Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Denver Seminary Gives a Case for Historic Premil

Not since George Ladd wrote on Historical Premillennialism, has a significant book been published on this view of eschatology. Two Denver Seminary Professors each wrote a chapter and edited others in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, just out this month from Baker Academic of Baker Publishing Group of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Four other Denver professors join these men along with two professors from other seminaries.

The book gives new ideas to our discussion in my opinion.
  • Who is to say we escape the tribulation? The book argues "I actually think the doctrine of the tribulation is more important than the doctrine of the millennium." (p. 69)
  • Believers "will be the ones left behind--on earth to enjoy the glory and grandeur of reigning with Christ during the millennium." (p. 78)
  • Why do certain segments in the church dismiss the study of eschatology? Blomberg suggests on page 65 "With the rise of modern (and now postmodern) liberalism, many authors have simply dismissed biblical apocalyptic as the outmoded husk or shell into which the ancients placed their eschatological beliefs. One need not even debate the timing of the rapture, so the argument goes, because we cannot expect a literal rapture ever to occur, or a literal second coming of Christ for that matter. At best, biblical apocalyptic represents, according to this view, theological encouragement, in primitive garb, for beleaguered Christians that God can and will work through the events of this world and through his people to create a better world and that God's people need not fear that the world will become as bad as it could possibly be."
  • Book's summary. "The logical corollary of classic dispensationalism is that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and the most we can hope to do is save souls before the end is upon us and we have no further opportunity to do so. Postmillennialism, followed consistently, engenders an unbridled optimism in what God wants to do in Christianizing the earth through his Spirit-filled followers, an optimism that is hard to mesh with humanity's experience in any prolonged period of world history. Amillennialism and historic premillennialism both acknowledge the 'already but not yet' inaugurated kingdom of God, and both allow for God to still want to do great good on this earth through his people and for the devil to still wreak great havoc." p. 172

4 comments:

  1. [The featured "Case" book is supported by a battery of Biblical brains! BTW, I recently ran head-on into the following web missive - or maybe I should say "missile."]

    The NEWEST Pretrib Calendar

    Hal (serial polygamist) Lindsey and other pretrib-rapture-trafficking and Mayan-Calendar-hugging hucksters deserve the following message: "2012 may be YOUR latest date. It isn't MAYAN!" Actually, if it weren't for the 179-year-old, fringe-British-invented, American-merchandised pretribulation rapture bunco scheme, Hal might still be piloting a tugboat on the Mississippi, roly-poly Thomas Ice (Tim LaHaye's No. 1 strong-arm enforcer) might still be in his tiny folding-chair church which shares its firewall with a Texas saloon, Jack Van Impe might still be a jazz band musician, Tim LaHaye might still be titillating California matrons with his "Christian" sex manual, Grant Jeffrey might still be taking care of figures up in Canada, Chuck Missler might still be in mysterious hush-hush stuff that rocket scientists don't dare talk about, John Hagee might be making - and eating - world-record pizzas, and Jimmy ("Bye You" Rapture) Swaggart might still be flying on a Ferriday flatbed! To read more details about the eschatological British import that leading British scholarship never adopted - the import that's created some American multi-millionaires - Google "Pretrib Rapture Diehards" (note LaHaye's hypocrisy under "1992"), "Hal Lindsey's Many Divorces," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)" and "Thomas Ice (Hired Gun)," "LaHaye's Temperament," "Wily Jeffrey," "Chuck Missler - Copyist," "Open Letter to Todd Strandberg" and "The Rapture Index (Mad Theology)," "X-Raying Margaret," "Humbug Huebner," "Thieves' Marketing," "Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal," "The Unoriginal John Darby," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," "The Real Manuel Lacunza," "Roots of (Warlike) Christian Zionism," "America's Pretrib Rapture Traffickers," "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts," "Dolcino? Duh!" and "Scholars Weigh My Research." Most of the above is written by journalist/historian Dave MacPherson who has focused on long-hidden pretrib rapture history for 35+ years. No one else has focused on it for 35 months or even 35 weeks. MacPherson has been a frequent radio talk show guest and he states that all of his royalties have always gone to a nonprofit group and not to any individual. His No. 1 book on all this is "The Rapture Plot" (see Armageddon Books online, etc.). The amazing thing is how long it has taken the mainstream media to finally notice and expose this unbelievably groundless yet extremely lucrative theological hoax!

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  2. Look for "The Late Great Planet Church" DVD from NiceneCouncil.com to also expose the "hoax" as you call it, Anonymous. The DVD is coming out shortly. I have ordered it and will write about it here.

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  3. How cruel you are to people(Christians) you disagree with. Jesus said they would know us by our love.
    Dale

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  4. Second anonymous,
    Disagreement doesn't mean lack of love or cruelty necessarily. It is important to search the Scriptures and we may not all see eye to eye. Christians are commended for searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so in Acts 17:11. Discussion is what this blog is about.

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