When And Where Does Christ Reign?

Bryan at the ἀκολουθέω Χριστόν [I Follow Christ] blog has asked this question and posted a great article on what the Bible actually teaches concering the "millennial reign of Christ." Are we waiting on Jesus to return to Earth before He can take the throne? Or does He already rule and reign? These are important questions and I think Bryan has given a solid exegetical response.

(I would also like to note that , personally, I fit in the "modern" Postmillennial camp that he's speaking of in the article.)

Preterist Detractor May Have to Rewrite Book

I have made it no secret that I'm a Partial-Preterist (and a Postmillennialist) along the eschatological lines of R.C. Sproul, Gary DeMar, and Kenneth Gentry. A quick survey of the eschatological views of American Evangelicalism would, no doubt, confirm that my position is most certainly a minority view. As such, I understand that my view is controversial and there are many good Christians who will critique my it and believe it to be aberrant -or even heretical.

Yesterday morning I was perusing a website of a certain author who has written a number of helpful books and tracts concerning the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement other cultic/abberant movements in the United States. Unfortunately, this author has also placed Partial-Preterism within his crosshairs and attacks it in several articles online.

Do you know what's ironic?

Like most Futurist scholars, this gentleman has authored an eschatological book that may be a bit embarrassing for him now. You see, the author in question once speculated that Saddam Hussein was the "little horn" of Daniel 11!

Instead of using Scripture to interpret Scripture, the author used the goings on of our modern world to be his lens for interpreting passages of Scripture written (and most likely fulfilled) thousands of years ago. As always, speculative books such as this end up worthless after time rolls by and proves them to be the rubish that they really are. There's no doubt the bottom dropped out of any market there may have been for this book when Saddam was executed on Dec. 30, 2006!

These wild futurist speculations might sell lots of books when a certain world leader can be made to fit some weird eschatological profile, but inevitably, as we have seen time and time again, these speculations will be proven wrong. What we end up with is a Christian author who is essentially tale-bearing and tarnishing the image of someone who has absolutely nothing to do with prophecies that have already been fulfilled. (I can think of numerous times I have watched Hal Lindsey, on TV, hint that various world leaders might be the Antichrist.)

The author also wants to speculate that the fulfillment of the "Abomination of Desolation" (that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24) as being a future Islamic takeover and destruction of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Now honestly folks, could anyone in Christ's audience have possibly conceived of such a thing as he foretold those events? I doubt it.

Think about it for a second; what could have been a greater abomination to the Jews of Jesus' generation than for the Roman army to sack Jerusalem and totally destroy their beloved Temple? Certainly, an Islamic takeover and destruction of the modern Wailing Wall would cause a real ruckus, but I simply cannot see how it would be more of an "abomination" than what Titus and his legions did in 70 A.D.

It has become clear to me that Futurist authors will always end up embarrassing themselves as long as they (continue to be Futurists and) ignore the time indicators given by Christ in the Olivet Discourse and in the book of Revelation.

In Matthew 24:34 Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Was this some distant generation 2000+ years in the future? No! Did anyone in Christ's audience understand him to mean that the events would be thousand of years in the future? Again I say NO! (Furthermore, had you or I been in the crowd that day, we wouldn't have taken His words to mean that either!)

In the opening of the book of Revelation, John calls his book "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place." Thrice in the last chapter of Revelation, the Lord tells John he is "coming soon" (see Rev 22:7, 12, 20). I don't know about you, but when someone tells me something is "coming soon," I don't interpret it to mean 2000+ years in the future!

Did Jesus return "soon" as He told John? Yes, of course. He came in judgment upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Was this judgment coming the Second Advent? No it wasn't. That event is still future and will happen at a time only known to God. We have no business trying to determine when that will be...

Until then, let us refrain from wild-eyed eschatological libel against world leaders and be content to advance the Kingdom of God throughout the Earth!

A Rare Breed Indeed

What's more difficult to find than:

... an honest politician?
... Ergun Caner at a debate with James R. White?
... leftover fried chicken at a Baptist fellowship dinner?
... exegesis in Frank Page's book Trouble with the TULIP?
... an Arminian at the Ligonier National Conference?

Give up yet?


Here's the answer:

A Postmillennialist in the Southern Baptist Convention!


Believe it or not, there are at least a couple of these critters in existence.

