And as long as certain facts remain hidden, he's still seen in certain quarters as an expert on dating.
Hal's flirting with dates came out in the open in his 1970 mega-seller "The Late Great Planet Earth." Many still don't seem to know that his "Late Great" (which blended in science-fiction and the occult - including pyramidology - with scripture!) came out on the heels of Curt Gentry's 1968 science-fiction thriller about an earthquake devastating all of the Golden State. Curt's book title: "The Last Days of the Late, Great State of California."
My book "The Three R's" quoted the late (and truly great) British scholar F. F. Bruce who referred to "the influence of Hal Lindsey and his religious 'science-fiction' (more fiction than science)."
Hal's "Late Great" (p. 54) stated that "a generation in the Bible is something like forty years." He then said "within forty years or so of 1948 [the birth of Israel], all these things could take place."
In short, Hal made many think that the second coming to earth could occur in 1988 and that the rapture - seven years earlier - could take place in 1981.
Hal psyched up his readers to warmly embrace his 1981 date by issuing "The Terminal Generation" (1976) and "The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon" (1980). And the 1981 pretrib rapture date became even more attractive when compared with the horrible, city-smashing lineup of planets called "The Jupiter Effect" which Hal repeatedly claimed would happen the following year in 1982 and could help bring in the great tribulation!
Since these fizzles, date-setter Hal has seemingly divorced himself from specific predictions and relied basically on "the rapture is imminent" statements.
I have a suggestion. Some have declared that a Biblical generation can be 70 years long. Since 2018 is 70 years after the establishment of Israel in 1948,Hal could continue to hold the hand of the Goddess of Mammon and with his other hand quickly write a book focusing on a 70-year generation and add another million to his estimated net worth of 15 million dollars (according to online site "richestcelebrities.org").
Also Google "Hal Lindsey's personal life (Wikipedia)" for some stunning info about 87-year-old Lindsey who can offer more than one definition of the word "dating."
My books have long covered Lindsey and I discuss him on 16 pages in my most important work on pretrib rapture history entitled "The Rapture Plot."
For further details related to Hal, Google "Pretrib Hypocrisy," "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," "Hal Lindsey's Pretrib Rapture Proof," and "Evangelicals Use Occult Deception."
Finally, let me end this composition by declaring that I really don't care a fig for date-setters!
One big reason for Hal Lindsey's meteoric success with his first book "The Late Great Planet Earth" is this: several large ministries here in the States (including Rex Humbard's, Jerry Falwell's, and Billy Graham's) ordered huge quantities of it for their audiences soon after the first printing of it in May of 1970, all of which helped to make it the No. 1 bestselling book of the 1970s in its category! But there's no evidence that the three luminaries above were aware that the highlights of "Late Great" had been "borrowed" (I'm being polite here) by Lindsey from the classroom lectures of his Dallas Seminary professor, the late Dr. Merrill Unger who held several doctorates. After "Late Great" soon turned into a mega-seller, Unger felt that he too should cash in on his own lectures. So he quietly issued his "Beyond the Crystal Ball" (Moody Press, 1973) which brazenly plagiarized Hal's "Late Great" (plus parts of two other Lindsey books) on 53 pages of his "Crystal Ball"! MacPherson's "The Three R's" (which is now out of print and has MacPherson looking for a reprint publisher of it) documents this and other stunning Lindsey plagiarism, some of it with fellow plagiarist Chuck Missler that even the Los Angeles Times featured in a big way in "Is the End Still Near?" on July 30, 1992! For years Hal has been telling his global audience that the rapture is so "imminent" that they shouldn't hang on to their money but send it to him. And what has he been doing with his millions? Investing it in long-term real estate (including 390 Paseo Miramar [the house that "Late Great" built] and 1312 Monument St. - both in swanky Pacific Palisades, Calif.) - and his present ranch in Texas along with his collection of antique Corvettes and his 4th wife! Doncha feel sorry for old Hal?
ReplyDeleteI simply do not understand how Christians can possibly be deceived with pre-trib.. There is so much evidence against these dishonest men Irv. Fourth marriage? At his age!!! He must think that he can take all that money with him. God bless.
ReplyDelete