Dispensationalist Dementia / Doomsday Dispensationalism Study Archive @ PreteristArchive.com, The Internet's Only Balanced Look at Preterism

DISPENSATIONALIST DEMENTIA:
(which seems to drive men to embrace any extreme to protect the scheme)

"We live in days such as delineated in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The evidence is astoundingly abundant to anyone not wishing to be a foolish, deceived, brute beast but rather desiring to seek to be wise unto salvation." - William T. James (Storming Towards Armageddon, p. 45)

Hal Lindsey (TBN)
"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.” What Hal Lindsey Taught Me About the Second Coming

Jack Van Impe
(AND REXELLA)
"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." (Revelation Revealed, p. 239) | "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..." ("On the Edge of Eternity") | "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)

Gary Bauer
Longtime president of the Family Research Council; U.S. Presidential candidate, 2000
Israel wins support on Christian Right - "Some very interesting alliances are forming," said Gary Bauer, a prominent Christian conservative. "Many evangelicals believe that the land of Israel is Covenant land that was promised by God to the Jewish people. I believe Israel and the United States have got a confluence of interest. We're both democracies, and I see Israel, as I see Great Britain, as a defender of Western civilisation."

Mr Bauer, described by the Jerusalem Post as "a better spokesman for Israel than some Israeli diplomats", addressed the gathering at the Israeli embassy along with Janet Parshall, a Christian radio host.

We are engaged in a social, political, and cultural war. There's a lot of talk in America about pluralism. But the bottom line is somebody's values will prevail. And the winner gets the right to teach our children what to believe. (source unknown)

Grant Jeffrey
"Israel could have accepted (Jesus) as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have been crucified at some later point to fulfill the prophecy and provide salvation of all those who repent of their sins." (Apocalypse, p. 33,34) | "the overwhelming testimony of the early Church confirms that John's prophecy was written in A.D. 96, some twenty-six years after the fall of Jerusalem." (On A.D.70 Fulfillment) | "the year A.D. 2000 is a probable termination date for the 'last days'" (Armageddon, p. 193)

Tim LaHaye
The Case for the Imminent Rapture of the Church "In this day of advancing preterism we need to repeatedly mention this aspect of His coming, "in like manner" or physically. One of their weakest points, which are almost too ridiculous to mention, is that Jesus has already come spiritually. He departed physically and you can be sure He will return physically. God's people need to be reassured that when He comes in the air to the earth to set up his kingdom it will be physically." | "Tim LaHaye, known as an expert on Biblical prophecy, has published more than 50 nonfiction books on counseling and theology. He said the war in Iraq is setting the stage for the "rise of Babylon," in which there will be one world, one government, one religion and one commerce in the end time. He said the rapture "is very near, and the glorious coming of Christ to the Earth could be only several years off. "We may expect the Second Coming before we see the final book," he said. "I'm looking forward to the end." (Revelation Revolution keeps spinning)

Bob Larson
"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'

William Miller
(1782-1849) “I am fully convinced that somewhere between March 21st, 1843 and March 21^st, 1884, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come, and bring all His Saints with Him; and that then He will reward every man as his work shall be .” (1836, Evidence From Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ About the Year AD 1843)

“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 disappointment” (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."

Pat Robertson
Lewis County Chronicle: We might better live our lives as if End Times are with us - "But, again, no one knows for sure if the signs we are seeing now are the beginning of the “birth pangs” signaling the start of the End Times or when the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ will occur. “It’s possible” or “it might be,” TV evangelist Pat Robertson said of current signs seen as portending the End Times. "

Apocalypse Not:
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.'"

Tim LaHaye
“Russia is unquestionably the nation identitfied in the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39” ("Will God destroy Russia?, p. 259

"Chaotic world events have spurred an increased interest in prophecy, but critics say such teachings, when proved wrong, harm"

Michael Rood: April 5, 2000. "This day begins with plague, bloodshed and all type of pestilences..." | Marilyn Agee: "the Rapture will be the 20th of June, 2000..." | Melody Mehta: "Phobos, one of Mars moons, will be removed from its orbit and will fall to the Earth..." | Ephraim: "the Rapture in March of the 2000" | Jerry Grenough: "the 2 of September is absolutely the beginning of the final year of this present age" | Byron Weeks: "PresidentClinton will declare the martial law between September and October of the 2000... ”

Abeka Books' New Jerusalem

Pope sees Apocalypse about to be fulfilled - "Satan, the original adversary, who accused our brothers in the heavenly court, has now been cast down from heaven and therefore no longer has great power. He knows he has not much time left because history is about to see a radical turning point in freedom from evil and therefore he is reacting full of great fury. "And then the resurrected Christ will rise up, whose blood is the principle of salvation and who received from the Father royal power over the entire universe; in Him are centered salvation, strength and the kingdom of our God."

