John Nelson Darby
Posted on 08/20/2021 1:12:40 AM PDT by Cronos
One of the biggest lies perpetuated in modern American Christianity is about the end times. Just by paying attention to popular culture and conversation, you would assume that the “Left Behind” theology is the most accepted — and maybe the only — way to think of the end times. That estimation, however, would be wrong.
Premillennial dispensationalism, the exact name for the “Left Behind” theology, always has been and remains a minority view among global Christians. And even though it was first espoused in England, this theology took root mainly in America.
Furthermore, neither the early church leaders nor the majority of Christian leaders throughout history would have known about premillennial dispensationalism because it is an invention of the mid-19th century.
How, then, did a fringe theological idea gain such prominence that it dominates discussion about the end times across America? The answer, in a word, is marketing.
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglican minister in England, born in 1800. He went on to become a founder of the Plymouth Brethren and is the person credited with first fully articulating ideas now known as dispensationalism and a pre-tribulation rapture. (More on what that means in a moment.) From about 1831 until his death in 1882, Darby wrote and lectured about his views, which were rejected by the Anglican Church but took root in certain other segments, mainly parts of the Presbyterian movement and eventually among Baptists.
C.I. Scofield
Darby in turn influenced an American lawyer-turned pastor, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, who led quite an interesting and tumultuous life before converting to Christianity somewhere in the late 19th century. By 1883, Scofield, then age 40, was ordained as a Congregationalist minister and sent to Dallas to lead a small mission church called First Congregational Church.
An interesting side note: That church, later renamed in his memory as Scofield Memorial Church, now exists within walking distance of my home in Dallas. However, I came under the influence of Scofield long before I ever moved to Dallas.
Growing up in a conservative Southern Baptist church in central Oklahoma, I was given as a teenager my own copy of the Scofield Reference Bible. This was the standard-issue, gold-standard Bible for faithful Christians in my orbit to use, not only because of its premillennial dispensationalist theology but because of its clever inclusion of a running series of notes throughout the text. This book is Bible and commentary packaged together in one product as though they are the same.
A page from the Scofield Reference Bible, showing Scofield’s notes at the bottom.
And, indeed, that was the promise and the problem. The Scofield Reference Bible, which first was published in 1909, melded premillennial dispensationalist theology with the King James Version of the Bible so seamlessly that impressionable teenagers like me assumed both parts were “authorized.”
While Catholics and most mainline Christian denominations were not pulled into Scofield’s orbit, many Baptists and the emerging group of nondenominational churches were. Another person influenced by Scofield was the American evangelist Billy Graham. In fact, there is a direct line of connection from Graham to the “Left Behind” books and films.
Back in the 1970s, when we had just three or four channels of TV available and you had to go to a theater to see a movie, it was popular for religious films to be disseminated through churches, where people would gather in sanctuaries or fellowship halls to watch films on portable screens. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association had an entire division dedicated to producing and distributing these films. And one of their most popular was a film titled “A Thief in the Night.”
I remember as a young teenager watching this film at church and having nightmares afterward sparked by fear of being left behind in the rapture. The film’s haunting theme also became popular in churches and on earlier Christian radio stations: “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” by Larry Norman.
Here’s a quick summary of the movie’s plot: Patty Myers considers herself a Christian because she attends church. But we soon learn that neither she nor the pastor of her church are true believers because they get left behind at the rapture. Patty awakens one morning to discover her husband vanished — along with millions of others worldwide. Then she experiences a classic dispensationalist interpretation of the book of Revelation, as the United Nations establishes a global government that requires all adherents to receive a mark — the Mark of the Beast — or be arrested.
In case it’s not already obvious, you can see how this film, released 50 years ago, plays into several evangelical Christian cultural stereotypes about evangelism, culture and politics. Even the pastor of Patty’s church is not a true believer, so everyone should be wary of the certainty of their salvation. That’s the message I grew up hearing, which is why I was baptized twice — once as a 9-year-old and once as a 15-year-old. As a teenager, I became convinced I had not been truly saved at age 9 and needed a do-over.
But also note the role the United Nations plays in this film, becoming the evil agent of the antichrist. Understand that in the 1970s, belief that the United Nations was part of an anti-Christian, anti-democratic conspiracy was indeed a fringe belief. And yet, here that conspiracy is given a starring role in a Billy Graham film. There’s a direct line from there to the chants of “America First” in our times.