One is my fellow Mafia don Gordan Runyan, the other is yours truly: Rhett Kelley. Though both Postmill, Gordan and I do have some minor differences when it comes to the interpretation of Revelation. Gordan holds to an Historicist interpretation and I hold to a Partial-Preterist view of the book. Though we differ on this, we pretty much agree on most other things regarding Postmillennial eschatology.

For those who have never been properly introduced to the Postmillennial view, I would like to encourage you to read this article by Jay Rogers. I think it's a good introduction to Postmillennialism in general and the Partial-Preterest view in particular.

I have recently come across some evidence that the SBC used to actually have some Postmillennial scholars within it's ranks long ago, however, like Reformed Soteriology and church discipline, this eschatological distinctive appears to have been largely lost also...

Post Tenebras, Lux!

Guest Article

How Dr. Dobson [And YOU] Can Take a Risk for True Greatness

by Dr. Richard A. Jones
(from American Vision)

I knew that a January 15, 2008 Focus on the Family (FOTF) radio program would be challenging as I listened to Dr. James Dobson and Rev. John MacArthur join forces. Their topic was the obvious fact of national moral decay with the culmination of the two-day series being the role played by the public schools in contributing to the decay. The failed schools defy common sense so I listened to see if their stress would be on what parents need to do about what public schools are doing to their children, or whether a sense of perplexed anguish would be the theme. Sadly, it was mainly, “How did they ever get this bad?”

MacArthur and Dobson did their best, but ultimately their joint anxiety had to have confused listening parents more than supplying inspiring guidance. The point FOTF was trying to make began, as it should have, with the diagnosis that ours is a nation beset by sin. MacArthur even went so far as to say that God has already abandoned us. At the end of day two, FOTF set about confirming his conclusion with a school story dramatizing that deteriorating public schools prove how much we really do deserve His abandonment.

I respect and agree with Rev. MacArthur about our society’s moral decline, nevertheless his remarks contained a half-sad, half-amusing inconsistency leading up to the school story I’ll present in a minute. Using Psalm 81:11–16, a great passage, he said we’ve reached a point where only prayers for revival can possibly help the U.S. which made me wonder, which is it to be, abandonment or revival? But even if revival is possible, will God’s response mean an extended season of righteousness and moral sanity, or can we, at best, hope only for a brief reprieve prior to the end-times chaos that MacArthur’s doubtful eschatology predicts? To me, his call for revival sounds more nearly like a dutiful cliché than something truly attainable. After all, he’s already told us that trying to “[reclaim] the culture is a pointless, futile exercise.” I’m convinced, he writes, that “we live in a post-Christian society—a civilization that exists under God’s judgment.” Perhaps he even believes that the sick public schools are proof positive of that judgment. I hope, however, that his pessimistic assessment will be resisted by AV readers. Instead, far-sighted parents must meet the school dilemma head on and put it to rest via the biblical obedience solution you’ll find at the end of this article.

As a climax for the two-day FOTF presentation, a recording was presented obtained during a student assembly at a Boulder, Colorado, high school last April 2007. The purpose in airing it was presumably to give more evidence of abandonment by God. The tape featured a visiting group from the morally sordid “Conference on World Affairs” organization. On tape their several representatives were pushing concepts so repugnant that FOTF asked the home radio audience to remove their little ones before listening. On it, 9th thru 12th graders asked the panel about sex, drugs, and alcohol; questions which were answered with a strong encouragement to “do it.” (“Responsibly,” of course, the COWA added.) Included were plenty of endorsements for homosexual sex as well.

Following the tape, Dr. Dobson’s program-closing response came as a shock given what he already knows about the anti-moral, anti-education, anti-Christian public school agenda of lunacy. His first words were that he “could have wept” at what he’d just heard. “Why do parents permit it?,” he cried. “Who is holding the schools responsible?” What? It’s not as though this kind of school depravity is anything new, having been the norm now for years, countrywide. Even Dobson himself has written lamenting about it. Not only that, he’s clearly suggested that homeschooling is the best education option.

But it’s what Dobson didn’t say that hurts; namely that the real solution to the public school disaster is for Christians to gird up their loins of obedience and simply remove their children from the schools. It’s late, but not too late. One wonders why Dr. Dobson misses this. After all he has Moses (Deut. 6:1–9) and the prophets (Ps. 1; Prov. 1:7, 13:20, 22:6; Is. 54:13; Jer. 10:2) and Luke 6:39–40 as a guide for FOTF parents. These passages explain why God wants the kids removed. Ironically, his FOTF ministry would actually become more blessed, including increased financial blessings, if he would cast fear aside and make a “holy risk” decision to be biblically obedient.

