As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that
you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to MYTHS and endless genealogies, which promote SPECULATIONS rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:3-7).
THE IMMINENCY MYTH - CHUCK MISSLER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw
Chuck Missler uses the background of the ancient Jewish wedding as proof of imminency:
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:2-3)
Missler teaches that this passage proves imminency because the bridegroom departs for an "indeterminate time" before returning unexpectedly for his bride, the church.
This is an illegitimate illustration of imminency. The ancient Jewish wedding took place in two distinct stages, usually about a year apart. The first stage, kiddushin (sanctification or dedication), including erusin (betrothal), after which the groom would depart for about a year in order to prepare a dwelling place in his father's house to which he would later bring his bride. The second stage, nisuin (the formal marriage) when the marriage was consummated and the couple started their life together. The period of time for the bridegroom to return for the nisuin, though not exact, was predictable - it was certainly not "indeterminate" or "imminent" as Missler and others claim. The context of John 14:2-3 is more of an assurance that Christ will indeed return, and that during his absence he is making preparations for his bride. It follows that if Christ is making preparations, he will not return until they are complete. Christ's journey is spoken of elsewhere as a long absence which does not indicate imminence (Proverbs 7:19; Matthew 21:33; 25:14; Luke 19:12; 20:9). The definition of imminency is that nothing must precede it, and yet clearly Christ's preparations do precede it. "If something else must occur before Christ comes, then His coming is not imminent. The necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of the imminent coming of Christ." http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/imminent-coming-of-christ
THE SEVEN DAYS OF HUPPAH MYTH
The Book of Joel gives us the Hebrew word "chuppah" which, in this context, is a bridal canopy or chamber (Joel 2:16). Below are three quotations from well known pretribulationists propagating the myth of the bride's seven days of seclusion in the bridal chamber (chuppah or huppah).
The Berean Call:
"Corresponding with the Jewish bride remaining hidden in the bridal
chamber for a period of seven days after arrival at the groom's father's
house, the Church will remain hidden for a period of seven [years]
after arrival at Christ's Father's house in heaven. While the seven-year
Tribulation Period is taking place on the earth, the Church will be in
heaven totally hidden from the sight of those living on the earth. Just
as the Jewish groom brought his bride out of the bridal chamber at the
conclusion of the seven days with her veil removed, so that all could
see who his bride was, so Christ will bring His Church out of heaven in
His Second Coming at the conclusion of the seven-year Tribulation Period
in full view of all who are alive, so that all can see who the true
church is (Col:3:4)."
https://www.thebereancall.org/content/behold-bridegroom-comes
Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
".....(being taken away and hidden in the 'cheder', the bridal-chamber, was the consummating act of the ancient Jewish wedding. Unless the bridegroom fulfilled the required "seven days in the bridal-chamber" with his bride, the marriage covenant was not considered to be consummated or fulfilled. In prophetic application, the Lord invites His bride to 'hide in the bridal-chamber' prior to 'the Indignation' - the Great Tribulation)" http://www.arielministries.net/ariel0626.html
Chuck Missler:
"During the seven days of the wedding feast, the bride and groom remained hidden in the bridal chamber19 (Cf. Genesis 29:21-23, 27-28) for the seven days of the huppah.20
Afterwards, the groom came out of hiding, bringing his bride with him,
but with her veil removed so that everyone could see her." http://www.khouse.org/articles/2003/449
Missler cites The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, pp.5, 504 as his source for the above quotation. Actually this quotation comes from a piece written by staunch pretribulationist Renald Showers who has misquoted The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. In effect we have Showers fictional statement about the groom coming out of hiding with his bride etc. tagged onto his
misquotation of the source, a ruse seemingly designed to completely mislead the
readers of both Missler and Showers! Showers source: "Huppah," The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, ed.
Isaac Landman (New York: Universal Jewish Encyclopedia Co., Inc.,1948),
5, 504.
http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/jewish_marriage_customs.htm
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015069223728;view=1up;seq=526
Many pretribulationist authors re-quote Showers and Missler as authoritative evidence for "the seven days of huppa". However, the problem
for the pretribulationists is that there is no evidence for the mythical
seven days of isolation in the Tanakh. This necessitates their reliance upon tradition alone without biblical support, in order to validate their point. Ironically, even here they fail! Although the Talmud does give detailed information on Jewish wedding
procedures, opinion seems to differ among the rabbis concerning these procedures in ancient times. In Talmudic times, the room where the marriage was consummated was huppa or chuppah. In other words the huppah was a later addition practiced during Talmudic period. The Tanakh refers to the wedding simply as the seven days of the feast (Genesis 29:27 Judges 14:12).
