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To: Elsie
There is enough scripture to support all 3 major ways of looking at it; if ones CHOOSES their bible selections carefully.

I'm not saying that you personally are guilty of this, but that very attitude expressed in that statement is why we tolerate so much heresy at the expense of the Gospel.

Unfortunately, nominal Christians approach the Scriptures as a way to support their preconceived notions rather than submitting themselves to the authority of the Word. This is how we get the various heresies such as Pelagianism/Arminianism ("Free Will"), Benny-Hinn "miracle" workshops, Gap Theory/Day-Age Evolutionary Origins, Prostitutes for Jesus and Premillennial Dispensationalism.

The Goal is to implement hermeneutics that harmonize the entire body of Scripture, rather than to cherry pick proof-texts, redefine technical terms and then eisegete the remaining missing parts.

Staying within context of the OP, The Futurists reject the most fundamental premise of Scripture, in that the prophets prepare the way for the LORD. Rather the Futurists view the OT as a totally worthless collection of writings and prophecies that bear absolutely no relevance to the past three thousand years of human existence, and only serve as some future puzzle-book for a band of God-hating reprobates that will allegedly be "Left Behind" after this post-Christian Western culture completes making their mess of things.

That is why these Cosmic Chicken Littles spend the vast majority of their time conjuring up camp-fire stories to scare the living Hell out of each other, and justifying their "Everyone is Doomed Except Me So I Will be Anxious Anyway" theories with obscure and vague "Bible Truth"™ hidden deeply in the Scripture via Hebraic acrostic "Bible Codes" that once extracted by modern computer programs, will Divine the Truth better than any Ordained Prophet of God.

It requires total biblical illiteracy to sleep at night after spreading the FUD that makes their hysterical system "work". That is why they have no problems whatsoever in perverting "confirm the Covenant" to mean something totally opposite of its meaning (aka the Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and boldly assert, through the miracle of circular reasoning, that it can only mean a modern "Peace Treaty authored by the AntiChrist" (even though the idea of AntiChrist proposed in 1&2 John, a half millennia later bares no resemblance to anything they describe here)

There is no "rapture" of any sort that matches the Dispensational scheme. In order to sell this, they must totally reject what Jesus Christ Himself said regarding His Parousia. They must reject the Tares & Wheat Parable. They must reject all of the "this generation", "you", "at hand", "immediately", "very soon" and "now" time references that He made, and replace them, with "thousands of years from now" and "hundreds of generations from now".

Dispensationalists can't agree on three, four, six, seven or eight Dispensations that are "clearly described" in Scripture" yet they totally reject the Two Age model that Jesus Christ and the Disciples consistently and plainly taught.

I submit that gnostic Futurist camp-fire stories where the narrator can trash America (total abuse of the "Curse those who curse you.." clause), condemn their reprobate neighbor, be completely ignorant of Bible doctrine, secular foreign policy and human nature yet somehow be the smartest person in the room by claiming Nostradamus-like ability to parse Ezekiel 38 and various passages from Zechariah, is popular and preferred over giving glory to God and His love for His Church.

188 posted on 11/28/2011 5:52:15 AM PST by The Theophilus (Obama's Key to win 2012: Ban Haloperidol)
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To: The Theophilus
It appears many here reject the study of Scripture provided by many Dispensational authors, even before they understand the meaning.

Let's address the original articles accusations and questions directly.

Before studying, let's face God in prayer, confess our sins to Him, by 1stJohn 1:9 so we have assurance we are returning to fellowship with Him, so that God the Holy Spirit may guide us properly through faith in Christ.

First, let's consider the following statement.

In the 'Rapture' (or Dispensational) scheme the believer is asked to take the Person of Daniel's 70th Week (Who is Jesus Christ at the Cross) described in Chapter 9, verse 27a:

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, ..."

... and reverse this 'he' to mean a 'future Antichrist'.

A tremendous error is made here, which most Dispensational believers quickly identify. The Rapture and the Tribulation are 2 distinct events discussed in Scripture.

Daniel's 70th week is identifiable with the Great Tribulation and descriptions of the 70th week are associated with the Great Tribulation.

There isn't a simple verse stating the exact time of the Rapture. Many a theological debate could be put to rest immediately on academic grounds, if such a passage exists. Rather, by doctrinal study, eschatology provides the mature believer in Christ by spiritual perception and doctrinal grounding the ability to understand many things to come, which He has provides as a blessing to those who study it.

There is no disagreement between Christian denominations regarding the second coming of Christ. The day and hour isn't known per the Olivet Discourse in Matt 24:36-42 and in Luke's account in Luke 21:34-36. Unlike the 2nd Coming, which has signs of its approach, the Rapture isn't so announced. It occurs like the Great Flood, where people are eating, drinking, and giving one another in marriage. These are not sinful, but conditions common for survival and propagation of the human race.

So the first point needs to be made that the Rapture is distinct from the Great Tribulation, although other doctrinal studies might associate the 2, one preceding the other or intertwining them. (Hence the terms, Pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib)

194 posted on 11/28/2011 7:51:22 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: The Theophilus
Y'all are sure good at

MAXIMUM ABSURDITIES in Scripture & history mangling!

Photobucket

198 posted on 11/28/2011 8:10:49 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: The Theophilus
I'm sorry, but Acts 15 doesn't mention which of the end-time theories we must 'believe' in.

I 'believe' that many of us will see the 'end' in a car wreck, and all the guessing we've made until then will have proven fruitless.

Now, with that said, can we get back to the dancing angels conundrum?

;^)

208 posted on 11/28/2011 9:04:31 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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