Conversely, Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary and respected national radio talk host has heeded Moses and the prophets. He’s listened, heard and responded and re-responded: “I believe now is the time for responsible Southern Baptists to develop an exit strategy from the public schools. This strategy would affirm the basic and ultimate responsibility of Christian parents to take charge of the education of their own children. The strategy also affirms the responsibility of churches to equip parents, support families, and offer alternatives.” He goes on to say, “I am convinced that Southern Baptists will find their way toward a common understanding of the public school challenge. The only question is when.” These are the words of a good and wise man.

I’m praying for a true, permanent revival that may last hundreds or thousands of years before Christ returns. But, I’m also praying for another good man, Dr. Dobson, to halt FOTF silence regarding the only solution to the offense of the public schools that there is—removal of the children. I’m also praying he’ll use the biblical knowledge he knows to be true to move and inspire parents to the position a patient but demanding God requires of them. And, I pray that many of you will join with him in making this commitment your own.

email: dickjones1517 at sbcglobal dot net

New Baby, Eschatology, and a Book Contest

What on on Earth could a new baby, eschatology, and a book contest have in common?

Let's see if I can tie them all together...

As I write this, my wife is pregnant with our fourth child (our 3rd son) and she's in the early stages of labor. She's already experiencing minor "birth pangs" so our child's arrival is immanent. In fact, the doctor has said that if the baby isn't here by Monday morning, they will be taking her in for an induction procedure.

To celebrate the arrival of my 4th child. I want to give away a book called The Day And The Hour by Francis X. Gumerlock. This book contains hundreds of false predictions of dates for the Rapture and Christ's 2nd Coming, myriad speculations of the identity of the Antichrist and the Beast of Revelation, as well as a host of other eschatological tomfoolery that has been taught within the church by prophecy prognosticators of the past and present.

The chapters chronicle the details century by century. Of course, when the reader gets to the 20th century he will encounter the cream of the date setting crop with the rise of Dispensational Premillennial eschatology.

How can you win a copy of this book?

I will mail a brand new copy of The Day and the Hour to whoever guesses the exact weight of my new son, or comes the closest to the correct weight. It's simple as that!

You may leave your guesses in the comment box or email them to me at rhettswhips at yahoo dot com. Whatever method you choose to use, just be sure I there's a way for me to get in touch with you if you should happen to guess correctly.

Keep this in mind: Our smallest child weighed 7 lbs 12 ounces at birth and the largest was 9 lbs, 9 ounces. So I think the safest bet would be to stay above 7 lbs.

You've got to hurry if you want to have a chance:

The contest ends when the baby is born, so get your guesses in soon!

Surely he comes quickly!!

(If you are a Dispensationalist, you might have interpreted that the "immanent" arrival of my next son means that the baby could arrive within the next 5 minutes or in the next 5000 years, but I assure you, he really is coming quickly so get your guesses in ASAP!)

Eschatology Quiz Results

I just took the Eschatology Quiz I found on the Strict and Particular Blog. The quiz results display code must be biased toward Dispensationalism because it has inserted a large gap between my text and the top of the results below. I've tried to fix it but my grasp of html code is a bit lacking. Here's my results:

What's your eschatology? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Preterist You take the historical setting of the Bible very seriously, and believe that passages like Daniel 7 and Mark 13 were speaking about their own day rather than the End of Time, though there will still be a time when Jesus is 'unveiled' and there will be final judgement and new creation. Preterist 100% Amillenialist 100% Postmillenialist 100% Moltmannian Eschatology 35% Left Behind 25% Dispensationalist 10% Premillenialist 0%

Get Ready to Rumble!

The Late Great Planet Church: Not All Israel is Israel.

Coming soon from NiceneCouncil.com...

Communism, Common Property, and Coming Judgment

Several years ago, I was flipping through the television channels and I landed on TBN. There stood Paul Crouch telling how he went to China (to try to get permission to broadcast) and told leaders in Beijing that early Christians were "Communists" because they sold all their processions and had everything in common. He remarked how the Chinese leaders were very interested in that revelation. Mr. Crouch was referring to passages in Act 4 and 5 where we see the early church in Jerusalem selling all their property and laying it at the feet of the Apostles:

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35 ESV)

Even though, in my opinion, Paul Crouch isn't qualified to be a spokesman for Christianity, what he said about the early church bothered me. At first glance, it looked as if he had a point. I really began to wonder, were the Apostles and members of the early church Communists? If not, why did they do this? Should we do the same today? Some have advanced this theory. In fact, according to a Catholic Traditionalist named Patrick Odou, (in this article) certain authors have used Acts 4:32-35 to support Distributism and other Socialist notions.