"Of the marriage ceremonial little is known; it is not mentioned at all
in the story of Isaac, while in that of Jacob (Gen. xxix.) a
marriage-feast and a nuptial week are spoken of." http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10432-marriage
"Many medieval rabbis were uncertain about what precisely the Talmud was thinking of when it said 'the huppah.' According to many authorities the huppah was the groom's house, or, if
not, it was a room or space other than the bride's parental home." http://templeemunah.org/images/sermons/Rabbi_David_Lerner/Previous_Years/5768/09-27-07%20-%20Sukkot%205768.pdf
Dr Thomas L Constable explains some of the background concerning weddings in the ancient Near East: "Sixth,
the bride and groom would consummate their marriage at the groom's home
the night of the wedding ceremony. Seventh, there would be a banquet
that would often last as long as seven days. This often took place at
the groom's home." http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/matthew.pdf
Kaufmann Kohler refers to "the seven days of her" or "of the ḥuppah" as a seventeenth century practice amongst Dutch Jews. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7941-huppah
My conclusion: Evidence for the seven day period of seclusion of the bride and groom in the bridal chamber appears to be taken from from later Jewish tradition and forms part of the pre-tribulation rapture propaganda. Furthermore, many pretribulationists are desperate to prove a seven year tribulation in order to prove their point, but this is another myth. The Great Tribulation referred to by Jesus Christ is a period of 3.5 years (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 12:5-6; 13:5). The seven year period is commonly referred to as "Daniel's seventieth week" (Daniel 9:27). As I have previously written, the history of the pre-tribulation rapture
deception is sordid through and through and still persists to this day through men who for some unknown reason are determined to propagate this
myth at the expense of truth.These men are even prepared to re-write history and twist the scriptures to fit in with their dubious agenda. http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/thomas-ice-and-paul-wilkinson-sordid.html
Chuck Missler's past is something of a shock if one isn't prepared. Missler has publicly apologised for his heavy plagiarisation of Edwin Yamauchi's ©1982 book
titled Foes from the Northern Frontier: Invading Hordes from the Russian
Steppes (FNF). Missler has also been accused of plagiarism of New Age writer Michael Talbot's 1992 book The Holographic Universe in his 1999 book Cosmic Codes: Messages from the Edge of Eternity.
http://calvarychapel.pbworks.com/w/page/13146663/missler-plagiarism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Missler
The video below gives an alarming exposé about Chuck Missler and the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP). The CNP was founded in 1981 by suspected Mason, Tim LaHaye, author of the best selling pre-tribulation rapture series Left Behind. CNP members have been given billions of dollars by Sun Myung Moon, self proclaimed Messiah (Lord of the Second Advent) and founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies). Membership of the CNP is a covert affair and by invitation only - a current list of members is "strictly confidential". Previous members lists include Chuck Missler, Bob Jones III, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Sun Myung Moon, Pat Robertson, James Robison, Jerry Falwell, Paige Patterson, Ergun Caner and many more. Interestingly a numberof these people are now embracing Roman Catholicism!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy#Meetings_and_membership
http://www.ministers-best-friend.com/Council-for-National-Policy.html
The Berean Call has recently come under fire due to Paul Wilkinson's vile attack on Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson. Note Wilkinson's outrageous announcement that anyone who does not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture is a heretic!
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/left-behind-or-led-astray-paul.html
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/berean-call-conference-2015-paul.html
They
profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are
detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. (Titus 1:6)
This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:3-6; Mark 7:7-13; Isaiah 29:13).
http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws
seven days of feasting ancient jewish wedding
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924091768253/cu31924091768253_djvu.txt
http://www.jewishmag.com/131mag/wedding_chuppah/wedding_chuppah.htm
http://www.jewish-history.com/minhag.htm
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Chuppah
http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/16558/is-there-any-account-of-a-religious-marriage-ceremony-in-the-scripture
Friday, 23 October 2015
Saturday, 10 October 2015
thomas ice and paul wilkinson: the sordid pre-tribulation rapture deception!
but evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
Thomas Ice is is Executive Director of The Pre-Trib Research Center (PTRC). He founded the PTRC in 1994 with Tim LaHaye to research, teach, and defend the pre-tribulation rapture and related Bible prophecy doctrines. http://pre-trib.org/about/dr-ice
"Dr" Thomas Ice received his PhD from Tyndale Theological Seminary which is an unaccredited private Christian seminary with its campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
"WorldNetDaily reported on March 7 that a Texas district court has ordered the Tyndale Theological Seminary to pay fines totalling $170,000 for issuing 34 theological degrees without receiving approval from the state education agency."
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html
The key verse the PTRC use to promote the pre-tribulation rapture deception: Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13). The PTRC works on the presupposition that "the blessed hope" IS the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. There are some very serious problems with this presupposition. The relevant word in Titus 2:13 is "appearing" epipháneia, literally an epiphany, a fitting manifestation or a conspicuous appearing. This emphasises the impact that Christ's visible appearance will have on the entire world when every eye shall see him, both the saved and the unsaved (Revelation 1:7). In the New Testament epipháneia occurs six times and it is always used of Christ's coming (once of His first coming, 2 Timothy 1:10). The context is the appearing of the glory further confirms this understanding since the glory will not be manifest until Christ's second coming to the earth. The blessed hope is synonymous with the parousia i.e. the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 Corinthians 15:23).
