“There never has been in the history of the world a real revolution, brutally active and decisive, which was not preceded by unrest and new dogma in the reign of invisible things. All revolutions began by being abstract. Most revolutions began by being pedantically abstract.” - G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles
Gary DeMar considers the pessimillennialism of Van Til and Schaeffer
Two new biographies, Cornelius Van Til: Reformed Apologist and Churchman and Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, reminded me again of the importance of eschatology. Van Til (1895–1987), who was professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary for 43 years, had strong disagreements with J. Oliver Buswell (1895–1977) and Allan MacRae (1902–1997) over apologetic methodology. In addition to apologetics, Buswell and MacRae opposed the anti-premillennial view of Westminster Seminary. In terms of cultural application of the gospel, however, there wasn’t much difference between Van Til’s amillennialism and Buswell’s and MacRae’s premillennialism.
Early in his theological training, Schaeffer’s eschatology was shaped by the Scofield Reference Bible.1 Os Guinness writes that “dispensational premillennialism . . . has had unfortunate consequences on the Chris
Gary DeMar reviews Paul Benware's new dispensational book
Paul N. Benware’s revised and expanded edition of Understanding End Times Prophecy includes a chapter on Preterism. This is a good sign. Preterists teach that certain prophetic passages have already been fulfilled (e.g., Matt. 24), while futurists claim that these same passages are yet to be fulfilled. The debate centers (mostly) on how specific time indicators like “near,” “shortly,” “quickly,” and “this generation” should be interpreted. Benware also claims that preterists regularly mix “the literal and allegorical” which results in “very inconsistent interpretations to a passage.” The following quotation encapsulates Benware’s argument on how he believes preterists interpret certain prophetic texts:
[P]reterist Gary DeMar concludes that the cosmic disturbances in Matthew 24:29–30 (the sign of the Son of Man, the darkened sun and moon and the stars falling from the sky) is symbolic of the passing away of the old covenant world of Judaism in [A.D.] 70. This conclusion is based on the illegitimate transference of meaning from one verse to another as well as some full-blown allegorization.
For the record, my book Last Days Madness includes a 14-page chapter with the title “Sun, Moon, and Stars.” Benware never interacts with it and the detailed arguments I present. In fact, he depends on secondary sources to make his arguments.
Gary DeMar says it's time to look at the complete Biblical picture
I spoke at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention back in March. I was amazed to hear how so many people in attendance have been influenced by the work of American Vision. It was humbling to learn that our work has changed so many lives, especially in the area of a comprehensive worldview. Their previous fragmented worldview came into sharp focus once their eschatology changed. There is a growing worldview shift taking place. How do I know this? First, by the number of people who are abandoning dispensationalism and its dead-end theology. Second, by the refusal of most dispensationalists to defend their position publicly unless they get to control the debate. Third, Christians are beginning to see the connection between personal salvation and a broader transformation and how eschatology is a factor.
Zacchaeus not only found Jesus, he also found a new life after using his office as a tax colle
Gary DeMar responds to Joel Rosenberg's newspaper exegesis
Joel Rosenberg, author of Epicenter and a series of end-time novels, appeared on the Glenn Beck Show the week of April 21–25, 2008 explaining his views of the end times and how Jimmy Carter’s latest visit to the Middle East is fulfilling Bible prophecy. In a “Special Report,” Rosenberg wrote the following as justification for his prophetic views:
In Daniel 9:27, the ancient Hebrew prophet tells us that in the End of Days, an evil leader will make a comprehensive peace deal or covenant with Israel and her many neighbors and enemies. That deal will seem “firm,” says Daniel, but it will not be forever. It will be for 7 years. According to the Book [sic] of Daniel and Revelation, Israel will accept the deal (fatally flawed though it is), but the evil leader will break the deal after 3 1/2 years, invade Israel, set up a global empire, and eventually trigger the War of Armageddon.
George Grant sees angels in the architecture in his tribute to Wren
The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed more than a third of the city of London including the famed St. Paul’s Cathedral overlooking the Thames. The earliest sanctuary on the site had been erected sometime in the first decade of the seventh century. It had been substantially refurbished and expanded at least four times—in 675 following a devastating fire, in 962 following the rampages of the Vikings, in 1087 following the Norman conquest, and in 1561 following storm damage to the nave and cloister.
But it was obvious to all that the seventeenth century fire was so devastating that mere repairs would simply not be sufficient. The cathedral would have to be entirely redesigned and reconstructed. King Charles II appointed his friend Christopher Wren (1632-1723) chief architect of the vast project.