Unless I missed something, I don't see anything in the Bible about Christians selling everything and having common property in other cities. Could there been some other underlying reason for the saints in Jerusalem do this? If so, what would it be? I've thought about it for a while and I now believe the behaviour of the Jerusalem Christians may have had quite a bit to do with the judgment Christ warned would be poured out on Jerusalem within their generation:

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. (Luke 21:20-22 ESV)

History records that our Lord's words were fulfilled in A.D. 70. when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and leveled the Holy Temple. An estimated 1 million Jews were slaughtered. However, those who were Christians heeded Christ's words and fled for the hills during a brief withdraw of the Roman armies. Because the Christian Jews fled the city, it has been said that not one Christian was killed during the Roman siege.

Think about it... If you knew -for certain- that your city would be totally leveled and everyone killed within your lifetime (see Luke 21:32), wouldn't you be making preparations to leave? I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't be worrying about buying more real estate, adding onto my house, or investing my money in municipal bonds!

They knew judgment was coming, therefore they began liquidating their assets. Their love for one another was their motivation for pooling their assets -instead of each taking his money and moving to another town. By selling off everything, they were able to care for the poor and needy among them and had nothing tying them to the city when the Day of Vengeance finally arrived.

I was actually surprised to find that I'm not the only one holding to this theory. In the aforementioned article by Patrick Odou, Odou quotes St. Thomas Aquinas who held a similar view:

“Now, the first way, that is, for all to live in common on the proceeds of possessions that are sold, is one which will work, but not for a long time. So, the Apostles instituted this way of living for the faithful in Jerusalem, because they foresaw through the Holy Spirit that they would not remain together for long in Jerusalem, both because of the persecutions to come from the Jews and because of the imminent destruction of the city and its people. As a result, it was not necessary to provide for the faithful, except for a short time. Consequently, when they went out to other peoples, among whom the Church was to be established and to continue to endure, there is no account of their establishing this mode of living” (Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 3, Part 2, chap. 135, 2, p. 182)

In conclusion, you can't use the Bible to support any Communistic or Socialist agenda. Paul Crouch was wrong to tell the Chinese officials that the early Christians were Communists, though he may have scored a few points with them on his broadcasting proposal.. Paul Crouch -like many in our day- does not understand the eschatological significance of the destruction of Jerusalem. The saints at Jerusalem were not Communists: they simply believed Christ's warnings about the judgment to come!

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Kings of The East are Coming!

For most of my Christian walk, I have been taught that the "kings of the east" of Revelation 16:12 would be a 200 million man Chinese army that will fight in the battle of Armageddon. Anymore, I'm not so sure about that interpretation, but I will tell you this: the "Kings of the East" are coming!!

Right now a massive army is being assembled in China and there's good reason to believe that this mighty army will launch one of the greatest attacks the world has ever seen....

No, I'm not talking about an army of soldiers gearing up for Armageddon. I'm talking about a massive army of "Kings and Priests unto God" (Rev 1:6). It will be an army of Chinese evangelists and missionaries that will be wielding the Sword of the Spirit and will go into all the world bringing light to darkness and pulling down the remaining vestiges of Satan's kingdom!

Read all about it in this article from Asia Times!!

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in China!!

Preterist Perspective

How "literal" do you take Matthew 24?

The two articles below deal with Dispensationalist claims that Preterists are not interpreting this passage literally.

Trimming & Cooking the Prophetic Parts of the Bible

Dispensationalism’s Interpretive Inconsistencies

John MacArthur, Israel, Calvinism, and Postmillennialism: Part II and III

More evidence that Postmillennialists have not kicked the Jewish people to the curb in regards to Bible prophecy -and unlike Dispensationalists, Postmillennialists do not teach that two-thirds of the Jews will have to be slaughtered before the promises are fulfilled!!

Part Two

Part Three

Interview with a Postmillennialist

Dr. Kenneth Gentry is interviewed about the Postmillennial view of the End Times.