"PTRC wants to impact Pastors and individual Christians with the central role and importance that Bible prophecy, especially the any-moment possibility of the rapture, should play in the life of the church. Dr. LaHaye and PTRC stresses three practical implications that flow from the rapture teaching. The first implication of pretribulationism is that it leads to godly living in an unholy age. Next, this New Testament teaching promotes a strong emphasis upon evangelism of the lost. Finally, when believers come to understand this eternal perspective, it leads to a zeal for worldwide missions." http://www.pre-trib.org/about
Exhortations to godly living in the New Testament do not hinge on a pre-tribulation rapture:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13) The meaning of apokalupsis is to lay bare. It is the the manifestation of Jesus Christ, not in a pre-tribulation rapture, but his final advent.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (2 Peter 3:11) This verse links godly living to the day of the Lord, not a pre-tribulation rapture.
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light (Romans 13:12) the approaching parousia (see also Hebrews 10:37; 1 Corinthians 3:13).
.....for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Luke 16:8; John 12:36). Christians are exhorted to walk as children of light because they belong to Christ.
See also 1 Peter 3:8-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 1:1-9 etc.
Similarly, evangelism and missions are centered on the salvation message i.e. the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, not on a pre-tribulation rapture.
The doctrine of imminency, i.e. the teaching that the rapture could take place at any moment, is not found in the Bible, rather it is an induction.
Thomas Ice interprets the "falling away" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the rapture, due to his interpretation of apostasia "the departure". 1 Timothy 4:1 demonstrates very clearly that apostasia is not the rapture - apostasy is defection, desertion, rebellion departure from a previous standing. There are several instances where the meaning of apostasia is clear: Luke 2:37, 4:13, 8:13, 13:27; Acts 5:37, 12:10, 15:38, 19:9, 22:29; 2 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 3:12. You cannot possibly get the rapture from apostasia!
Thomas Ice would have us believe that "the 24 elders" in Revelation 4:4 are the complete raptured church in heaven prior to the tribulation. This is yet another induction. Firstly, Revelation 4:4 is a description of the throne-room of God, there is nothing to indicate that it is a future event. Revelation 15:1-6 is a future scene with those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. This seems clear enough, but additionally, Revelation 5:8 has the 24 elders each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. This verse seems to indicate that the "elders" represent the saints, not that the saints are actually present. Furthermore the redeemed of Revelation 6:9 are not with the 24 elders around the throne of God, they are under the altar. The word "elder" is not used of angels in the scriptures, but neither are "elders" referred to as the complete church - elders are simply "elders", we are given no further information about their identity.
Thomas Ice et al are very adept at mis-translating the scriptures in order to advance their pre-tribulation deception. Theologians call it "revisionism" - I call it cheating! A terrible judgement awaits anyone who dares to alter God's word (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19).
THE SORDID HISTORY: JOHN NELSON DARBY OR EDWARD IRVING?
Prior to the 1830s no one had heard of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The church looked to the second coming, the parousia, as their hope for just over 1800 years, until Darby that is. Even today, pretribulationism is a doctrine which is held exclusively by the western church, the rest of the Christian world holds to the apostolic position. It was not until Darby departed from the apostles teaching and began to inflict pretribulationalism onto congregations, both in the UK and the US, that the deception began to take hold. In his own words, Darby's wish was that it would spread through the church like "leaven". The deception was further popularized in the US in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Scofield's unholy life is a subject in itself; suffice to say that he was a dishonest man known for scandal, lies, fraud, adultery, forgery, drunkenness and disgrace.
http://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2013/08/28/scofield-bible-part-2-re-defining-the-darkness-of-fraud-conspiracy-and-heresy/
http://proliberty.com/observer/20090507.htm
The PTRC credits John Nelson Darby, and Darby alone, with the pre-tribulation rapture theory.
".....I believe it can be established that Darby first came to believe in both dispensational truth and pretribulationism by December 1826 or January 1827, before these other alleged sources even surfaced."
