Transhumanism: Ready Or Not

Protecting Against False Teachers

When Your Church Awakens To Wokeness

A Golden Age Of Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction

The State Of The United Methodist Church & The Global Methodist Church

The Signs Of Apostasy

Youth Ministry In An Age Of Unbelief

Introducing The Reformation

The Career Of Martin Luther

Christianity and Liberalism

The Study Of The History Of The End Of The World, Part 6

Dispensationalist premillennialism and apocalypticism held to the Biblical warning that the days are waxing worse and worse. However, in terms of the opportunity to spread such a message and the pervasiveness of its influence, there was no better time for the field of prophetic studies than the second half of the twentieth century. Increased interest in eschatology in the waning decades of the twentieth century owed much to a confluence of advances in the means of communication as well as concerns regarding trends in world affairs.

The Evangelical prophecy studies industry consisted of a number of layers rather than a single interpretative monolith. At its most rarefied, dispensationalism --- akin to Gaul --- could be divided into three parts. Darrell Brock of Dallas Theological Seminary describes these as Scofieldian dispensationalism, revised dispensationalism, and progreesive dispensationalism (Kyle, 117). Scofieldian dispensationalists maintained sharp distinctions between God and the Church with God having an unique set of promises for each. Revised dispensationalists did not distinguish between Israel and the Church to the same degree, viewing overlap in regards to the covenantal promises made to each. Progressive dispensationalists, according to Kyle, avoided the prophetic speculation characteristic of the classic forms of dispensationalism. More academic in its approach to the study of the apocalypse than the classic forms of dispensationalism, progressive dispensationalism for the most part did not filter down to the popular level to the same degree.

From this division,the dispensationalist eschatological community was further divided between what could be considered the academics and the popularizers. The most respected academics in this theological specialty often traced their roots in one way or another back to Dallas Theological Seminary. In fact, Kyle goes so far as to call the institution “the sperm bank for dispensational thought in America (118).” Typifying this tradition would be that seminary's own John F. Walvoord whose best known work would probably be Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis. In it, Walvoord took a firm position that the Rapture and the ensuing End Time events were at hand but with scholarly caution that avoided setting any firm dates.

It is among the popularizers that the discerning begin to notice a more questionable track record. However, a number hoping to maintain respect, position, and credibility mirrored the evenhandedness of the Dallas Theological Seminary academics. For example, in Approaching Hoof Beats, Billy Graham explicitly warned of what he believed to be nuclear holocausts and plagues described symbolically in Scripture, but he was careful not to set a date. Pat Robertson, who at one time was not afraid to articulate outlandish prophetic utterances of dubious credibility over the years such as praying away hurricanes from the Virginia Beach area in order to spare his extensive ministry properties, toned his speculations down somewhat when he started entertaining political aspirations such as his 1988 presidential campaign and establishing organizations such as the Christian Coalition, the American Center for Law and Justice, and Regent University for the purposes of renewing the culture rather than hastening the end of the world.

One of the most prominent of the eschatology popularizers was Hal Lindsey. Initially as a result of his book The Late Great Planet Earth, this Dallas Theological Seminary graduate was able to present the dispensationalist perspective before evidentially non-Evangelical venues such as Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon. Lindsey remained true enough to his Dallas Theological Seminary training to stay just on the right side of the boundary of theological respectability even though he has played it quite close to the edge at times. For example, as a result of the speculative chronologies utilized by Lindsey in his publication Planet Earth 2000 AD, Lindsey had to clarify almost to the point of backpedaling what could have been construed as an insinuation that the Rapture was going to occur sometime around 1988. Lindsey qualified his position by pointing out the qualifiers stated in his text and that the cosmic countdown might not have commenced with the establishment of Israel in 1948 but rather with the taking of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War along with modifying a Biblical generation from forty to one hundred years. In so doing, Lindsey no doubt hoped to push the pending scrutiny to a time when he himself would not care so much about being proven wrong.

The further one got from respectable academia and ministries that valued credible reputation over short term book and video sales, the more likely one was to stumble upon conspicuous date setters. For example, Edgar Whisenant could not have been more explicit in the date he set in the book titled 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Could Be In 1988 (Abanes, 93). Charles Taylor has promoted so many dates for the beginning of the end that he could make a Jehovah's Witness shake their head in astonishment.

