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H. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE MILLENNIUM — 1. How can Jesus’ kingdom have not yet come, when John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and the apostles all declared the “kingdom of God is at hand”? (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Mark 1:15; Acts 28:31) 2. Indeed, didn’t Paul teach that believers had already been transferred to the Kingdom? (Colossians 1:13) 3. Why would Jesus’ kingdom be set up in earthly Jerusalem, even though Paul said earthly Jerusalem was bondage and the old covenant (Galatians 4:24-25) that was passing away (Hebrews 8:13)? 4. How can Jesus’ kingdom be physical/earthly...

F. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE “END OF THE AGE” AND “LAST DAYS” — 1. In such passages as Matthew 13:39-40; 13:49; 24:3; 28:20; etc., isn’t Jesus referring to the end of an age (Greek aion) rather than the end of the world (Greek kosmos)? In other words, if the author was talking about the end of the world, wouldn’t he have used kosmos when he actually used aion? 2. The “time of the end” mentioned in Daniel 12:1-13 was to be when the burnt offering was taken away. Since burnt offerings ended in AD 70, must not this be the timeline,...

Let’s see how dispensationalists answer a few questions. . . . D. QUESTIONS ABOUT ISRAEL — 1. If the land promise to Israel is forever and unconditional, why did God say his promises were conditional on obedience in Deuteronomy 28 (cf. Exodus 1 9:5)? How is a 2,000-year gap forever? 2. Didn’t Israel receive all the land promised to Abraham per the book of Joshua (21:43-45; 23:14-15)? Didn’t Christ fulfill all the promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20; Galatians 3:16)? 3. If Israel and the church are separate groups, why is the gospel for everyone who believes—both Jew and Gentile?...

A. Haven’t dispensationalists been consistently wrong about prophecy? — All of these men and many more have made false prophecies: Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, Chuck Smith, Pat Robertson, Edgar Whisenant, Benny Hinn, Harold Camping, etc. etc. 1948 and False PropheciesB. Questions about the church ― 1. Do you believe that Israel and the church are different bodies, even though the Bible teaches that they are the same body (Ephesians 2:15; 3:6)―and that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek? (Acts 15:9; Romans 2:28-29; 10:12; Galatians 3:28-29; Colossians 3:11) 2. If the church age is only a parenthesis, why...

With a measure of teeth gnashing, and years of study—I became convinced that the preterist view of eschatology is the correct one. Here are some reasons why. 1. I could no longer ignore, in good conscience, the over 100 time-statements in the New Testament that limit fulfillment of the prophesied events to the lifetimes of the New Testament writers. (There really are over 100 of them.) Preterism 1012. I looked up every mention in the New Testament of the “last days,” “end,” or “end times” and found that all 19 such mentions are consistent. Without exception, the writers of the...

The phrase Day of the Lord (or variations of the phrase) is used in seventeen or so passages in the Old Testament (Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6-13; Isaiah 34:2-10; Jeremiah 46:10; Lamentations 2:22; Ezekiel 13:5; Ezekiel 30:2-4; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Joel 2:11; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:14; Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:2 to 2:3; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5)—and in at least five passages in the New Testament (Acts 2:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10). It is also alluded to in other passages (Romans 13:12; Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 6:17; Revelation 16:14). The exact count...

Most Christians think of the Second Coming of Jesus as a five-foot-five Jewish man (with long hair and ancient Jewish clothing) literally riding on a cloud down to earth—and walking around the streets of Jerusalem. But is this the correct understanding of what the Bible teaches? Interestingly, of the two dozen passages about the Parousia in the New Testament, only one (Acts 1:9-11) does not have a specific or implied time limitation to occur during the lifetimes of those living in the first century. Many Christians have misunderstood what Jesus meant by his Parousia, because they do not know their...

After years of skeptical study, I became persuaded that Jesus was telling the truth when He said that prophesied “last-things” events would be fulfilled in his generation (Luke 21:22, 32; etc.). This is the preterist view of eschatology. Preterism teaches that most, if not all prophetic events happened with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Books by modern authors such as Francis Gumerlock and Kenneth Gentry affirm that this view has been part of the discussion since the earliest days of Christianity. Indeed, preterists argue that the writers of the New Testament were preterists. It is re-emerging in popularity....

In September 2021, many people went into a frenzy when the United States Postal Service announced that their mail delivery service would become permanently slower. This new phenomenon is called Pre-Parcel Anxiety. “We live in a society where we build expectations and uphold perfectionism. We want things here and now. We want efficiency and struggle with patience,” psychotherapist Owen O’Kane explains. Today, we’re seeing what I’m calling Pre-Trib Anxiety. The world is in such a mess that anticipation of the always-imminent rapture is making people anxious. Where is it? It should have been here by now. Why is there a...

WHY THE RESURRECTION IS IMPORTANT "Man," writes Loren Eisley, "is the cosmic Orphan." He is the only creature in the universe who asks, Why? Other animals have instincts to guide them, but man has learned to ask questions. "Who am I?" he asks. "Why am I here? Where am I going?" Ever since the Enlightenment, when modern man threw off the shackles of religion, he has tried to answer these questions without reference to God. But the answers that came back were not exhilarating, but dark and terrible: "You are an accidental by-product of nature, the result of matter plus...