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/when-did-j-n-darby-discover-the-rapture
The above PTRC statement is very misleading. It appears that Darby did not clearly teach the pre-tribulation rapture until after the split of the Brethren movement in 1839, twelve years after the date claimed by the PTRC. In fact, evidence suggests that Edward Irving and his followers came up with all of the crucial aspects of dispensationalism well before Darby. Irving published extensive pre-tribulation teachings in his journal "The Morning Watch" from 1829 to 1833. Furthermore, it seems inconceivable that Benjamin Wills Newton would have invited Darby to join the Plymouth Assembly had Darby held pretribulational views in 1831. It was not until 1834 that cracks began to develop in the relationship between Darby and Newton, when Darby began to shift positions and became increasingly convinced in a pre-tribulation rapture. Ordinarily these details would not be critical, but there are good reasons why the PTRC want to credit Darby as the originator of pre-tribulation theory and distance themselves from Irving. Irving was declared a heretic by the Church of Scotland in 1833 for teaching that Christ's human nature was sinful. Furthermore, Irving was a Universalist, an occultist and a false prophet (he predicted that Christ would return in 1864). Clearly Irving's pedigree is not conducive to the PTRC aims of promoting pre-tribulation rapture as a credible proposition. It has been suggested, and not without some foundation, that there has been a sordid cover up in order to credit Darby with pretribulationalism. This plot is promoted primarily through the prevarications of Thomas Ice, and more recently the PTRC's new thug, Paul Wilkinson, who is also a member of the PWMI in the UK. Wilkinson has recently conducted a vicious attack against Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson, through his defective critique of the DVD Left Behind of Led Astray (LBOLA) by Good Fight Ministries. His subsequent rebuttal to the round table discussion is very weak if not pathetic; he refuses to even answer certain questions saying: "They are not worthy of comment".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNjDYsHfh4&feature=youtu.be
http://livestream.com/bereancallconference/israel2
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/left-behind-or-led-astrayexposed-long-version
As General Director of The Prophetic Witness Movement International (PWMI), Colin LeNoury's knowledge of the subject is embarrassingly sparse. One would think that the General Director of the PWMI would be fully conversant with the history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. In the DVD LBOLA, Le Noury says that Darby's pre-tribulation ideas ran concurrently with Edward Irving. This contradicts Ice and Wilkinson who say that Darby pre-dated Irving. LeNoury could not answer the question whether there was evidence that Darby's ideas about a pre-tribulation rapture had crystallized prior to 1830: "I am not sure. It is not an area I have researched deeply enough to say whether we have or not." Le Noury has also stated in the same DVD that there is no verse in the scriptures which proves a pre-tribulation rapture. Enough said I think!
THE RECENT SORDID HISTORY: HAL LINDSEY AND TIM LAHAYE
During the 1970's the pre-tribulation rapture theory came back into focus and was popularised by Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), which has reportedly sold over 60 million copies. The film A Thief in the Night, which followed in 1972, was heavily influenced by The Late Great Planet Earth. In 1995, the pre-tribulation rapture theory was further popularised by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of best selling novels which sold tens of millions of copies and later developed into a multi-media franchise. Needless to say, since the 1970s, the pre-trib industry has developed into big business worth millions of pounds.
Very little is known about Hal Lindsey's co-author Carole C. Carlson. This seems very odd for someone who has co-authored several best sellers. It has been suggested by some that Carlson is a Roman Catholic nun writing under a pseudo name in order to hide her true identity. Lindsey and Carlson went on to write several sequels, including Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth and The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. Carlson is also co-author of Escape the Coming Night with David Jeremiah. Why do we know so little about Carlson? Lindsey is also equally tight lipped about his four marriages. Should we take a man seriously as a Bible prophecy expert who has been married four times and who has close associations with the apostate TBN TV station? According to several sources, the 2002 Alumni Directory of the Jesuit Gonzaga University lists two of Lindsey's daughters as attendees. In addition to this, Lindsey is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20; 2 Peter 2:1):
Lindsey prophesied in The Late Great Planet Earth, that the Soviet Union would be the Empire of the Anti-Christ.
He also prophesied that Jesus would return within 40 years of the birth of the nation of Israel (citing Matthew 24 and the budding of the fig tree).
http://hallindsey.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=137240
Despite all of the above, Thomas Ice refers to Hal Lindsey in glowing terms.
Tim LaHaye: "No single verse specifically states Christ will come before the Tribulation."
Tim LaHaye has strong connections with Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies). Moon has proclaimed himself "the world’s new Messiah" and "the Lord of the Second Advent." LaHaye was the chair of Moon’s Coalition for Religious Freedom, and is reported to have received at least half a million dollars in funding from Moon’s associate Bo Hi Park. It is extraordinary to say the least that LaHaye and his wife have attended and spoken at Moon-sponsored events without raising any theological objections to Moon's claims.
Tim LaHaye to Sun Myung Moon: "Your suffering will cleanse the sins of America."
In 1981 LaHaye founded The Council for National Policy described by The New York Times as: "A little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country." LaHaye along with others, is said to be a major figure in subverting the messianic faith. Please read the details of this very secretive organization on the links below. Additionally LaHaye's book Power of the Cross uses the unmistakable Freemasonry Knights Templar symbol, the Cross and Crown, on its cover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy
http://www.aljacobsladder.com/lord-help-me/gods-fakirs/more-moronic-con-men.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_and_Crown
The above information should be quite enough for any Christian to avoid Tim LaHay and Left Behind like the plague. However so called "prophecy expert" "Dr" Thomas Ice
actually founded the PTRC with him!
What are we supposed to make of all this? I do not know what Thomas Ice and Paul Wilkinson are in reality, only God knows what they are. What I do question is:
We see so called evangelicals Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes etc. openly aligning themselves with Rome and Jesuit Pope Francis, but is there something just as sinister going on among "respectable" evangelical leaders who claim to be "Bereans"? I personally believe that there is.
Joe Schimmel and Jacob Prasch have stated that the timing of the rapture should not be a divisive issue. I agree that there are many genuine Christians who have been sucked into the pre-tribulation rapture deception by their pastors and/or denominations, and I am not saying that I would divide from these dear believers in Jesus Christ. My personal problem at this point in time is that I cannot maintain unity with those who in my view are deliberately perpetrating a deception which threatens to turn Christians away from their salvation. This is no small issue! I regard these men as false witnesses who are facilitating the "apostasia" (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Mark 10:19; Proverbs 12:17; 14:25). They muddy the waters and have sought to re-invent the sordid pre-tribulation rapture history with no scriptural basis to authenticate their position . I personally have no confidence in either Thomas Ice or Paul Wilkinson as true leaders of the church; I regard them as wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; 1 Timothy 3:1-13). I could no more fellowship with these men than I could with Benny Hinn!
I see nothing of the gospel on the PTRC website, all of their time and substantial efforts are focused upon this deception to the exclusion of the gospel itself.
.....and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:20)
http://www.seeking4truth.com/john_darby.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wills_Newton
http://www.scionofzion.com/edward_irving.htmhttp://www.omegashock.com/2013/02/20/jesuit-pretrib-rapture/
http://watch.pair.com/lahaye.html
http://www.rense.com/general20/unholy.htm
http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://libertytothecaptives.net/tim_lahaye.html
Thomas Ice is is Executive Director of The Pre-Trib Research Center (PTRC). He founded the PTRC in 1994 with Tim LaHaye to research, teach, and defend the pre-tribulation rapture and related Bible prophecy doctrines. http://pre-trib.org/about/dr-ice
"Dr" Thomas Ice received his PhD from Tyndale Theological Seminary which is an unaccredited private Christian seminary with its campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
"WorldNetDaily reported on March 7 that a Texas district court has ordered the Tyndale Theological Seminary to pay fines totalling $170,000 for issuing 34 theological degrees without receiving approval from the state education agency."
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html
The key verse the PTRC use to promote the pre-tribulation rapture deception: Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13). The PTRC works on the presupposition that "the blessed hope" IS the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. There are some very serious problems with this presupposition. The relevant word in Titus 2:13 is "appearing" epipháneia, literally an epiphany, a fitting manifestation or a conspicuous appearing. This emphasises the impact that Christ's visible appearance will have on the entire world when every eye shall see him, both the saved and the unsaved (Revelation 1:7). In the New Testament epipháneia occurs six times and it is always used of Christ's coming (once of His first coming, 2 Timothy 1:10). The context is the appearing of the glory further confirms this understanding since the glory will not be manifest until Christ's second coming to the earth. The blessed hope is synonymous with the parousia i.e. the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 Corinthians 15:23).
"PTRC wants to impact Pastors and individual Christians with the central role and importance that Bible prophecy, especially the any-moment possibility of the rapture, should play in the life of the church. Dr. LaHaye and PTRC stresses three practical implications that flow from the rapture teaching. The first implication of pretribulationism is that it leads to godly living in an unholy age. Next, this New Testament teaching promotes a strong emphasis upon evangelism of the lost. Finally, when believers come to understand this eternal perspective, it leads to a zeal for worldwide missions." http://www.pre-trib.org/about
Exhortations to godly living in the New Testament do not hinge on a pre-tribulation rapture:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13) The meaning of apokalupsis is to lay bare. It is the the manifestation of Jesus Christ, not in a pre-tribulation rapture, but his final advent.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (2 Peter 3:11) This verse links godly living to the day of the Lord, not a pre-tribulation rapture.
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light (Romans 13:12) the approaching parousia (see also Hebrews 10:37; 1 Corinthians 3:13).
.....for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Luke 16:8; John 12:36). Christians are exhorted to walk as children of light because they belong to Christ.
See also 1 Peter 3:8-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 1:1-9 etc.
Similarly, evangelism and missions are centered on the salvation message i.e. the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, not on a pre-tribulation rapture.
The doctrine of imminency, i.e. the teaching that the rapture could take place at any moment, is not found in the Bible, rather it is an induction.
Thomas Ice interprets the "falling away" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the rapture, due to his interpretation of apostasia "the departure". 1 Timothy 4:1 demonstrates very clearly that apostasia is not the rapture - apostasy is defection, desertion, rebellion departure from a previous standing. There are several instances where the meaning of apostasia is clear: Luke 2:37, 4:13, 8:13, 13:27; Acts 5:37, 12:10, 15:38, 19:9, 22:29; 2 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 3:12. You cannot possibly get the rapture from apostasia!
Thomas Ice would have us believe that "the 24 elders" in Revelation 4:4 are the complete raptured church in heaven prior to the tribulation. This is yet another induction. Firstly, Revelation 4:4 is a description of the throne-room of God, there is nothing to indicate that it is a future event. Revelation 15:1-6 is a future scene with those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. This seems clear enough, but additionally, Revelation 5:8 has the 24 elders each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. This verse seems to indicate that the "elders" represent the saints, not that the saints are actually present. Furthermore the redeemed of Revelation 6:9 are not with the 24 elders around the throne of God, they are under the altar. The word "elder" is not used of angels in the scriptures, but neither are "elders" referred to as the complete church - elders are simply "elders", we are given no further information about their identity.
Thomas Ice et al are very adept at mis-translating the scriptures in order to advance their pre-tribulation deception. Theologians call it "revisionism" - I call it cheating! A terrible judgement awaits anyone who dares to alter God's word (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19).