Despite differences in time and temperament, most within the contemporary Evangelical prophecy community share a number of similar assumptions. First, the world as we know it is tottering on the brink of destructive cataclysm. Once believers are taken from the world in the Rapture, little will prevent a series of horrors from transpiring in quick succession. Interpreters are divided as to whether these will be triggered initially by some sort of nuclear attack through which God brings about His sanctioned prophetic unfolding through the actions of man or by more direct supernatural manifestions. Second, most dispensationalists are in agreement that the fuse to ignite the conflagration of End Time events is the reestablishment of the Jewish state of Israel in the Middle East. A number of eschatologists believe that this geopolitical contention will eventually result in Word War III with Russia invading from the north as believed foretold in Ezekiel and China invading from the east as described in the Book of Revelation with an army possibly numbering at one million.

Along with this theme of global war traced to tensions over Israel will be other actors on the world stage agitating against Israel once the Church is taken up to Heaven. Leading this conspiracy will be none other than the Antichrist. Though his nature and intentions are described in detail throughout the text of Scripture, the path that he will take to achieve power and his exact identity are not things the Holy Spirit deemed appropriate for believers to know prior to the exact time of the End.

Yet a number of well-intentioned but misguided eschatologists could not resist playing what amounted to pin the tail on the Antichrist in terms of enthusiastically making guesses as to the exact identity of the world's system final tyrant. For example, given his Jewish background and position as a preeminent diplomat, Henry Kissinger was often a popular choice. Because of a birthmark that resembled a head wound bringing to mind one particular prophecy and the role he played for seeming to lessen the threat played by Russia, some speculated that the Beast might be Mikhail Gorbachev. Others even wondered if John F. Kennedy would rise from the dead after three days following his assassination that shocked the world in the early 1960's.

Despite the intense ongoing debate as to the identity of this looming prince of darkness among those that believe, there is much more agreement as to the nature of his agenda. Foremost, the Antichrist will be the focal point of worship of a system that will for a short time seemingly control and mesmerize the entire world. From Revelation 13, it is declared that this will be accomplished by merging the religious, economic, and political spheres of existence. Those unwilling to pledge a degree of loyalty crossing the boundary of patriotism into the territory of devoted worship will be denied the Mark of the Beast believed to be some form of electronic currency and identification, ultimately resulting in the execution of dissidents unwilling to comply.

Isaiah 55:11 assures that the Word of God does not come back void. Though not as many accept the truth of the Biblical message as sincere believers would like in terms of prophecy, there are a significant number today aware the world is racing ever closer to the conclusion of all things. It is hoped that this awareness would inspire the individual to seek the free gift of salvation found nowhere but in Christ and His completed work. Unfortunately, given the extent to which sin has permeated the human heart and mind, there also exists a disturbing number of individuals that distort this knowledge of the End Times in order to trap the unsuspecting in tighter and tighter forms of spiritual bondage.

By Frederick Meekins

Bibibliography

Abanes, Richard. End-Times Visions: The Doomsday Obsession. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1988.

Kirsch, Jonathan. A History Of The End Of The World: How The Most Controversial Book In The Bible Changed The Course Of Western Civilization. San Francisco, California: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven and Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage Since 1789 (Fourth Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991.

Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History Of The End Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1988. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996.

Ladd, George. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of The Second Advent and The Rapture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1956. Thompson, Damian. The End Of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium.

The Study Of The History Of The End Of The World, Part 6

The Great Disappointment served as a warning that an interpretative eschatological system needed to be formulated that incorporated what many believed to be the portion of divine revelation yet to be fulfilled while protecting those holding to these truths from falling into the hysteria and panic that can easily grip the minds of those realizing that the present age is soon coming to an end when considered in the light of eternity's time table. Such balance, for the most part, was to be found in classical dispensationalism.

Classic dispensationalism holds that God deals with His people and the world in specific ways at particular points in history. The way in which He dealt with Israel during the Age of Law was not the way He deals with the Church during the Age of Grace. As such, promises distinctively made with Israel do not necessarily apply to the Church.

In terms of the End Times, dispensationalism contends that these will begin to conclude when Christ removes those that believe --- both the living and the dead --- bodily to Heaven. Following this act or shortly thereafter, the Tribulation period will commence in which a number of judgments as described in prophetic portions of Scripture such as the Book of Revelation begin to take place and the forces of evil gain the upper hand more so than previously as the Holy Spirit will no longer be as engaged in the ministry of restraint. This will culminate with the Antichrist ruling openly from the Temple in Jerusalem. This horror will not be resolved until Christ returns in triumph at the Battle of Armageddon to usher in the millennial kingdom.

