Category Archives: Interpretation

INTERVIEW ON THE END TIMES

Dispensationalism, Interpretation, Last Days, Millennial Views, Pessimism October 22, 2014 Comments: 2

Left BehindPMT 2014-128 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

An interview of me made recently for an introduction to a conference engagement.

1. People now days are fascinated with “the end times.” And with the reboot of the Left Behind series, discussions about the end times will continue to increase. No doubt, we will hear more talk about things like the 7-yr tribulation, the rapture, the mark of the beast, etc. These are key parts to the theology that undergirds the Left Behind books and movie. But what most people don’t realize is that this theology, known as Dispensationalism, is actually a relatively new way to read Scripture. That is, up until only about 150 years ago, no Christian on record ever believed some of things that is depicted in the Left Behind series. Could you comment more on this fact?

Dispensationalism arose in the 1830s in England, about the same time as Mormonism was arising in America, and not long before the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was a time of much prophetic speculation and expectation. John N. Darby created dispensationalism as a prophetic outlook that eventually became a whole theology. He fully expected the Lord’s return in his lifetime, which ended 130 years ago (in 1882). It has constantly been frustrated with wrong predictions of the Rapture, such as Hal Lindsey’s 1980 book “The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon” and his 1996 book: “Planet Earth 2000: Will Mankind Survive.” Continue reading →

THE ANTICHRIST FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Interpretation, Objections, Pessimism September 8, 2014 Comments: 9

Antichrist 2The Antichrist is a popular and dreaded eschatological figure. This has been the case for centuries. But in our day of a dispensational hegemony in evangelicalism, this is particularly significant.

The role of the Antichrist is quite misunderstood though. Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield easily dismantled the populist conception of the Antichrist from Scripture itself. Warfield provides helpful insights into John’s teaching on the Antichrist when he notes that John “makes three declarations concerning Antichrist which appear to traverse its implications. He transposes Antichrist from the future to the present. He expands him from an individual to a multitude. He reduces him from a person to a heresy.” [1] Continue reading →

APPROACHES TO REVELATION: PRETERISM (2)

Interpretation, Preterism, Revelation July 11, 2014 Comments: 12

PMT 2014-083 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Preterism 2

Preterism is still largely unfamiliar to dispensationalists who dominate the evangelical publishing market. Yet it is making headway. And I believe it is making its presence felt due to its great strengths. Let’s consider those, then consider its weaknesses.

Preterism’s strengths

The leading strengths of preterism are:

(1) It retains and emphasizes the relevance of Revelation for John’s first-century audience (the seven churches in Asia Minor and apostolic Christianity more broadly), which is enduring a worsening period of persecution and oppression (1:9; 6:9–11; 14:13; 17:6) that would require Christians to strive to “overcome” (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). John writes to a particular people at a particular time, and those people are urged to carefully “hear” (1:3) what Revelation presents. Continue reading →

APPROACHES TO REVELATION: PRETERISM (1)

AD 70, Interpretation, Preterism, Revelation July 9, 2014 1 Comment

PreterismPMT 2014-082 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Of the four interpretive schools of Revelation, one of the most neglected in our times has been preterism. It is however experiencing a strong resurgence in recent days. This seems to be due to two powerful influences: (1) Futurism has warn out the evangelical market with false predictions. (2) As Christians look at the alternatives they find a powerful exegetical and theological case for preterism in recent contributions to the debate.

Preterism is the “ancient history” view of Revelation. Preterism practically points past people to the past, you might say (but I doubt you can say it five time very quickly). As I move toward the end of this series on interpretive approach to Revelation, I will engage preterism in two articles. Continue reading →

APPROACHES TO REVELATION: FUTURISM WEAKNESSES

Interpretation, Revelation July 7, 2014 1 Comment

PMT 2014-081 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Futurism 2

Most evangelicals today assume that Revelation is speaking about their own future. Too few of them realize there are other approaches to Revelation. Futurism is a difficult view to overthrow because of its large installed base of adherents. In this article I will be focusing on futurism’s strengths and weanesses, having presented the basics of the system in my previous article.

Futurism’s strengths

Futurism enjoys certain apparent strengths that make it appealing to many today.

(1) It seems to allow for the apparent universal and catastrophic events of Rev, in that these are so destructive they could not occur prior to the very end time. After all, “most natural disasters . . . pale into insignificance when compared with the Seer’s descriptions of the sixth seal” (J. Court). In this light J. F. Walvoord states that “the futuristic position allows a more literal interpretation of the specific prophecies of the book.” Continue reading →

APPROACHES TO REVELATION: FUTURISM (1)

Interpretation, Revelation July 4, 2014 Comments: 2

PMT 2014-080 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Futurism

Revelation has confused the minds of the best theologians and thinkers. The confusion is so deep-rooted that four basic schools of interpretation regarding Revelation have arisen and dominated the exegetical landscape. In this series I am summarizing each of the basic interpretive schools so as to better inform the Christian of the lay of the land in Revelation studies. Continue reading →

APPROACHES TO REVELATION: IDEALISM

Interpretation, Revelation July 2, 2014 Comments: 4

PMT 2014-079 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Idealism

The wry and sometimes disparaging humor of Ambrose Bierce is recorded in his Devil’s Dictionary. There he defines “Revelation” as follows: “Revelation. n. A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.” He would have loved our modern tele-evangelism use of Revelation.

Though Revelation was given to be a “revelation,” it has generated much confusion. As a consequence, four basic schools of thought have arisen regarding Revelation. I am continuing a series on this matter. In this study we will consider “Idealism.” Continue reading →