THE SORDID HISTORY: JOHN NELSON DARBY OR EDWARD IRVING?
Prior to the 1830s no one had heard of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The church looked to the second coming, the parousia, as their hope for just over 1800 years, until Darby that is. Even today, pretribulationism is a doctrine which is held exclusively by the western church, the rest of the Christian world holds to the apostolic position. It was not until Darby departed from the apostles teaching and began to inflict pretribulationalism onto congregations, both in the UK and the US, that the deception began to take hold. In his own words, Darby's wish was that it would spread through the church like "leaven". The deception was further popularized in the US in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Scofield's unholy life is a subject in itself; suffice to say that he was a dishonest man known for scandal, lies, fraud, adultery, forgery, drunkenness and disgrace.
http://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2013/08/28/scofield-bible-part-2-re-defining-the-darkness-of-fraud-conspiracy-and-heresy/
http://proliberty.com/observer/20090507.htm
The PTRC credits John Nelson Darby, and Darby alone, with the pre-tribulation rapture theory.
".....I believe it can be established that Darby first came to believe in both dispensational truth and pretribulationism by December 1826 or January 1827, before these other alleged sources even surfaced."
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/when-did-j-n-darby-discover-the-rapture
The above PTRC statement is very misleading. It appears that Darby did not clearly teach the pre-tribulation rapture until after the split of the Brethren movement in 1839, twelve years after the date claimed by the PTRC. In fact, evidence suggests that Edward Irving and his followers came up with all of the crucial aspects of dispensationalism well before Darby. Irving published extensive pre-tribulation teachings in his journal "The Morning Watch" from 1829 to 1833. Furthermore, it seems inconceivable that Benjamin Wills Newton would have invited Darby to join the Plymouth Assembly had Darby held pretribulational views in 1831. It was not until 1834 that cracks began to develop in the relationship between Darby and Newton, when Darby began to shift positions and became increasingly convinced in a pre-tribulation rapture. Ordinarily these details would not be critical, but there are good reasons why the PTRC want to credit Darby as the originator of pre-tribulation theory and distance themselves from Irving. Irving was declared a heretic by the Church of Scotland in 1833 for teaching that Christ's human nature was sinful. Furthermore, Irving was a Universalist, an occultist and a false prophet (he predicted that Christ would return in 1864). Clearly Irving's pedigree is not conducive to the PTRC aims of promoting pre-tribulation rapture as a credible proposition. It has been suggested, and not without some foundation, that there has been a sordid cover up in order to credit Darby with pretribulationalism. This plot is promoted primarily through the prevarications of Thomas Ice, and more recently the PTRC's new thug, Paul Wilkinson, who is also a member of the PWMI in the UK. Wilkinson has recently conducted a vicious attack against Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson, through his defective critique of the DVD Left Behind of Led Astray (LBOLA) by Good Fight Ministries. His subsequent rebuttal to the round table discussion is very weak if not pathetic; he refuses to even answer certain questions saying: "They are not worthy of comment".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNjDYsHfh4&feature=youtu.be
http://livestream.com/bereancallconference/israel2
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/left-behind-or-led-astrayexposed-long-version
As General Director of The Prophetic Witness Movement International (PWMI), Colin LeNoury's knowledge of the subject is embarrassingly sparse. One would think that the General Director of the PWMI would be fully conversant with the history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. In the DVD LBOLA, Le Noury says that Darby's pre-tribulation ideas ran concurrently with Edward Irving. This contradicts Ice and Wilkinson who say that Darby pre-dated Irving. LeNoury could not answer the question whether there was evidence that Darby's ideas about a pre-tribulation rapture had crystallized prior to 1830: "I am not sure. It is not an area I have researched deeply enough to say whether we have or not." Le Noury has also stated in the same DVD that there is no verse in the scriptures which proves a pre-tribulation rapture. Enough said I think!
THE RECENT SORDID HISTORY: HAL LINDSEY AND TIM LAHAYE
During the 1970's the pre-tribulation rapture theory came back into focus and was popularised by Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), which has reportedly sold over 60 million copies. The film A Thief in the Night, which followed in 1972, was heavily influenced by The Late Great Planet Earth. In 1995, the pre-tribulation rapture theory was further popularised by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of best selling novels which sold tens of millions of copies and later developed into a multi-media franchise. Needless to say, since the 1970s, the pre-trib industry has developed into big business worth millions of pounds.
Very little is known about Hal Lindsey's co-author Carole C. Carlson. This seems very odd for someone who has co-authored several best sellers. It has been suggested by some that Carlson is a Roman Catholic nun writing under a pseudo name in order to hide her true identity. Lindsey and Carlson went on to write several sequels, including Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth and The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. Carlson is also co-author of Escape the Coming Night with David Jeremiah. Why do we know so little about Carlson? Lindsey is also equally tight lipped about his four marriages. Should we take a man seriously as a Bible prophecy expert who has been married four times and who has close associations with the apostate TBN TV station? According to several sources, the 2002 Alumni Directory of the Jesuit Gonzaga University lists two of Lindsey's daughters as attendees. In addition to this, Lindsey is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20; 2 Peter 2:1):
Lindsey prophesied in The Late Great Planet Earth, that the Soviet Union would be the Empire of the Anti-Christ.