Though echoing a number of the same themes, dispensationalism possessed a number of differences from the premillennialism that resulted in the Great Disappointment. The Millerites professed an historicist premillennialism whereas the Darbyites advocated a futurist premillennialism. In historicist premillennialism, the eschatological interpreter equates certain events already having transpired in church history with particular symbols depicted in prophetic Biblical passages.

Doing so, Kyle points out, “...locks the interpreter into millennial arithmetic and makes date setting an irresistible temptation (193).” Futurist premillennialism is much more fluid and adaptable to events as they unfold. For the only event that this system of prophetic interpretation insists with absolute certainty must take place next is the Rapture. Any other ordering would destroy this interpretative chronology entirely.

Though not as wedded to particular prophetic scenarios to the same degree as historical premillennialism, that has not prevented dispensationalists from speculating until their hearts are content as to how they think God will wrap up history as we know it. If anything, such analytical prognostication has become a very lucrative theological cottage industry over the course of the past century. Dispensationalism in one form or another became the most pervasive prophetic outlook throughout what would become conservative Evangelicalism. This was the result of a number of impressively insightful Bible scholars and shrewd ecclesiastical administrators that utilized the emerging technologies at their disposal to convince the Christian public just how prescient this prophetic school of thought was in understanding unfolding events.

Dispensationalism came to America with the itinerant ministry of John Nelson Darby where he not only won a significant number of minds among Baptists but also interestingly Presbyterians (Kyle, 104). The cause of early dispensationalism was also helped by Scotland Yard investigator Sir Robert Andrew in the book The Coming Prince. However, dispensationalism probably received its greatest boost from the ministry of Dwight L. Moody.

Though Moody is remembered as a preeminent revivalist in general, he could also be as commemorated for the role he played in spreading pretribulational, premillennialism in particular. Foremostly, this was accomplished through the establishment of Bible institutes such as the eponymous Moody Bible Institute and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) which taught this interpretative framework to aspiring pastors and Bible teachers. Yet another phenomena reinforcing these teachings were prophecy conferences held between 1875 and 1900 where those drawn to the futurist premillennial perspective could come together and forge relationships and alliances for the struggle that loomed on the horizon.

Another tool that contributed to the dissemination of the dispensational perspective was The Scofield Reference Bible. Converted while in prison serving a sentence for forgery, Cyrus Scofield went on to live a commendable Christian life as a Congregational pastor, author, Bible institute instructor under Moody's auspices, and prophecy conference speaker. His magnum opus was none other than the reference Bible that bore his name. For better or worse, Scofield placed his notes on the same page as the Biblical text. Whether intentional or not, this created in the minds of unsuspecting readers the impression that the interpretation of the text was nearly as inspired as the text the notes were reflecting upon.

Often nothing can cement a relationship like the threat posed by a common enemy. To believers living in the twenty-first century, it might come as a surprise that initially many Evangelicals did not necessarily hold to the idea of the Rapture as held by dispensationalist theologians. However, despite any misgivings about the Dispensationalists, like the Evangelicals they at least held to essential Christian doctrine. That was more than could be said of the religious liberalism or Modernism which seemed to be on the rise with its embrace of Darwinism, the social gospel, and skepticism of the traditional understanding of doctrines such as the divinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, and inerrancy of Scripture. As the believing remnant galvanized around a series of tractates called The Fundamentals, the Evangelicals decided to give the Dispensationalists a fair hearing, and in a number of instances, adopted the prophetic framework as their own.

Pivotal to Darbyite dispensationalism was the idea that the Jewish people would return to Israel and that a European empire corresponding to a revived Roman would dominate world affairs in the final days. To those living here in the early twenty-first century, news of Israel regularly tops global headlines. However, such was not so much the case when eschatologists of the late 1800's began making speculative assertions regarding such.

Christians began to take notice when world events started to align broadly with the claims of this prophetic school of thought. To many, the bloodshed and destruction of the Great War (known more commonly now as World War I) no doubt seemed like the Battle of Armageddon. The Balfour Declaration was tacit recognition on the part of the elites that oversee international affairs that the Jews would ndeed return to inhabit the land of their ancestors. Russia falling to the evils of Communism with its belligerent intent to foment revolution around the world, to those steeped in Scripture, brought to mind the kingdom of the north and its fearsome ruler predicted in the Book of Ezekiel. The League of Nations no doubt echoed in the minds embracing this interpretative methodology the world government which would emanate outward from the Antichrist's European power base to eventually incorporate the entire planet for at least a short wile.