Gospel is a term used over 75 times in the New Testament. While it has various nuances of meaning, it's most fundamental meaning from the Greek is "good news." But good news of what? According to the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, "The gospel is the joyous proclamation of God's redemptive activity in Christ Jesus on behalf of man enslaved by sin." The importance of the gospel cannot be overstated. Indeed, it is the culminating concept of the entire Bible. As it says in the most famous of all Bible passages: “For God so loved the world that he gave his...

If I understand dispensationalism, largely because of the influence of Darby and Scofield, dispensationalists don’t really believe that Jesus is reigning now as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Indeed, to them, the Christian church age is but a “parenthesis of history.” They think Jesus’ reign only happens in a literal thousand-year millennium sometime in the future. At that time Jesus sits on a literal throne in literal Jerusalem ruling the world by legal proclamation (“with a rod of iron”). They think that Satan is ruling the world now. This seems like an astounding conclusion for any professing Christian,...

HISTORY OF FALSE PROPHETS AMONG OUR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS In every generation after the apostles, there have been Christians who mistakenly believed that they were in the last days. They have thought that their generation was the one Jesus spoke of when He prophesied that “all these things” would happen in “this generation.” Failed prognosticators have been a persistent embarrassment to Christianity. Perhaps there is something fundamentally wrong with these predictions. Francis Gumerlock, in his book THE DAY AND THE HOUR: CHRISTIANITY’S PERENNIAL FASCINATION WITH PREDICTING THE END OF THE WORLD, lists end times prophecy predictions made by Christians beginning in...

Perhaps the biggest challenge against Christians from skeptics, Jews, Muslims, and others is that the prophecies of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament failed. So, if Jesus and his followers were false prophets, Christianity falls. Consider these quotes: “Say what you like, we shall be told, the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so....

“And I will establish my covenant between you and Me, and you and your offspring after you, through their generations for an everlasting covenant. . . and I will give to you and your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:7-8; cf. Genesis 13:15; 48:4; Isaiah 60:21) “The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as He has sworn to you, IF you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. . . But IF you will not obey. ....

Summary. The Israel of God is no longer fleshly, natural Israel, but rather all believers in Jesus―along with a remnant of Godly believers of old. Jesus fulfilled all of the promises to Old Covenant Israel (Luke 1:67-79; 2 Corinthians 1:20). “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:5-8). The church extends beyond natural Israel to include Gentiles (Luke 2:32; Acts 9:15; 11:1, 18; Romans 11:11-32; Galatians 3:6-9, 25-29). This is not “replacement theology, but rather “inclusion theology.” Here is a sampling of passages about this: Galatians 6:14-16. In the context of the rest of Galatians, Paul...

Some things Christians believe are curious to me. For example, many conservative evangelical Christians, the group which I generally consider myself to be a part, proudly say, “We take the Bible literally.” Indeed, they use this statement as a test for orthodoxy. Well, here are few questions I’d like to ask them: • When Jesus said that He is the vine (John 15:5), did He mean that He is a plant? • Is God literally a rock (2 Samuel 22:3; Psalm 18:2, etc.)? • Should we literally hate our mother and father so that we can be Jesus’ disciple (Luke...

HERE’S HOW FUTURISTS TWIST THE WORDS OF JESUS AND THE BIBLICAL WRITERS “This generation” (Mt. 11:16; 12:39; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:34) REALLY MEANT some other future generation. “In a very, very little while” (Heb. 10:37) REALLY MEANT thousands of years later. “The end is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7) REALLY MEANT it was not at hand at all, but rather far distant. “The time was short” (1 Cor. 7:29) REALLY MEANT the time was a long time off. “It is the last hour” (1 John 2:18) REALLY MEANT millions of hours later. Judgment to occur at Jesus’ return in his...

Are you looking for current events to identify the “biblical last days?” If so, you are reading your own presuppositions into the text. Theologians call that “eisegesis.” That’s an illegitimate methodology for biblical interpretation. Instead, we should be trying to glean the meaning intended by the biblical authors themselves―and the understanding of the original audience, i.e. “exegesis.” Let’s avoid newspaper-eschatology and go to the Bible to define the “last days” or “end times.” The Bible never speaks about the end of the world―only about end of the AGE. The King James Version of the Bible has misled readers for 400...

Hal Lindsey’s book “The Late Great Planet Earth,” written in 1970, sold over 28 million copies. Gullible Christians got sucked into Lindsey’s soon end-of-the world poppycock. As time has passed without his version of Armageddon taking place, we can now objectively analyze where Lindsey went wrong: • Lindsey (p. 54, 181), like other dispensationalists, placed the beginning of the end with Israel becoming a nation in 1948. He thought all prophecy would be fulfilled within a 40-year generation (Matthew 24:34). But 1988 came and went, proving him to be a false prophet. (This should be adequate proof that 1948 has...