To recap, we’ve gone now from John Nelson Darby in the mid-19th century to C.I. Scofield in the late 19th century to Billy Graham in the mid-20th century — there are other points along the way that I’ve left out for brevity — and that sets the stage for premillennial dispensationalism’s acceleration to the big leagues.
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
“A Thief in the Night” inspired evangelist Tim LaHaye and writer Jerry Jenkins to adapt this theological view into the format of a popular novel. Thus, in 1995 they published the first of the “Left Behind” series. This was the theological equivalent of placing an explosive device on a rocket — vastly extending the range and influence of an otherwise still minority and biblically suspect view.
The novels — 16 in all — captured readers’ attention and made their way to the bestseller lists. More than 65 million copies have been sold. What LaHaye and Jenkins did was to take a complicated theological system and write it into a series of action thrillers as though it was generally accepted wisdom straight from God. In this way, the authors weaponized their obscure theology by making it a plot device in a series of fast-paced, easy-to-read novels.
Jerry Falwell lauded the first book in the series: “In terms of its impact on Christianity, it’s probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible.” Critics were not so kind, mocking both the sensationalized theology and pulp-fiction writing. But again, the books sold millions.
And then came the movies, four in total, that further popularized the theology and made it appear mainstream.
To summarize, “Left Behind” did for premillennial dispensationalism what the Mormon Tabernacle Choir did for Mormonism. It gave a public face to an otherwise obscure and minority theological view and made it appear to be as normal as mainstream Christianity.
And by now, some of you are wondering what’s so wrong about premillennial dispensationalism and the “Left Behind” series. Why have I just expended more than 1,000 words giving the history of this viewpoint?
The short answer is that premillennial dispensationalism is, itself, a lie. It is a tortured misreading of the biblical text that appeals to fear, racism and jingoism as substitutes for wrestling with the hard questions of Scripture. It is a system that offers too-easy answers to complex life questions and that thrives on appearing to have a secret decoder ring that no one else has.
“It is a tortured misreading of the biblical text that appeals to fear, racism and jingoism as substitutes for wrestling with the hard questions of Scripture.”
Dispensationalism — like Calvinism, from which it is an offshoot — pretends to have all the answers and the only right answers to some of life’s most difficult questions. Its adherents give no notice that other devout Christians understand the Bible and the end-times prophecies differently. And it makes huge doctrinal leaps from words and ideas that don’t appear anywhere in the biblical text — chief among those being the word “rapture.”
Yes, I understand that not all biblical doctrines are spelled out by name in the Bible — the doctrine of the Trinity being a chief example of a key teaching that is inferred from Scripture but not identified by name anywhere in Scripture. I would argue, however, that the component parts of a doctrine of the Trinity are much more visibly present in Scripture than are the ideas of dispensationalism.
First, understand that Revelation is unique among biblical books because of its style. It is the only book in the Bible written in an apocalyptic style. This was a style of writing popular among Jewish audiences between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D.
Apocalyptic literature is not meant to be read literally. And this is a dominant failure of premillennialism, forcing a literal reading on a poetic text. It’s like reading a spreadsheet and trying to understand it as a novel. That’s not its purpose.
“It’s like reading a spreadsheet and trying to understand it as a novel.”
Further, premillennialists want to see symbolism behind parts of Revelation but not others; for example, reading the vivid images such as beasts and dragons as symbolic but insisting that numbers such as seven and 1,000 must be literally understood.
Among the things that argue against a literal interpretation of Revelation — and offer a clear clue that it is apocalyptic — is the repeated use of the number seven. There are seven churches, seven seals, seven bowls, seven trumpets. This is not coincidental. Seven is a number that in apocalyptic writing conveys completeness. It is a code more than a literal number. Likewise, multiples of 12 convey another meaning, and references to 1,000 years most likely symbolize a long time more than an exact number of years.
Most important, we must remember that Revelation was written to a specific group of people at a specific time for a specific reason. Good biblical interpretation requires that we first understand this context before attempting to transfer the teaching to modern times.
If you believe the “Left Behind” hype, you’d think Revelation was written to give us modern-day Christians a blueprint to the end times, sort of like Nicholas Cage putting the pieces together in “American Treasure.”
Yet seen in its proper context, we may understand the primary purpose of Revelation as to encourage the early church amidst intense persecution. We know that Revelation was written during a time of persecution of the early church. We just don’t know which exact time of persecution spawned it. Most scholars agree that the book describes the imperial persecutions of the Roman emperors. Altogether, there were 10 emperors believed to have persecuted Christians, but only two of them did so within John’s lifetime. Those are Nero, who reigned from 54 A.D. to 68, and Domitian, who reigned from 81 A.D. to 96.