Yet unlike the Millerites before it, the dispensationalist system was flexible enough that it could readjust itself when certain predictions did not necessarily unfold as foretold. If one looked closely enough at the rhetorical fine print, one would no doubt occasionally spot qualifiers such as “this could be” or “things look like”. For example, if it looked like despite the hardships of the Great War that the world was not necessarily coming to an end, low and behold, who was that little big mouth in Italy or the even more obnoxious one with the silly mustache in Germany? Could one of those be the Antichrist that Scripture warned about? And when that did not pan out, observant analysts could reflect upon transpiring events and conclude that the ones thought to be the particular time of troubles described in Holy Writ were rather instead the times leading up to those times by laying the foundations for such sorrows.

By Frederick Meekins

Bibibliography

Abanes, Richard. End-Times Visions: The Doomsday Obsession. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1988.

Kirsch, Jonathan. A History Of The End Of The World: How The Most Controversial Book In The Bible Changed The Course Of Western Civilization. San Francisco, California: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven and Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage Since 1789 (Fourth Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991.

Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History Of The End Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1988. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996.

Ladd, George. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of The Second Advent and The Rapture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1956.

Thompson, Damian. The End Of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium.

The Study Of The History Of The End Of The World, Part 5

 Today, most theologians specializing in eschatology will readily agree that America is likely not directly referenced in the portions of Scripture dealing with the End Times. Interestingly, that belief was not necessarily the case in regards to the eschatologically inclined during the era of early European settlement and formation of America as a nation. Nor has fascination with the consummation of all things gripped as pervasively the imagination of a people as those of the United States of America.

Without a doubt, the Puritans in particular left an indelible mark upon the American psyche and character. And that particular brand of Christianity certainly possessed a number of millenarian proclivities. However, it is interesting to observe that this spiritual way of life was not as unified in its approach to the End Times as one might expect for a system that emphasized conformity to accepted norms in much of its thought. Most Puritans tended towards some form of postmillennialism. For example, Jonathan Edwards taught that the Millennium would transpire before the Second Coming as the Holy Spirit worked through the redeemed to defeat the Antichrist in the form of the papacy as this remnant subdued all of the Earth in the name of Christ. The Mathers --- Cotton and Increase --- on the other hand were more dispensationalist in their thinking, teaching that believers would be snatched up with that event followed by the disasters foretold in prophetic passages such as the Book of Revelation to be completed when Christ returned to establish the millennial kingdom.

Regardless of where individual Puritans stood along the pre or post millennial divide, those endeavoring to view all of life through a particular interpretative lens without a doubt perceived the events of the day in terms of prophetic fulfillment. For example, at the time of the French and Indian Wars, Catholic France was often cast in the role of the Antichrist. When that scenario did not quite unfold as expected, postmillennialists came to believe that the Revolutionary War would be the conflict through which the faithful would usher in the Millennium, with this time around King George III depicted as the Antichrist (Kyle, 81).

Even if the American Revolution and the founding of the Republic did not result in an anticipated utopia, these events in one sense did result in a degree of religious liberty hitherto until then unheard of in history. As such, a number of sects flourishing in such an environment professed eschatologies that could only be described as unconventional. One such group was called the Society for the Public Universal Friend.

In 1770, Quaker Jemina Wilkinson was believed to have died from the plague, with her body even having grown cold. However, she seemed to have miraculously revived. Eerily, the voice that emanated from her claimed that the body was no longer inhabited by Jemina but rather by the Spirit of Life also referred to as the Public Universal Friend (Kyle, 82). This individual professed to be the Second Coming of Christ who would rule for a thousand years. For the record, the body known as Jemina Wilkinson expired in 1819, far short of the end of that being's prophesied reign.

The Shakers were yet another unusual millennial sect to dot the religious landscape of the early American republic. Formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming, the Shakers traced their origins to the Shaking Quakers. Ann Lee Stanley led the group to America in 1774 where they established a communalist settlement. The group came to regard Mother Ann as the incarnation of the feminine attributes of God in the form of the Holy Spirit. In terms of the sect's eschatology, the Second Coming took place in the form of God manifesting the feminine through Ann Stanley. As such, since salvation could only be obtained by abstaining from sex, Shakers were to await the commencement of the Millenniuum in a state of celibacy. Given that Shakers did not reproduce and that it is difficult to hoodwink considerable numbers into embracing perpetual celibacy, the movement eventually petered out.

