Category Archives: History

LIGHTFOOT, REV 22, AND TONGUES (1)

AD 70, History, Revelation August 20, 2014 Leave a comment

PMT 2014-101 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Tongues Speaking book

In that I am reading the works of Reformed scholar, Westminster Divine, and rabbinic authority John Lightfoot (1602–75), I will present some of his insightful materials. Though he is an historicist (see PMT 2014-100), his historicism focuses much on the first stage of the historicist movement in AD 70.

And in that I believe the gift of tongues was an eschatological phenomenon providing a sign that the last days had begun with the final establishing of the new covenant in AD 70, I will present his interesting notes on Revelation 22. These are found in vol. 3 of The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot (vol 3, pp. 368–71). Continue reading →

LIGHTFOOT WAS NOT A PRETERIST!

History, Preterism August 18, 2014 1 Comment

Lightfoot Whole WorksPMT 2014-100 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

For several years I have stated that the Westminster divine and great Talmudic scholar John Lightfoot (1602–75) was a preterist. I was wrong. He was an historicist.

By the very nature of the case, historicism often deals with prophecies that refer to events now past, hence prophecies that would agree with preterism. This is because historicism tends to view Revelation as a prophecy of the church from the first century until the end.

Continue reading →

HOW YOU BECAME A POSTMILLENNIALIST

History June 23, 2014 Comments: 19

PMT 2014-075Testimonies

It is interesting how God draws us to certain of our theological commitments. On my Facebook page I asked friends to tell me either how they became postmillennialists or what verses were instrumental in their conversion. This blog post will be much longer than normal. But I thought readers might find it informative. And I hope others will post their testimonies in Comments to this article. Here we go! Continue reading →

HOW I BECAME POSTMILLENNIAL

History June 20, 2014 Comments: 13

PMT 2014-074 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Conference preaching

I was not born a postmillennialist. I was born an American, therefore, I was born a dispensationalist. Dispensationalism was the evangelical atmosphere which I breathed, even before I knew what it was. In fact, when I would read the newspaper, I couldn’t help but end each news item by thinking, “According to biblical prophecy!”

I was converted to Christ in 1966 at a dispensationalist youth camp in Boca Raton, Florida. I was there because my dispensationalist uncle (Rev. John S. Lanham) longed to see me converted. He paid my way to the camp where I heard the gospel preached with clarity for the first time in my life (even though I had been in regular attendance in a Methodist church all my life). Continue reading →

CHARLES HODGE: POSTMILLENNIALIST

History, Theologians November 8, 2013 Comments: 4

PMT 2013-024 by Dennis Swanson

Hodge CharlesCharles Hodge (1797–1878) has been called, “the most prominent American Presbyterian theologian of the nineteenth century” and was clearly one of the most outstanding theologians that America has ever produced. Mark Noll presents this evaluation of Hodge’s contributions:

“[Archibald] Alexander’s student Charles Hodge (1797-1878) extended this theological viewpoint into a powerful system of thought during his fifty-six years as a Princeton professor. Hodge used the same sources that Alexander had employed to defend the glory of God (instead of the happiness of humanity) as the purpose of life, to affirm the power of the Holy Spirit in salvation (against views of human self-determination), and to champion the Scriptures as the proper fount of theology (against either human religious experience or the dictates of formal reason). Hodge once remarked proudly that there had never been a new idea at Princeton, by which he meant that Princeton intended to pass on Reformed faith as it had been defined in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.”

Continue reading →

CREATION AND ESCHATOLOGY

History, Theology September 23, 2013 Comments: 3

CreationPMT 2013-004 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Theology is holistic. That is, all theological principles hang together. As Cornelius Van Til stated: “Theology is a seamless garment.” Consequently, one’s eschatology should fit into one’s larger theological (and biblical!) system. And postmillennialism does just that.

Eschatology deals with the final days leading up to the actual conclusion of history. And since history is all connected under God’s providence, when considering history’s end we should be able to see it anticipated in its beginning. Why did God create the world? What was His holy design for his highest creature, man? When answered from Scripture, these and related questions clearly point to the postmillennial hope. Continue reading →