How you understand the timing of the book’s writing is a key influence on how you interpret the book. And how you interpret a few key words also shapes your view. Among those key words is the meaning of the “thousand years” referenced in chapter 20. In all the Bible, only this one chapter of Revelation mentions the thousand-year reign of believers with Christ, and yet premillennialism builds an entire theology out of this.
Scores of books have been written to explain the various ways to understand Revelation and the end-times prophecies. We’ll not take time here to expand on them, just to quickly name them as premillennialism, postmillennialism and amillenialism. All three offer distinct advantages and disadvantages to interpretation. But we, seeing through a glass darkly as the Apostle Paul writes, do not have enough information to make a judgment.
And that is the source of the biggest lie perpetuated by premillennial dispensationalism and “Left Behind”: The assertion that this alone is the only valid view.
Ear flopping isn’t an insult.
It’s a reminder of peter, who on the night Jesus was arrested pulled out a sword and cut a servants ear off.
Jesus actually said
” get behind me satan”
Then healed the servants ear.
See, pride makes people think they have to work to be saved , so anyone who trusts God for their salvation , and escape from the tribulation , is a threat to their pride.
Pride.
The original sin , the first sin that got Satan booted from heaven.
Pride that puffs up.
.
Of what “church” are you speaking?
The Roman Catholic church?
LOL
Amen.
Or indulgences.
Or praying for someone’s soul after they have died.
Or infant baptism.
Bottom line is this Chronos character is a clown. Has to following (he thinks FR is) has no budget (uses FR for free). Not worth responding to moron who thinks the Catholic church (the domain of pedophiles) should be the source of truth.
The money quote of the article:”“It is a tortured misreading of the biblical text that appeals to fear, racism and jingoism as substitutes for wrestling with the hard questions of Scripture.”
Jews into the promised land to replace “Palestinians” as Zionists.That’s jingoism and racism, fear is just thrown in to compound the slime.
Its hard to take this article seriously when not a single scripture is used to challenge God’s plan for His Body. Nor is an alternative provided from scripture. Its simply another man’s opinion. His bio indicates a 17 year stint as an associate pastor in a Baptist church. So for almost 20 years in the ministry (I assume some years of education in a seminary of some flavor), he never studied Paul’s writing?
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I would encourage confused folks, like the author, to get a good Bible, open to Paul’s letters written TO the Church, and expect the Holy Spirit to reveal His Truth. Paul was teaching the coming of the Lord, and meeting His Body in the air, in the 1st century. Just because it was forgotten, misunderstood, or ignored, does not make it less true. Justification by faith was another one that was quickly forgotten as Christianity devolved into religion, and the reasoning of men. Centuries later, it was rediscovered by people who put God’s Word first. Paul saw the decline already happening at the end of his ministry. In his letters to Timothy, he was already lamenting the decline - with folks turning to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which foster and promote useless speculations and questionings rather than acceptance in faith of God’s administration and the divine training that is in faith. (1 Timothy 1:4 AMP) Paul’s prediction seems to have come to fruition in the posted article.
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I’m not sure why this author wrote such a long article without really making what he suggests is his point, but discrediting himself by form. Odd.
These arguments are meaningless since Chapters 2 through -22 in Revelation were created by Lucius, the Bishop of Cyrene. He wrote almost all the New Testament scripture after the deaths of the apostles. Christ did appear to john at Patmos, but only 3-4 verses reflect John’s report of Christ’s spiritual appearance. Lucius really corrupted Revelation 1 where he created Alpha & Omega, and turned Jesus into God. Revelation 17 was inserted by someone else in the 6th or 7th century, probably after Empress Theodora died. Lucius also wrote most of the Epistles, including Thessalonians, not Paul, and the Rapture is the fiction of Lucius. Look him up on the internet; it is very disturbing news, but his antics now explain all the inconsistencies contained in the New Testament.
Thessalonians was written by Lucius, Bishop of Cyrene and so was Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. There will never be a second coming of Jesus, because he already had his second coming, so two second comings is impossible. People who believe in the Rapture and the Physical Resurrection do not understand Christianity and are caught up in the beliefs of Lucius. The Great Tribulation occurred in 70AD and is spelled out in Flavius Josephus book about the Jewish war, something Lucius had read and then inserted it into Matt 24.The Sermon on the Mount is all the wonderful fiction of Lucius which he created to make the JEWS believe that Jesus was a great PROPHET. In addition, Jesus is not the Lord, that is Lucius’ belief, but Isaiah, Daniel, Jesus himself, and all his apostles said he was a human being.