He also prophesied that Jesus would return within 40 years of the birth of the nation of Israel (citing Matthew 24 and the budding of the fig tree).
http://hallindsey.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=137240
Despite all of the above, Thomas Ice refers to Hal Lindsey in glowing terms.
Tim LaHaye: "No single verse specifically states Christ will come before the Tribulation."
Tim LaHaye has strong connections with Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies). Moon has proclaimed himself "the world’s new Messiah" and "the Lord of the Second Advent." LaHaye was the chair of Moon’s Coalition for Religious Freedom, and is reported to have received at least half a million dollars in funding from Moon’s associate Bo Hi Park. It is extraordinary to say the least that LaHaye and his wife have attended and spoken at Moon-sponsored events without raising any theological objections to Moon's claims.
Tim LaHaye to Sun Myung Moon: "Your suffering will cleanse the sins of America."
In 1981 LaHaye founded The Council for National Policy described by The New York Times as: "A little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country." LaHaye along with others, is said to be a major figure in subverting the messianic faith. Please read the details of this very secretive organization on the links below. Additionally LaHaye's book Power of the Cross uses the unmistakable Freemasonry Knights Templar symbol, the Cross and Crown, on its cover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy
http://www.aljacobsladder.com/lord-help-me/gods-fakirs/more-moronic-con-men.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_and_Crown
The above information should be quite enough for any Christian to avoid Tim LaHay and Left Behind like the plague. However so called "prophecy expert" "Dr" Thomas Ice
actually founded the PTRC with him!
What are we supposed to make of all this? I do not know what Thomas Ice and Paul Wilkinson are in reality, only God knows what they are. What I do question is:
- Why, without one verse of scripture to corroborate it, do intelligent "Christian" men seek to promote pre-tribulation theory so vehemently?
- Why do the PTRC and the PWMI promote flawed ideas of disreputable men like Irving, Darby, Lindsey and LaHaye?
- Why did Paul Wilkinson seek to make the pre-tribulation theory a divisive issue at the Berean Call Conference this year?
- Why did Paul Wilkinson seek to destroy the ministries of reputable biblical experts and teachers Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson?
We see so called evangelicals Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes etc. openly aligning themselves with Rome and Jesuit Pope Francis, but is there something just as sinister going on among "respectable" evangelical leaders who claim to be "Bereans"? I personally believe that there is.
Joe Schimmel and Jacob Prasch have stated that the timing of the rapture should not be a divisive issue. I agree that there are many genuine Christians who have been sucked into the pre-tribulation rapture deception by their pastors and/or denominations, and I am not saying that I would divide from these dear believers in Jesus Christ. My personal problem at this point in time is that I cannot maintain unity with those who in my view are deliberately perpetrating a deception which threatens to turn Christians away from their salvation. This is no small issue! I regard these men as false witnesses who are facilitating the "apostasia" (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Mark 10:19; Proverbs 12:17; 14:25). They muddy the waters and have sought to re-invent the sordid pre-tribulation rapture history with no scriptural basis to authenticate their position . I personally have no confidence in either Thomas Ice or Paul Wilkinson as true leaders of the church; I regard them as wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; 1 Timothy 3:1-13). I could no more fellowship with these men than I could with Benny Hinn!
I see nothing of the gospel on the PTRC website, all of their time and substantial efforts are focused upon this deception to the exclusion of the gospel itself.
.....and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:20)
http://www.seeking4truth.com/john_darby.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wills_Newton
http://www.scionofzion.com/edward_irving.htmhttp://www.omegashock.com/2013/02/20/jesuit-pretrib-rapture/
http://watch.pair.com/lahaye.html
http://www.rense.com/general20/unholy.htm
http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://libertytothecaptives.net/tim_lahaye.html
Saturday, 3 October 2015
more dishonesty from howard conder revelation tv
An article in the Telegraph has revealed that the Home Office plans a new counter-extremism strategy, giving the Charity Commission new legal powers to sack trustees of charities. The leaked strategy document defines extremism as “the vocal or active
opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule
of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of
different faiths and beliefs.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11877560/Extremists-to-be-purged-from-charity-boards-under-new-law.html
Those likely to be affected are hard-line mosques operating as charities, but it is feared that the strategy will be used far more widely and may well affect Christian Charities such as Revelation TV.
Christian Charities, What Christian Charities?
There may be some genuine Christian Charities out there, but I personally do not know of any. Those I have had any interaction with, are, in my opinion, unworthy to receive British taxpayers money e.g. Victory Outreach UK, Trinity Life Church in Leicester, Compassion UK and of course the apostate Revelation Foundation. Many Christian Charities are ecumenical rather than biblical and have simply jumped onto the very lucrative charities bandwagon. Christian Aid’s Chief Executive, Loretta Minghella was paid the princely sum of £126,206 last year! In my opinion the so called "Christians" taking advantage of the British taxpayer do need a good clear out, and it may well be God's will for them to face financial sanctions.
Revelation TV's continual pretence that they are biblical is getting rather boring in light of their proven track record of promoting apostates and false teachers. By their own admission they have aired "iffy" ministries for financial gain:
Conder: "What I initially wanted to do was to give RevTV to the Revelation Foundation charity thinking this was the right and fair thing to do as the viewers are now supporting the channel to such a greater level than ever so we could take off the air many of the paid ministries which we would rather not have had on our channel but for financial reasons we had little other choice at the time."
Conder: "We are not in this for the money believe it or not, we are in this to declare the Word of God and that is without compromise.... " !!!!!
http://www.revelationtv.com/programmes/episode/the-late-show377635
If he repeats it often enough he will even believe it himself! How ironic that on the very same program, RTV aired plagiarist and adulterer John Hagee of blood moon fiasco fame, a false teaching which is now backfiring in his face!
It is getting very uncomfortable for Conder and The Revelation Foundation; they are now talking about disassociating from the Charity Commission altogether..... but don't worry viewers, your money is safe with Howard Conder - or is it? Conder proposes giving RTV viewers their donated money back so that they can re-donate it outside the Charity Commission - is that legal?
COMPARE THE FOLLOWING TWO CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS:
Howard Conder's statement on The Late Show 28th September 2015:
"The shares that I am holding in trust, which I tried several years ago to hand over to the charity, but because of the Spanish Law and all the complications, its taken time; but now I don't trust the Charity Commission, so if I were to pass on these shares of this particular company..... it holds the license, the EPG, the contract for Sky and everything else. If I hand that over to the Trustees I would be a fool right now.... I am going to stick my neck out and not do that.... I'm not going to part with those shares....."
The Statement on the old Revelation TV website:
"… Howard and Lesley began the TV station by forming a private company and remortgaging their home to put their own money into it. They could easily have retained ownership of the Revelation TV station for themselves and reaped the benefit of it financially in the years to come. But instead they handed it all over to the registered charity Revelation Foundation and wrote off their initial investment. Money was not their reason for starting the channel and never has been…"
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11877560/Extremists-to-be-purged-from-charity-boards-under-new-law.html
Those likely to be affected are hard-line mosques operating as charities, but it is feared that the strategy will be used far more widely and may well affect Christian Charities such as Revelation TV.
Christian Charities, What Christian Charities?
There may be some genuine Christian Charities out there, but I personally do not know of any. Those I have had any interaction with, are, in my opinion, unworthy to receive British taxpayers money e.g. Victory Outreach UK, Trinity Life Church in Leicester, Compassion UK and of course the apostate Revelation Foundation. Many Christian Charities are ecumenical rather than biblical and have simply jumped onto the very lucrative charities bandwagon. Christian Aid’s Chief Executive, Loretta Minghella was paid the princely sum of £126,206 last year! In my opinion the so called "Christians" taking advantage of the British taxpayer do need a good clear out, and it may well be God's will for them to face financial sanctions.
Revelation TV's continual pretence that they are biblical is getting rather boring in light of their proven track record of promoting apostates and false teachers. By their own admission they have aired "iffy" ministries for financial gain:
Conder: "What I initially wanted to do was to give RevTV to the Revelation Foundation charity thinking this was the right and fair thing to do as the viewers are now supporting the channel to such a greater level than ever so we could take off the air many of the paid ministries which we would rather not have had on our channel but for financial reasons we had little other choice at the time."
Conder: "We are not in this for the money believe it or not, we are in this to declare the Word of God and that is without compromise.... " !!!!!
http://www.revelationtv.com/programmes/episode/the-late-show377635
If he repeats it often enough he will even believe it himself! How ironic that on the very same program, RTV aired plagiarist and adulterer John Hagee of blood moon fiasco fame, a false teaching which is now backfiring in his face!
It is getting very uncomfortable for Conder and The Revelation Foundation; they are now talking about disassociating from the Charity Commission altogether..... but don't worry viewers, your money is safe with Howard Conder - or is it? Conder proposes giving RTV viewers their donated money back so that they can re-donate it outside the Charity Commission - is that legal?
COMPARE THE FOLLOWING TWO CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS:
Howard Conder's statement on The Late Show 28th September 2015:
"The shares that I am holding in trust, which I tried several years ago to hand over to the charity, but because of the Spanish Law and all the complications, its taken time; but now I don't trust the Charity Commission, so if I were to pass on these shares of this particular company..... it holds the license, the EPG, the contract for Sky and everything else. If I hand that over to the Trustees I would be a fool right now.... I am going to stick my neck out and not do that.... I'm not going to part with those shares....."
The Statement on the old Revelation TV website:
"… Howard and Lesley began the TV station by forming a private company and remortgaging their home to put their own money into it. They could easily have retained ownership of the Revelation TV station for themselves and reaped the benefit of it financially in the years to come. But instead they handed it all over to the registered charity Revelation Foundation and wrote off their initial investment. Money was not their reason for starting the channel and never has been…"
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
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