OTHER ISSUES IN QUESTION

A. One Taken, One Left: A Standard Rapture Proof Text - Matthew 24:37-39

The following passage is used to teach that Christians will be taken away at the return of Christ. Only the Matthew version is used, though, as the Lukan version tells an entirely different story:

Matthew - "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

It is claimed that Noah's family are those taken away, but it is apparent in Luke 17 that it was those who were eating and drinking, etc.:

Luke 17:26-27 - "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all."

B. The Kingdom of Heaven and God - Is there a difference?

Dispensationalism teaches that Israel and the church are eternally distinct, in order to support this theory, they take single concepts and divide them into two - one relating to the church, and one relating to Israel. This view creates a distinction between the biblical phrases 'Kingdom of Heaven' and the 'Kingdom of God.'

"It is to be noted that the dispensationalists, in their effort to make the Epistles (and also the later part of the Gospels) agree with their theory have resorted to the strange expedient of saying that the phrase "Kingdom of God" meant the Kingdom of Jewish hopes at first, but after it was "rejected," and "withdrawn," the term was used with a different meaning. Of course, no proof in support of this is cited; for there is none." Philip Mauro - The Gospel of the Kingdom

“The thought of the kingdom is prominent in the Old Testament; and the passage which naturally suggests itself is Dan. 2:44 where we read: ‘And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.’ This will be the kingdom of the God of heaven. Consequently, it is quite as proper to abbreviate it to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ and the ‘kingdom of God,’ as it is that ‘the ark of the covenant of the LORD’ should be called ‘the ark of the covenant’ and ‘the ark of the LORD’ (e.g., Josh. 6:6-8). That the two expressions are equivalent is indicated especially clearly by the fact that they are used in synonymous parallelism in Mt. 19:23, and also because three of the parables which appear in Mt. 13 as parables of the kingdom of heaven (the Sower, the Mustard Seed, and the Leaven) appear in Mark or Luke as parables of the kingdom of God.” Oswald T. Allis, The Church in Prophecy p. 67

Ephesians 5:5 "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

C. Christ Would Have Established A Temporal Kingdom at the First Advent

The greatest confusion and leaps of common sense and doctrine seem to come in a discussion of the Dispensational model of the 'millennial kingdom' of Christ. This kingdom is defined by the view as an earthly yet spiritual kingdom, where 'God will join the spiritual and the earthly in a full display of His glory on this earth.' (Basic Theology, C. Ryrie, p. 510) Christ, so they say, will sit upon the temporal throne of David in earthly Palestine, yet 'sacrifices will again be offered in a temple which will be built and in operation during the Millennium.' (ibid.) From a Preterist point of view, it is the unwillingness to see the point of view of the eternal. A similar mistake by "Israel after the flesh" cost them their kingdom (Matt 21:43) (See How Are The O.T. Prophecies of Blessing To Israel To Be Interpreted?).

Certain doctrinal problems develop with such a view, not the least of which is the necessity of the blood of Christ for the "cancellation of all debts and the proclamation of liberty to captives." On this point, Grant Jeffrey, author of multiple best-selling Dispensationalist books, finds himself having to swallow a very bitter pill:

"When Jesus Christ came to earth two thousand years ago He presented to both the Jews and Gentiles a genuine, bona fide offer of the Kingdom of heaven on earth if they would accept Him as their Messiah-King. If they had chosen to accept Jesus and crown Him as their Messiah on Palm Sunday, A.D. 32, He would have entered the Eastern Gate and announce the restitution of all things, the cancellation of all debts and the proclamation of liberty to the captives. It was a genuine possibility that Israel could have accepted Him as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have been crucified at some later point to fulfill the prophecy and provide salvation of all those who repent of their sins. If mankind had accepted Christ at His first coming, Daniel's seventieth week would have immediately followed the close of the sixty-ninth week without a break." - Apocalypse, Grant Jeffrey, p. 33-34

D. Dispensationalism is mentioned in the New Testament?

Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard