From: sl@ccd.harris.com (Scott Linn)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: ARMAGEDDON NOW!
Date: 8 Apr 92 08:38:08 GMT
Organization: Advanced Technology Department, Harris Corporation

-- 
     I originally posted this to alt.messianic.  I post it 
here in response to the question about the nearness of the
"End Times."

     This is a review of Dwight Wilson's 1977 book, _Armageddon 
Now!:  The Premillenarian Response to Russia and Israel Since 
1917_, just reissued by the Institute for Christian Economics,
Tyler, Texas, 274 pp, hb $25.00, pb $9.95, end notes, 
bibliography, indexes, no colophon.  Although this detailed
history is currently published by a post-millennial book
house, the author describes himself as "a third-generation
premillenarian who has spent his whole life in premillen-
nialist churches, has attended a premillennialist Bible
college, and has taught in such a college for fourteen
years." (p. 13)

     While the book appears to deal primarily with
dispensational premillennialists, it is more than
apropos to all of the pre-mil positions that I have
seen raised in this news group.  The former president
of Dallas Theological Seminary, John Walvoord, reviewed _AN!_
in 1980 and wrote this:  "Students of prophecy will
do well to study this volume carefully for its comprehensive
view of premillennial interpretation over the last sixty years
and to learn from it many important lessons applicable to 
interpretation today." (p. ix)  If only Walvoord had 
listened to his own words, but we'll discuss that later.

     In summarizing the history of the premil understanding
of the prophetic relationship of Christians to Israel, Russia,
and (to a lesser extent) Germany, Wilson identifies three
problems:  "Literalism, determinism, and opportunism."(p. 215)
We will review his findings.

    First of all, Literalism is characterized by "an
interpretation of Scripture that expects a literal, precise
fulfillment of prophecy [that would either provide] precise,
accurate definitions of the fulfillment of these prophecies, 
or lacking such precision [would confess] an admission
of indefiniteness which would at least have the advantage of
avoiding false identifications and gross error.  The pre-
millenarians' history, however, is strewn with a mass of 
erroneous speculations which have undermined their credibility.
Sometimes false identifications have been made dogmatically,
at other times only as probabilities or possibilities, but the
net result has always been the same - an increased skepticism 
toward premillennialism." (p. 216)

     Wilson is generous here.  The history that the previous
215 pages of his book chronicles is tragic.  And Wilson only 
deals with the main stream historical figures -
he ignores the extremist fringe (ala Whisenant).
The repeated instances of mis-identification of the anti-
Christ (Mussolini, Hitler, Kissinger, Gorby, etc. etc.) alone
are worth arousing doubt in the pre-millenial system or
at least in its teachers.  Just last year at this time, Christian
and secular bookstores became suddenly overstocked with dozens of
volumes of doom and gloom pre-mil predictions that Armageddon
was *NOW* because of the Persian Gulf War.  Unfortunately, for
continued high-volume sales to the unsuspecting, the 
war ended.  One of the chief offenders was the above mentioned
John Walvoord. 
 
     [The publisher of _AN!_ recounts in his preface that 
Walvoord also had _Major Bible Prophecies:  37 Crucial 
Prophecies That Affect You Today_ due out in August 1991.  
The book was suddenly delayed.  One questions whether the 
August coup in Russia called for a major rewrite?]

     Secondly, Wilson speaks of the problem of Determinism.
Premillennialists "have expected and condoned anti-Semitic
behavior because it was prophesied by Jesus.  Their consent 
(even though given while spewing pro-Zionism out the other
side of their mouths) makes them blameworthy with regard to
American as well as Nazi and Soviet anti-Semitism.  Neither 
as a body nor as individuals has their cry against such
inhumanity been more than a whimper.  On the other hand, 
the establishment of the state of Israel has been unquestion-
ingly approved with little or no consideration of the effect
on the native Arab population."(p. 217)

    On the same page, Wilson points out the inconsistency
of the pre-mil position WRT Russia.  Russia too has an 
eschatological role in the pre-mil framework:  it is to
attack Israel at Armageddon.  Rather than encouraging the 
growth and movement of Russia toward eschatological destiny
as they do with Israel, the pre-mils have been opposed to
the spread of Russian power.  Of course, with Russia now
in decline, I suspect that the pre-mils will return to their 
old fall-back position:  Germany (aka Gomer).

     Thirdly, Opportunism is a problem for the pre-mil position.
They used "Times of crisis" evangelism "to produce feelings of
insecurity in the general populace as a matter of course.  The
evangelistic message was found to be most effective when couched
in terms of confident, dogmatic overstatements, rather than in a
carefully reasoned, moderate theology that offered indefinate 
conclusions.  The success of such evangelistic approaches was
to the premillenarians well worth the risk of false identifications
in the interpretation of prophecy."(p. 218)  But is it not
obvious that a history of failed predictions bordering on
false prophecy is no way to win and keep the lost.  They 
have cried wolf (hopefully) too often. 

     Surely Wilson is not condeming premillenialism as a whole,
nor do I.  Pre, a, and post millenialism have long histories
in the church and have all been supported by orthodox teachers
of the faith.  However, in the early 1800's, pre-mils made escha-
tology the point for making or breaking communion among believers.   
After almost two hundred years of sitting on the edge
of their seats, is it not about time that the pre-mils got
up and got to work?  And, I do not mean jumping up and down 
in the Church yard for Rapture Practice. :->  We have a task 
to proclaim the true evangel - the true good news to the whole 
world.  We have Christ's statement that He has "all power . . . 
in heaven and in earth" backing our mission.  We are guaranteed 
victory, we cannot fail.
     

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