The Eschatology of R.L. Dabney

To my sheer delight, the Father's Day gift I received this year was a copy of R.L. Dabney's Systematic Theology. Dabney was a theologian in the Southern Presbyterian Church. He served in the Confederate Army as Chief-of-Staff to General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. No less a theologian than A. A. Hodge refereed to Dabney as "the best teacher of theology in the United States, if not the world."

Seeing how my last couple of posts have been on Eschatology, I would like to share with you some of Dabney's Eschatological thoughts.


The following comes from pp. 837 and 838 of Dabney's Systematic Theology:


"That doctrine which we hold, and which we assert to be the Apostolic and Church doctrine, teaches, just as much as the pre–Adventists, the literal and personal second advent of Christ, and we hold, with the Apostolic Christians, that it is, next to heaven, the dearest and most glorious of the believer’s hopes: as bringing the epoch of his full deliverance from death, and full introduction into the society of his adored Saviour. This hope of a literal second advent we base on such Scriptures as these: Acts 1:11: 3:20, 21; Heb. 9:28; 1 Thess. 4:15, 16; Phil. 3:20; Matt. 26:64, etc., etc.

Before this second advent, the following events must have occurred. The development and secular overthrow of Antichrist, (2 Thess. 2:3 to 9; Dan. 7:24–26; Rev. 17:, 18:) which is the Papacy. The proclamation of the Gospel to all nations, and the general triumph of Christianity over all false religions, in all nations. (Ps. 72:8–11; Is. 2:2–4; Dan. 2:44, 45; 7:14; Matt. 28:19, 20; Rom. 11:12, 15, 25; Mark 13:10; Matt. 24:14). The general and national return of the Jews to the Christian Church. (Rom. 11:25, 26). And then a partial relapse from this state of high prosperity, into unbelief and sin. (Rev. 20:7, 8). During this partial decline, at a time unexpected to formal Christians and the profane, and not to be expressly foreknown by any true saint on earth, the second Advent of Christ will take place, in the manner described in 1 Thess. It will be immediately followed by the resurrection of all the dead, the redeemed dead taking the precedence. Then the generation of men living at the time will be changed (without dying) into their immortal bodies, the world will undergo its great change by fire, the general judgment will be held; and last, the saved and the lost will severally depart to their final abodes, the former to be forever with the Lord, the latter with Satan and his angels."





In case you were wondering, Dabney was a Postmillennialist!

Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Victory

In the past 6 months, I have made an eschatological shift toward Postmillenialism. Ironically, not even a year ago, I thought Postmillenialism was the most absurd of all the views of the End Times.

Below is a short video of R.J. Rushdoony speaking on Postmillennialism:

John MacArthur, Israel, and Postmillennialism

An interesting article by Gary DeMar concerning the Postmillennialist view of Israel's future in Prophecy.

(Being a recent convert to Postmillennial eschatology -and a guy who also has a desire to see Jews convert to Christ- I found this article very interesting indeed!)

Beast of Revelation Identified DVD Half Price!

The folks at the Nicene Council have another great sale going. This time it's a 1/2 price sale on their Beast of Revelation Identified DVD featuring Dr. Kenneth Gentry speaking at the 1999 Ligonier National Conference.

I recently bought a copy of this video. It gives a compelling answer to the question of the identity of the Beast of Revelation and it's also a great introduction to Partial-Preterism and Postmillenial eschatology. If you watch the video -with an open mind and an open Bible- you might be surprised at just how flawed the popular "Left Behind" eschatology really is...!

The Enigmatic "Secret Rapture"

Of all the comments I have gotten here at Rhett's Rants, none have been quite as weird as that of the fellow we know as "Secret Rapture." Anytime I post an article dealing with Eschatology, I can always count on getting a comment from this fellow. It's always the same thing: an invite to view "MY INAUGURAL ADDRESS AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD."

Recently I decided to stop by the site and check out the "Inaugural Address." I found some interesting material to say the least. (It should probably be rated "R" though...) From skimming the material, I do believe that Mr. Secret Rapture is the sad result of Dispensational Eschatology combined with a large dose of LSD.

I would like to provide a few quotes from his "inaugural address" so you can get an idea of what kind of person we are dealing with here! I believe we may be dealing with an aspiring cult leader or something! I suspect he may even be a left-over from the "Heaven's Gate" cult or some other "UFO religion."

All quotes are directly from his website. I will strive to keep my comments to a minimum. Reader discretion is advised!