Although he had no formal training as an architect, Wren was renowned as an engineering genius. He
Gary DeMar asks "What's the worry?" about evangelical environmental angst
A battle is going on among Southern Baptists and evangelicals in general over the global warming hypothesis. The real battle is between those advocating stewardship and those pushing for government to control our behavior in the belief that global warming is man-made rather than part of weather cycles. For example, so far 2008 is not turning out to be a good year for global warming certainties, especially with record snowfalls in several cities. Even the Atlanta area had snow flurries in March.
A new twist in the debate is that some see real climate change as part of an end-time prophetic scenario. Jonathan Merritt, who caused quite a stir with his “A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change,” writes that “one Southern Baptist pastor said that environmental problems are just ‘signs of the end times and God’s judgment,’ and we should embrace them.”1 How prevalent is the belief among evangelicals that reports of “climate change”2 are lin
R.C. Sproul Jr. answers questions about the environment, socialism, and racism
At what point does environmentalism become a god... or a golden calf for the church? How does environmentalism differ from the dominion mandate?
One of the most compelling evidences that we have become statists is this -- we do not know how to distinguish between the state, and the rest of the world. Go visit your local library, for instance, and ask for any information they have on censorship. They have special brochures there all put together highlighting the many assaults against the first amendment going on in our land. Trouble is, not a one of them fits the criteria. Censorship is when the state makes it illegal to publish something. A parent who asks a school board not to have the students read certain books, or the library carry certain books isn’t asking that the book be made illegal. But we treat it that way.
Brandon Vallorani offers some thoughts on moving from dispensationalism to Biblical optimism
Have you ever wondered why the Church is still here after 2,000 years? At one time, I believed that we were living in the last days of human history and that Jesus was going to return at any moment to rapture His church and judge the world. I grew up in the 70’s, when apocalyptic books like The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey were taking the American church by storm. In addition to hundreds of sermons on the subject, I remember quite vividly the time our church played the Thief in the Night film series.
In case you don’t remember, the series consisted of the following frightening films:
1. A Thief in the Night 2. A Distant Thunder 3. Image of the Beast 4. Prodigal Planet
The powerful and terrifying concept of an imminent apocalypse defined my view of Christianity well into my married years. And as much as it may have helped me to develop a fear of
Stephen Freeman challenges certain assumptions about that Great Divorce
On one of the roads leading into my small city a billboard has recently appeared. It is part of a larger campaign by a nationally known evangelist who is to have a revival in Knoxville. The sign is simple. In very large bright yellow letters (all caps), the sign says: HELL IS REAL. In small letters beneath it, in white, that can be read as your car nears the sign is the statement: so is heaven. Like the small bulliten boards outside of many Southern churches, this sign belongs to a part of our culture that has been with us a long time. But everytime I see this sign, my mind turns to the subject of ontology (the study of the nature of being). Thus I offer today some very basic thoughts on the subject of being - a classical part of Christian theology.
The first thing I will note is that you cannot say Hell is real and Heaven is real and the word real mean the same thing in both sentences
Fr. Stephen Freeman on dispensationalism and the transformation of time
Editor's note: While Rev. Freeman would not necessarily consider his position postmillennial, he offers some excellent points that function as an antidote to the usual American dispensationalism.
I live in the South - which means plenty of bumper stickers warning, “In case of rapture this car will be unmanned.” I grew up surrounded by preaching on the last days in a context that was decidedly Dispensationalist, Pre-Tribulation, etc. If you are a reader who does not know what all that means then you’ve missed a huge part of our American Culture. It means one believes that time is divided into different “dispensations” and that the end of the world will have seven years of the worst possible calamities, complete with the Great Beast, the Anti-Christ, (all known as the Great Tribulation), but with the Church being “caught-up” into the air to meet Christ and go to heaven just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation (hence, “pre-tribulation”). T
Fr. Stephen Freeman exults in the “secret hand” that works for our salvation and the salvation of the world
One of the joys of the newly published, Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), containing all the canonical Orthodox books of the Bible, is the fact that the Old Testament was carefully brought into agreement with the text of the Septuagint, long a standard and important liturgical translation for Orthodox Christians.
The early Church generally used the Septuagint, a translation from the Hebrew made in Alexandria, Egypt, some 200 or more years before Christ. By the time of the birth of the Church it was a dominant form of the Old Testament, particularly within the Jewish Diaspora. New Testament writers regularly quote it and seem to prefer it over the Hebrew text (though not always).
But for modern American Christians, it affords probably the first practical glimpse at the Orthodox texts that have most influenced the Fathers of the Church. It rewa
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