889).
5. The Scofield Reference Bible C. I. Scofield, a participant in the Niagara conferences, formed a board of Bible conference teachers in 1909 and produced what came to be known as, the Scofield Reference Bible. This work became famous in the United States with its theological annotations right next to the Scripture. This reference Bible became the greatest influence in the spread of dispensationalism.
6. Dallas Theological Seminary After World War I, many dispensational Bible schools were formed. Led by Dallas Theological Seminary (1924), dispensationalism began to be promoted in formal, academic settings. Under Scofield, dispensationalism entered a scholastic period that was later carried on by his successor, Lewis Sperry Chafer. Further promotion of dispensationalism took place with the writing of Chafer’s eight-volume Systematic Theology. Foundational Features of Dispensationalism 4 1. Hermeneutical approach that stresses a literal fulfillment of Old Testament promises to Israel Though the issue of “literal interpretation” is heavily debated today, many dispensationalists claim that consistent literal interpretation applied to all areas of the Bible, including Old Testament promises to Israel, is a distinguishing mark of dispensationalism. Dispensationalists usually argue that the progress of revelation, including New Testament revelation, does not cancel Old Testament promises made with national Israel. Although there is internal debate concerning how much the church is related to the Old Testament covenants and promises, dispensationalists believe national Israel will see the literal fulfillment of the promises made with her in the Old Testament.
2. Belief that the unconditional, eternal covenants made with national Israel (Abrahamic, Davidic, and New) must be fulfilled literally with national Israel Although the church may participate in or partially fulfill the biblical covenants, they do not take over the covenants to the exclusion of national Israel. Physical and spiritual promises to Israel must be fulfilled with Israel.
3. Distinct future for national Israel “Only Dispensationalism clearly sees a distinctive future for ethnic Israel as a nation.”5 This future includes a restoration of the nation with a distinct identity and function.
4. The church is distinct from Israel The church does not replace or continue Israel, and is never referred to as Israel. According to dispensationalists, the church did not exist in the Old Testament and did not begin until the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Old Testament promises to Israel, then, cannot be entirely fulfilled with the church. Evidences often used by dispensationalists to show that the church is distinct from Israel include: (a) Jesus viewed the church as future in Matthew 16:18; (b) an essential element of the church—Spirit baptism—did not begin until the Day of Pentecost (compare 1 Cor. 12:13 with Acts 2); (c) Christ became Head of the church as a result of His resurrection (compare Eph. 4:15; Col. 1:18 with Eph. 1:19-23); (d) the spiritual gifts associated with the church (cf. Eph. 4:7-12; 1 Cor. 12:11-13) were not given until the ascension of Christ; (e) the “new man” nature of the church (cf. Eph. 2:15) shows that the church is a NT organism and not something incorporated into Israel; (f) the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ and the New Testament apostles and prophets (cf. Eph. 2:20); (g) the author, Luke, keeps Israel and the church distinct. On this last point, Fruchtenbaum states, “In the book of Acts, both Israel and the church exist simultaneously. The term Israel is used twenty times and ekklesia (church) nineteen times, yet the two groups are always kept distinct.”6
5. Multiple senses of “seed of Abraham” According to Feinberg, the designation “seed of Abraham” is used in different ways in Scripture. First it is used in reference to ethnic, biological Jews (cf. Romans 9—11). Second, it is used in a political sense. Third, it is used in a spiritual sense to refer to people, whether Jew or Gentile, who are spiritually related to God by faith (cf. Romans 4:11-12; Galatians 3:7). Feinberg argues that the spiritual sense of the title does not take over the physical sense to such an extent that the physical seed of Abraham is no longer related to the biblical covenants.
6. Philosophy of history that emphasizes both the spiritual and physical aspects of God’s covenants According to John Feinberg, “nondispensational treatments of the nature of the covenants and of Israel’s future invariably emphasize soteriological and spiritual issues, whereas dispensational treatments emphasize both the spiritual/soteriological and the social, economic, and political aspects of things.” 7
Other significant, although not necessarily exclusive features of dispensationalism, include: (1) the authority of Scripture; (2) belief in dispensations; (3) emphasis on Bible prophecy; (4) futuristic premillennialism; (5) pretribulationism; and (6) a view of imminency that sees Christ’s return as an “any-moment” possibility. Variations Within Dispensationalism The above features characterize the beliefs of those within the dispensational tradition. However, as Blaising writes, “Dispensationalism has not been a static tradition.” 8 There is no standard creed that freezes its theological development at any given point in history. Blaising offers three forms of dispensational thought:
1. Classical Dispensationalism (ca. 1850—1940s) Classical dispensationalism refers to the views of British and American dispensationalists between the writings of Darby and Chafer’s eight-volume Systematic Theology. The interpretive notes of the Scofield Reference Bible are often seen as the key representation of the classical dispensational tradition.9
One important feature of classical dispensationalism was its dualistic idea of redemption. In this tradition, God is seen as pursuing two different purposes. One is related to heaven and the other to the earth. The “heavenly humanity was to be made up of all the redeemed from all dispensations who would be resurrected from the dead. Whereas the earthly humanity concerned people who had not died but who were preserved by God from death, the heavenly humanity was made up of all the saved who had died, whom God would resurrect from the dead.” 10
Blaising notes that the heavenly, spiritual, and individualistic nature of the church in classical dispensationalism underscored the well-known view that the church is a parenthesis in the history of redemption.11 In this tradition, there was little emphasis on social or political activity for the church.
Key theologians : John Nelson Darby, C. I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer
2. Revised or Modified Dispensationalism (ca.1950—1985) Revised dispensationalists abandoned the eternal dualism of heavenly and earthly peoples. The emphasis in this strand of the dispensational tradition was on two peoples of God—Israel and the church. These two groups are structured differently with different dispensational roles and responsibilities, but the salvation they each receive is the same. The distinction between Israel and the church, as different anthropological groups, will continue throughout eternity. Key theologians : John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, Charles Feinberg, Alva J. McClain.
3. Progressive Dispensationalism (1986—present) What does “progressive” mean? The title “progressive dispensationalism” refers to the “progressive” relationship of the successive dispensations to one another.12 Charles Ryrie notes that, “The adjective ‘progressive’ refers to a central tenet that the Abrahamic, Davidic, and new covenants are being progressively fulfilled today (as well as having fulfillments in the millennial kingdom).” 13 “One of the striking differences between progressive and earlier dispensationalists, is that progressives do not view the church as an anthropological category in the same class as terms like Israel, Gentile Nations, Jews, and Gentile people. The church is neither a separate race of humanity (in contrast to Jews and Gentiles) nor a competing nation alongside Israel and Gentile nations. . . . The church is precisely redeemed humanity itself (both Jews and Gentiles) as it exists in this dispensation prior to the coming of Christ.”14
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