Some incite on his experience with the ladies:

"Actually, it wasn't so much that women turned me down, but that they simply ignored me. As a ghost, I can stand in front of a woman, and she looks right through me. They can't see me, and when I speak, they are startled to suddenly see someone standing in front of them!"

Now, I have to admit that I do like this idea:

"I'm going to save you a lot of tax money. I work for free. And the government that I will assemble will be a small fraction the size of the multimillion Federal Government. You'll no longer have to pay salaries for the one hundred Senators or the four hundred plus Congressmen and their thousands of support staff. The size of my Federal Government will be minuscule compared to the present one."

Confession is good for the soul:

"You should have noticed by now that I have a very immature, infantile view of women. This is simply because of the fact that I am an infant!"

I think I'll pass on this next idea:

"Once we get to the New Jerusalem, everyone will know what everyone is doing in the bedroom. This is not your private affair, or your own personal business. It is vital that everyone knows exactly what everyone is doing in the bedroom."

This might be a good thing. I believe in keeping the gene pool pure:

"I have no child, no issue.... no one will carry my genetic information in the next generation."

Now he's talking!!!:

"No one on the planet understands the tax code. I'm going to switch to a value added tax (the Fair Tax) with no more tax forms at all."

His blasphemous Christology:

There are inexhaustible ways to characterize Jesus, but the first way I would characterize him is as a stone age man – a cave man. The simple craftsman life in Galilee was too complex for him. More specifically he was a Stone Age Siberian style shaman. But secondly, he was a rocket man."

Secret Rapture's theory on the origin of cosmetics:

"It was the fallen angels who descended to earth because the women were fair who taught the use of cosmetics."

In an earlier exchange with this individual, I encouraged him to repent and be converted to Christ in order to avoid the torments of Hell, but in his reply, he informed me we are already in Hell!!?

Who is this mysterious "Secret Rapture?" On his website I have seen the name Alvin Miller, but I am thinking this is an alias to hide this person's true identity! For the past 48 hours I have been brainstorming who this mysterious person might really be..

Here's my list of suspects:

• Rosie O'Donnell
• Alec Baldwin
• Paul Ruebens
• Osama Bin Laden
• Elvis Presley
• Marilyn Manson

Please be sure to vote for your favorite in my comment section!

The Day and The Hour (Book Review)

Back in December I wrote an article called "Spurgeon on End Times Foolishness" where I addressed how aggravated I get with all the so-called prophecy teachers and their predictions and wild assertions. At the time, my eschatology was Dispensational Premillennial. However, right after I wrote the article, I started looking at some other eschatological options and now I'm currently undecided.

Recently, I obtained a copy of Francis X. Gumerlocks "The Day and The Hour: Christianity's Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the Word." I just finished it today and I have to say it was quite a fascinating read! It is basically a chronicle of End Times predictions that have been made from the first century and up to (and beyond) our present day. Also included are all the false predictions of the Watchtower, Moonies, Mormons, and other cults.

With hardly any commentary from the author, the book clearly shows how every generation has had both gifted scholars and wacko nut-jobs who tried to use current events to predict the 2nd Coming, the identity of the Antichrist, the 144,000, the Two Witnesses, etc, etc,...

I was surprised to learn that Puritan minister Cotton Mather predicted that Christ would return in 1717! One of my favorite stories was about how Pat Robertson planned to go to Israel and film/broadcast the 2nd Coming back in 1979!

The book shows that from the orthodox to the heterdox, way too many people have erred by trying to predict "the day and the hour;" and they all have one thing in common: THEY WERE ALL WRONG!

Regardless of your eschatological persuasion, I highly recommend this book. It's really interesting, fun to read, and will probably help you to be bold in crying foul the next time some clown writes another book setting a date for our Lord's return!

"It is not the one who asserts that He is near, nor the one who asserts that He is not near, who loves the coming of the Lord, but the one who waits for Him with sincere faith, firm hope, and ardent love, whether He be near or far." -Augustine of Hippo, 419 AD

Millennial Views

I have been looking into eschatology again recently. I thought it might be interesting to post a listing of the four commonly held Millennial views with the names of notable men who have subscribed to each of them. Most of the following list comes from R.C. Sproul's book The Last Days According to Jesus. I have also added a few names to each of the categories that Dr. Sproul did not include in the book...