Rapture IS in the Bible. In the LATIN BIBLE used for 1600 consecutive years since the founding of the Church in Rome!
It is a translation of and from the Greek word harpazo! Which means quickly snatched up.
https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/cotm_pub/2/
It was the same during my teen years back in the 1950s.
"Why is dancing a sin?" "It's not, if you can dance to the Glory of God. But it leads to sexual lust, not to the Glory of God."
"Why is sex wrong if God made it?" (They never answered that one.)
Yes, that always confused me. Accepting Christ's sacrifice cleanses you of sin. So there is nothing there to purge.
Thanks! Can you see a grand ballroom full of waltzing couples, and see that, or a group performing the minuet, and find that old lust just oozing all over the place?
Me,neither.
PS, they preached about divorce. I asked, “I’m divorced. What does that say about me?”
crickets, deer headlight stare ....
“Accepting Christ’s sacrifice cleanses you of sin”
Firstly, purgatory is the final stage in purification when we are purified by Christ’s sacrifice.
It isn’t biblical to say “just accept and you are cleansed” — if you read the Bible you read
1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
—> his love IS BROUGHT to perfection in us
James 1:4
And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
—> so that you MAY BE.. i.e. a process in which you are cleansed of sin
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.
—> this one seems to agree with your position, but it doesn’t say that you just accept and you are perfected. It is about the abolishing of Temple sacrifices — the temple was destroyed as Jesus predicted in the Olivet discourse and John envisioned in the book of Revelation.
Hebrews 12:23
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect,
—> note “spirits MADE perfect”
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Concluding Prayer. May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—> May He MAKE YOU — and these are people who accepted Christ. They are living godly lives and growing in HIS love and being cleansed.
In Revelation 21:27, God tells us that nothing imperfect can enter heaven.
“but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any[one] who does abominable things or tells lies.”
Only those with no blemishes on their souls immediately enter heaven. Those who have not repented and confessed their mortal sins will go to hell. Seeing as how, when we die, many of us will not fit in either of those two extreme categories we must fit somewhere else, somewhere in the middle called purgatory.
The majority of people are neither so free from sin and attachment to sin as to gain immediate entrance into heaven, nor so attached to sin and unrepentant as to be punished forever in hell.
Those people who have repented and confessed their sins will likely go THROUGH purgatory on their way to heaven to be purged removing the temporal effects of sin so that the soul is clean enough to enter heaven.
The poster of this thread is best defined as a heretic, a Catholic heretic. He is obsessed with John Nelson Darby, and ignoring Paul; the Apostle and a few early church fathers as well as the Dead Sea Scroolols of the Essenes.
The word rapture is in the Bible, but not the 19th century philosophy of the rapture.
Note that the point is QUICKLY snatched up - and in 1 Thess 4 we have
1. [15] For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first.
—> THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT SECRET. So the secret rapture story is non-biblical. We’re going to hear a big noise
2. [12] And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. [13] For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again; even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with him.
and
[16] Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord.
—> WE’RE ALWAYS WITH THE LORD - not whisked away while he creates an earthly kingdom — btw, remember
John 18:36
Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world
and a little further
1 Corinthians 15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
—> NOTE: TWINKLING of an eye - a fraction of a second.
The snatched away is at the second coming, there is no pre tribulation rapture creation of a separate kingdom of Jews under Jesus.
Jesus is ALREADY King of the world and has been since 33 AD when He defeated Satan
6 [a]When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city magistrates, shouting, “These people who have been creating a disturbance all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them. They all act in opposition to the decrees of Caesar and claim instead that there is another king, Jesus.”
The Rapture is no lie. The timing as before the man of sin is unrestrained is no lie (2 Thess 2), and the truth of dispensations is attested by Paul the Apostle. The author of this devilish essay is The Lie at work.
Nah, a heretic is defined as “a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted.”
That would be the 19th century pre tribulation rapture and the dispensationalism philosophy.
These are not what Christians have ever believed before the 19th century.
The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes - btw, those were another 2nd temple Jewish sect. And the Essenes didn’t hold to the pre tribulation rapture phantasy
You lie. You have been shown the evidence of the pretrib notion in some of the early church fathers’ writings/sermons. Yet you CHOOSE to continue this lie. That make you a purposed LIAR>
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