Next part… the final pdf will be footnoted for the various references.
Hal Lindsey (1929-2024)
A prolific writer and one who claims to be able to interpret current events in the light of prophetic Scriptures, he is a major influencer on the Dispensationalist believers.
His books include:
- Late Great Planet Earth (1970)
- There’s a New World Coming (1973)
- The 1980′s Countdown to Armageddon (1980)
- The Final Battle (1994)
- Planet Earth 2000 A.D. (1994, & 1996)
- Apocalypse Code (1997)
- Planet Earth: The Final Chapter (1998).
(A number of the books are re-writes of earlier titles.)
It is inevitable that there have been revisions regarding the predictions within the book (this is inevitable whenever there is an attempt to make current events fit into biblical prophecy). Here is one such revision (the first quote from a publication in 1980 and the second from 1998):
The goal of this book is not merely to show which prophecies have been fulfilled since Late Great came out in 1970, however. Even more important, it is intended to analyze what will occur in the decade we have just entered… The decade of the 1980”s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it.
This book doesn”t dwell on the past, it looks to the future. Because we are so close to the final, climactic stages of world history, it is considerably easier today for the student of Bible prophecy to see with some accuracy what”s coming next… I am certain… The Second Advent will occur in the next few years – probably in your lifetime.
The first book written in 1980 predicts the 80s as the final decade; the second book written in 1998 pushes it a few years forward!! Of course words and phrases such as ‘probably’ and ‘could very well be’ covers the possible accusation of ‘you said’ but for the reader with book in one hand and TV remote in the other, inside knowledge of the times is right there for them! Given that we are now a few years beyond 1998, we might be due a new prediction! Throughout he has consistently held to the interpretive perspective that the current generation is the one that the Bible is talking about when it comes to the fulfilment of Scripture:
It is clear that the Bible can”t be talking about any other time in history but today. No man knows the day or hour this dramatic climax is going to occur. But there can be little doubt that this is the generation. It could start tomorrow.
He interprets current nations as being the nations in the Bible such as the Palestinians are the Philistines of Scripture, Lebanon is the Tyre of old. This is without warrant.
The apocalyptic visions of Revelation are to be taken literally (or at least literal once re-interpreted through Lindsey’s grid). John did not have language to describe what he saw, so with Lindsey’s guidance we know that John″s ‘locusts’ are really helicopters:
‘horses prepared for battle’ are heavily armed attack helicopters, ‘crowns of gold’ are the helmets worn by pilots, and the ‘sound of their wings’ are the thunderous sound of many attack helicopters flying overhead.
The ‘bow’ wielded by the antichrist in Revelation 6:1-2? Well John had no way of describing what Lindsay knows were inter-continental ballistic missiles. All now becomes clear for the reader!
This type of interpretation is what makes the books both popular and also dangerous. Popular because the reader now has inside information as to the progress of history, and dangerous because there is no need to bring about any level of change to the world we live in. The world is hurtling toward destruction, but wonderfully the believer will be raptured from the scene thus avoiding all the troubles.
Regarding celebrations for the new millennium (the 2st Century) Lindsey wrote:
Just for the record: I’m not planning to attend. In fact looking at the state of the world today, I wouldn″t make any long-term earthly plans. We may be caught up to meet Christ in the clouds, between now and then – just as I described in an earlier chapter. Could I be wrong? Of course. The rapture may not occur between now and the year 2000. But never before in the history of the planet have events and conditions so coincided as to set the stage for this history-stopping event… I want to spend the final pages of this book discussing what I expect to see happen in the hours and minutes we have left.
The imminence of the ‘end-times’ can be seen in Lindsey’s assertions that the antichrist is alive, in Europe, and imminently getting ready.
Antichrist is alive and ready in Europe:
Here are a number of quotes from Lindsey’s writings:
I believe this man is alive today-alive and waiting to come forth… I believe this leader is alive somewhere in Europe; perhaps he is already a member of the EEC parliament.
He will immediately rise to prominence in the EEC and from that post he will offer the world amazing solutions to all its complex and terrifying problems. Because of his superhuman powers and his solutions to the world’s conflicts, the anti-Christ will be chosen to lead the EEC.
Heading up what will evolve into a 10-nation confederacy will be a man of such magnetism and power that he will become the greatest dictator the world has ever known… And he is alive today. There is a potential dictator waiting in the wings somewhere in Europe who will make Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin look like choir boys. Right now he is preparing to take his throne, inflaming his soul with visions of what he will be able to do for mankind with his grand schemes and revolutionary ideas… Is alive and well on planet Earth… Let’s go meet him.
The focus in this article is not to discuss all the details of this (and other) author(s), but simply to try and track the development of the theology and also to show how embedded it has become within much Christian thought. After a brief summary of the Dispensationalist scheme (next post) I will then turn to the issue of the rapture itself.