Dispensational Premillennialists:

David Jeremiah

Hal Lindsey

J.N. Darby

Thomas Ice

Norman Geisler

Lewis S. Chafer

Charles Ryrie

Tim LaHaye

Harry A. Ironside

J. Dwight Pentecost

Zola Levitt

Gleason L. Archer

Donald G. Barnhouse

John F. MacArthur


Historical Premillennialists:

Irenaeus

Tertullian

Justin Martyr

Papias

R.A. Torrey

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (I think)

J. Barton Payne

Wayne Grudem

Mark Dever

John Piper

D. A. Carson


Amillennialists:

Jay E. Adams

G.C. Berkouwer

Louis Berkof

John Frame

Anthony A. Hoekema

Abraham Kuyper

James R. White

Willain Hndreickson

C.J. Mahaney

Iain H. Murray

Sinclair Ferguson


Postmillennialists:

Athanasius

Augustine

Eusebius

John Calvin

Robert Lewis Dabney

Jonathan Edwards

A. A. Hodge

Charles Hodge

R. C. Sproul Sr.

R. C. Sproul Jr.

J. Gresham Machen

R. J. Rushdoony

Augustus H. Strong

B. B. Warfield

Gary DeMar

J. H. Thornwell

John Owen

John Murray

Gary North


Undecided:

Rhett Kelley

Spurgeon on End Times Foolishness

Though I am a Premillenialist who holds to the "Pretribulational Rapture Theory", I am not too dogmatic about Eschatology. I frequently read the works of preachers and theologians that hold to various Eschatological positions -and I repect their opinions.

If you happen to be an Amillenialist, a Postmillenialist, or an "historic Premillenialist" such as Charles Spurgeon, I will not break fellowship with you over our differences. My mind is even open to the possibility that I may be the one who is wrong.

One way or the other, Jesus is coming again and my opinion of it won't change how (or when) He does it. I believe these are topics that Christians are free to discuss and debate- just so long as you do affirm the 2ND coming of Christ, we'll be fine.

I'll have to admit though, I do get a bit aggravated with some of these so-called "prophecy teachers", who are constantly looking around trying to figure out which news headline fulfilled some prophecy in Isaiah and/or are trying to identify the Antichrist.

Their nonsense has spilled over into the churches and is having some terrible side-effects. I have known Christians whom -it seemed to me- were not planning for the future because they said they just knew Jesus would return before their children could graduate high school. Now here we are -some years later- and all their children (but one) are grown and have families of their own! I even heard recently that some folks are now going around proclaiming Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Anti-Christ!!! I really think such things are foolishness.

It looks as if this plague has been around long before our times. While reading John MacArthur's book Why Government Cannot Save You, I found a sermon in the appendix by Charles Spurgeon entitled "Citizenship in Heaven". While reading it, I found some words of wisdom concerning the topic of prophecy and this "end times foolishness" -as I have decided to call it. I want to share with you a few paragraphs from the sermon.

Please note that it appears that in Spurgeon's day, the magic year was 1866:

"You know I am no prophet. I do not know anything about 1866; I find quite enough to do to attend to 1862. I do not understand the visions of Daniel or Ezekiel; I find I have enough to do to teach the simple truth in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the Epistles of Paul. I do not find many souls have been converted to God by exquisite dissertations about the battle of Armageddon, and all those other fine things. I have no doubt prophesyings are very profitable, but I rather question whether they are so profitable to the hearers as they may be to the preachers and publishers. I conceive that among religious people of a certain sort, the abortive explanations of prophecy issued by certain doctors gratify a craving, which in irreligious people finds its foods in novels and romances.

People have a panting to know the future. And certain divines pander to this depraved taste by prophesying for them and letting them know what is coming by-and-by. I do not know the future, and I will not pretend to know. But I do preach this because I know it: that Christ will come, for he says so in a hundred passages. The Epistles of Paul are full of the advent, and Peter's too, and John's letters are crowded with it. The best of saints have always lived on the hope of advent."

After some more wonderful thoughts that I won't take time to quote here, the Prince of Preachers adds more advice I truly desire more Pre-trib, Premillenialists would take to heart:

"Never mind about the last bowls, fill your own bowl with sweet odors and offer it before the Lord. Think what you like about Armageddon, but do not forget to fight the good fight of faith. Guess not at the precise era for the destruction of Antichrist; go and destroy it yourself, fighting against it every day. But be looking forward and hastening unto the coming of the Son of Man, and let this be at once your comfort and excitement to diligence, that the Savior will soon come from Heaven."

Amen, Reverend Spurgeon. Amen!