The millenarian figure that probably had the most profound influence upon American apocalyptic thought was William Miller. Miller was a farmer and Baptist layman from New York with a penchant for what might be categorized as Biblical numerology. Working from Daniel 8:14 that the sanctuary would be cleansed in two-thousand, three hundred days and assuming that this cleansing was a reference to Christ's return to Earth and that one prophetic day equaled a year, Miller calculated using Bishop Usher's chronology that Christ would return in 1843.

Interestingly, initially Miller did little to promote public interest in his speculations. It was not until urging by his friends that Miller took to the preaching circuit. Miller's message made the leap from being a rural movement to a national phenomena when his teachings were publicized through newspapers, pamphlets, and extensive evangelistic outreach which at the time included tents capable of seating up to 4000 souls (Kyle, 89). As the time grew closer, under pressure Miller relaxed his natural hesitancy and advocated a more specific date between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When that time frame passed and the world continued on as it always had, the movement attempted to save face by setting the date of the Lord's return as October 22, 1844.

Religious frenzy (one might even categorize it as a panic) gripped the nation. As a result of the ensuing media blitz, many of the fervent sold their homes and quit their jobs for a predicted apocalypse that never materialized. This profound letdown known as the Great Disappointment reverberated across the American religious landscape. Foremost, the Great Disappointment would serve as a lasting reminder as to the dangers of setting firm dates regarding the Second Coming in the minds of the most discerning Christians. It would also serve as the origin of two distinct theological traditions that would grapple with the ramifications of the Great Disappointment each in its own way.

The first group that came to grips with the Great Disappointment over time became what would be known as the Seventh Day Adventists. The Adventists, for the most part, spiritualized their eschatology in order to avoid additional theological upheaval and existential hardship. On October 22, 1844, Christ did not physically return to Earth to clean it as the sanctuary. Instead, Adventists believed, the Lord entered the holiest parts of Heaven to begin investigating the sins of His people in preparation for His imminent return (Abanes, 227). Seventh Day Sabbitarianism became attached to the Adventist movement when Ellen G. White speculated that Christ did not return in 1844 because believers had neglected a literalist application of that particular Old Testament law and He would not do so until God's people once again observed Saturday as the day of rest.

The second prominent sect to come out of the Millerite Great Disappointment was the Jehovah Witnesses. Whereas the majority of Adventists learned from past mistakes and grew more tentative in regards to setting nailed down dates, the Jehovah's Witnesses continued on in this practice with gusto along with the other assorted doctrinal errors for which this sect would become infamous. Charles Taze Russell hoped to preserve Millerite eschatology by postulating that the error was actually to be found in the chronology formulated by Archbishop Usher. As such, it was predicted that Christ would instead return in 1874. When this prophecy did not transpire, it was insisted that Christ had indeed returned to Earth, but that He would remain invisible until the Battle of Armageddon.

Russell continued to tinker with the dates. He then came to the conclusion that all would be revealed by 1881; and, when that did not pan out, it was claimed that 1914 would be the year to end all years. That did turn a few heads as at that time the world was indeed gripped in the overwhelming conflagration then known as the Great War. Yet Russell proved wrong once again and tried to save face by insisting that 1918 would be the year of cosmic significance. However, Russell died in 1916 before getting to realize he would once again be profoundly mistaken.

His successor Joseph Franklin Rutherford, though admitting the mistakes made, did not learn from these by changing course. Instead Rutherford continued on with the pattern, insisting that 1925 would assuredly be the year in which all things would be consummated. The results were once again no different after many Witnesses quit their jobs and sold their homes. It would take for additional embarrassments in 1975 and 1984 for acolytes of the Watchtower to to realize that it might be best simply to hold that Jesus was coming soon without exactly advertising a highly specific estimated time of arrival.

Given that America was in part founded by a people of profound religious motivations, it is expected that fascination with the End Times would play an important role in the psyche of those believing that they were a part of a special destiny or divinely-appointed plan. By studying those motivated in such a manner, discerning Americans can be on guard to protect against such an impulse from getting out of hand.

By Frederick Meekins

Bibibliography

Abanes, Richard. End-Times Visions: The Doomsday Obsession. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1988.

Kirsch, Jonathan. A History Of The End Of The World: How The Most Controversial Book In The Bible Changed The Course Of Western Civilization. San Francisco, California: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven and Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage Since 1789 (Fourth Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991.

Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History Of The End Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1988. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996.

Ladd, George. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of The Second Advent and The Rapture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1956.

Thompson, Damian. The End Of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium.