Take the famous "rapture" passages in I Thess. 4-5 and I Cor. 15.
Pretribs endlessly see an "any-moment rapture" in I Thess. 4 and paint it in glowing pretrib colors. But the same Paul in the same book ties together the "times and seasons" (5:1) of the rapture (4:17) with the "sudden destruction" (5:3) part of the (posttrib) "day of the Lord" (5:2) - which doesn't have even a hint of pretrib coloring!
(The "day of the Lord" is posttrib because the posttrib sun/moon darkening happens BEFORE that "day" - see Joel 2:31 and Acts 2:20.)
And can you guess what's in the rapturous I Cor. 15 that pretrib teachers love to cover up? They screech to a stop at "twinkling of an eye" and "last trump" and then omit telling that what is "changed" (vss. 51-2) is tied to the end of death (vs. 54). (Trib death ends when the posttrib arrival of the Victor over death ends trib death!)
Ready for more? Look at Acts 2:34-35, Acts 3:21, and II Thess.1:6-10. Christ stays in heaven UNTIL it's time to come to earth to destroy His wicked foes and restore "all things" and give "rest" to His followers!
If pretribism can easily skip over Scripture, wait till you see how they cover up their own history which was never a part of Christian theology or any organized church before 1830!
Throughout most of the 1900s, leading Christian scholars assumed - while influenced by those who were repeating and not researching - that John Darby of the Brethren had fathered the pretrib rapture view in the 1830s. No scholar had ever found any clear public teaching of pretrib in the centuries preceding Darby. Even the late Dr. John Walvoord, the longtime No. 1 pretrib authority and head of Dallas Theological Seminary, had stated in his book "The Rapture Question" that Darby (who admitted in print that pretrib was then a totally "new" doctrine!) had been one of the "early pretribulationists"!
My books, from the 1970s to the present time, have provided long forgotten and newly uncovered evidence (endorsed by many eminent scholars) that Darby furtively plagiarized British pastor Edward Irving and his followers, all of whom had credited a young Scottish woman with the initial pretrib "spark"!
Trying to distance themselves from the scandals associated with the earliest pretrib developers and promoters of the 1830s, today's pretrib defenders have been desperately trying to find anyone before 1830 who seemed to have at least a hint of pretrib in their writings. Today's desperados can even "find" pretrib in Old Testament passages that tell about folks merely "escaping" trouble, or "find" pretrib in folks being raptured before an endtime "conflagration" in an obvious posttrib setting!
Two historical figures of the past that present-day pretrib promoters have tried to put revisionist pretrib make-up on are Pseudo-Ephraem (8th cent. ?) and Rev. Morgan Edwards (whose quoted sermon is dated 1788).
To see the hatchet job on Pseudo-Ephraem, Google "Pseudo-Ephraem Taught Pretrib - Not" and "Chuck Missler - Copyist" (and catch deceitful censors at work).
For the complete skinny on Morgan Edwards, Google "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View" (and find out what Thomas Ice etc. knew they couldn't hide forever).
For $15.00 and a smile you can get my 300-page book "The Rapture Plot" (the most accurate and detailed book on pretribism's sordid history). If you have just a smile, you can borrow it via inter-library loan at any library. Contrary to what pretribs say, the rapture is NOT so imminent that you don't have time to find and order my "Plot" book on the net!
Is it not a fact that you can make the Bible teach absolutely anything you want it to? If you have a warped theology you can start "handling the word of God deceitfully" (2 Corinthians 4.2) can you not?
ReplyDeletePre-trib is not only warped, but it is NO-WHERE taught in the Scripture of truth!
Despite this veritable fact, the great many (honest?) pre-trib 'scholars' will admit that there is not one verse in the whole Bible that supports this nefarious doctrine, yet, nevertheless they tenaciously cling to it!
There are some who erroneously hold to the very false supposition that it matters not whether pre-trib is right or wrong (after all-pre and post trib all agree in the Second Advent!) but is this so? Definitely NOT! Deception is deception; as we rapidly approach the climax of the ages, a great many will be led astray. I can see this in our own day; where there are many believers that are theologically inept, who are believing on a false saviour, for did our Lord ever say He would Come anytime, or BEFORE the great tribulation? At No time! Chapter and verse please!
This false teaching then (and the spirit of it since about 1830) will only greatly inculcate lukewarmness and therefore the "spirit of the martyrs" will evaporate because 'believers' in these last days that have been indoctrinated into the deception of pre-trib theology will believe the lie that they will not be around when the Antichrist is doing his worst (or from his viewpoint, his best).
God bless.
Thanks, Colin. As usual you have a lot of good thoughts and you express them well. I like your phrase "the deception of pre-trib theology." When the tribulation begins, I can visualize many pew-sitters in many places being not only shocked but becoming angry with their pastors and teachers and even violently so. All we can do these days is share what the Word actually teaches and at the same time resist and expose all enemies of the Gospel. All least the blood of the deceived masses will not be on our hands if we have been faithful in proclaiming and defending what the Bible has to say about future events. God bless you and Treena and all others who have been and still are faithful servants!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if this were written in a nicer way. Your aggressive tone makes this difficult to share. Attacking someone instead of sharing the truth in love is ineffective, which is too bad because you have some good points. Isn't there any way you can rewrite this in a more loving way. Our goal is to get them to see their error and the wickedness of the teaching, not punish them for believing a lie. Some of us believed that for decades (obviously myself included), and it was the Lord who opened my eyes. I have seen some really good information that was ruined by condescension, even when the person previously believed it themselves. That kind of arrogance is a stumbling block and is used by the enemy to keep you from helping others come to the truth.
ReplyDeleteThis post was written by Dave MacPherson who has passed away.
ReplyDeleteGod bless