Category Archives: Pessimism

PILGRIM MOTIF V. POSTMILLENNIALISM?

Church, Objections, Optimism, Pessimism December 5, 2014 Leave a comment

WandererPMT 2014-146 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I have an occasional practice of asking Facebook friends and PostmillennialismToday readers for some questions about eschatology that they might have. Be aware: I usually upload blog articles several weeks in advance. So your question might come slowly, rather than what you might expect: “the time is near.” Send your questions to me at: KennethGentry@cs.com

Chris Comis asks: “What is your response to the ‘pilgrim/sojourner’ motif in the Scriptures, especially as it is often presented by amills and premills from 1 Peter? Just curious.” Continue reading →

ISLAM VERSUS POSTMILLENNIALISM?

Objections, Optimism, Pessimism October 24, 2014 1 Comment

Islam swordPMT 2014-129 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I receive many email, blog, Facebook, and conference questions on various eschatological issues. From time-to-time I plan on running a question in PostmillennialismToday. Here is one I received very recently, wondering how about a difficulty postmillennialism faces today.

Dr Gentry. With the threat of Islam around the world particularly it’s growth and infiltration into western society, how do we rationalize the teaching of Christian postmillennialism? Will they continue to grow and threaten western society or will they come to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour?

This is an excellent question. A question that needs to be gotten out front, because I can imagine it is on many Christians’ minds when they hear of the optimism of postmillennialism. The dominant eschatology today is dispensationalism, which is pessimistic to the core regarding the future until Christ raptures the church. How can a postmillennialist have hope in the light of such a widespread problem in the world today? Continue reading →

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 →

THE RESTRAINER AND THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS

New Testament, Pessimism, Preterism December 25, 2013 Comments: 16

PMT 2013-044 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

ChainsThis is my fourth and final installment (for the time being!) on Paul’s Man of Lawlessness. Though it is a difficult passage, it serves as a foundation stone to peculiar dispensational beliefs involving the rebuilt temple and the re-institution of animal sacrifices. I have been showing, however, that this passage is dealing with first century concerns, not last century ones. We will see this further in today’s installment.

The Restrainer at Work

In 2Th. 2:7 we read: “for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” When Paul writes 2 Thessalonians 2, he is under the reign of Claudius Caesar. In this statement he even seems to employ a word play on Claudius’ name. Let’s see how this is so. Continue reading →

IDENTIFYING THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS

New Testament, Objections, Pessimism December 23, 2013 Leave a comment

PMT 2013-043 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Nero persecutesIn this blog article I will provide my third installment of my study on Paul’s Man of Lawlessness. In this study I will show the case for the Man of Lawlessness being . . . Nero Caesar.

Paul shows a deep concern regarding the deception (2Th 2:3a). To avoid the deception and to clarify the true beginning of the Day of the Lord upon Jerusalem, Paul informs them that “that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2:3). Before they can say the Day of the Lord “is come,” then, they must witness first (see RSV) the falling away and the revelation of the man of lawlessness, who is also called “the son of perdition.” (These do not necessarily occur in the chronological order presented, as even dispensationalists admit.1 Verse nine is clearly out of order and should occur in the midst of verse eight, if strict chronology were important.) Continue reading →

MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT

New Testament, Objections, Pessimism, Preterism December 20, 2013 Comments: 15

PMT 2013-042 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Paul at athensIn my previous blog I began a brief analysis of one of Paul’s most difficult passage. I noted widespread statements by church fathers and contemporary scholars confessing its difficulty. Then I noted that despite this, dispensationalism employs this passage as one of its foundations for its distinctive temple-theology. A theology built on difficult passages is not a stable system. Continue reading →