VERITAS: - By Craig Branch

The theme of this issue of Areopagus Journal is “Extreme Eschatology.” I realize that many Christians are not familiar with the term “eschatology.” It is an area of theology that is seldom addressed or formally taught in many segments of the Church. Because it is not often taught, people’s discernment quotient is low; so, when it is wrongly taught, the negative effect can be serious, even disastrous. In fact, numerous heretical cults have been generated from an emphasis on faulty eschatology.

The term eschatology is derived from the Greek word eschata, which means last (things). So, eschatology is “the doctrine of last things.” What comes to mind to most people when they hear “last things” is end times. Some of the more popular terms and concepts associated with eschatology are “Armageddon,” “second coming of Christ,” “Apocalypse,” “Judgment Day,” “Tribulation,” “rise of the Anti Christ,” “the Rapture,” “the Day of the Lord,” and “the Millennium.”

Two of the more popular public expositions of eschatology were Hal Lindsay’s, The Late, Great Planet Earth, and Tim LaHaye’s books and movie, Left Behind. More recently the media gave much coverage to preacher Harold Camping’s doomsday prediction of May 21, 2011. Camping is the owner of Family Radio Network and has a regular program where he embarrassingly trumpeted his end-time prophecy interpretation. He also purchased 1200 billboards around the country. Actually, this was Harold Camping’s second failed interpretation of the end of the world. He previously said it would occur in 1994.

After May 21 passed, Camping apologized to the media and everyone saying his figures were not “worked out as accurately as I could have.” He said he was off again, this time by five months. The new Camping date is October 21. Camping now says that May 21 was the “Spiritual Judgment Day,” and that everyone’s fate that day was sealed. The final desolation will occur October 21. In early June of this year, Camping suffered a stroke.

There are numerous other publicized failed prophesies based on faulty interpretations or just speculations on the Bible. There are even cults which have been formed at least in part by faulty speculations on end time events. But we will get to those in a moment. Even though most of the popular focus on eschatology is on Armageddon, Final Judgment and End Times, the area of eschatology is broader. Theologian F.F. Bruce wrote that, “The Biblical concept of time is not cyclical (in which case eschatology could refer only to the completion of a cycle), or purely linear (in which case eschatology could refer only to the terminal point of the line); it envisions rather a recurring pattern in which divine judgment and redemption interact until this pattern attains its definitive manifestation.”

Dr. Bruce concludes that eschatology includes the development and consummation of God’s purposes in redemption, “whether it coincides with the end of the world or makes a stage in the unfolding pattern of His purpose.” The primary category of biblical eschatology is the kingdom of God which applies to the growth of His sovereign rule in the world and among His elect.

The Difficulty of Eschatology
The study and application of the difficult and sometimes symbolic eschatological passages in the Old and New Testaments has led to diversity and often factions within the Body of Christ. This explains why many Christians avoid giving much attention to this area of theology.

For example, in the Old Testament, Israel is described as the chosen nation and people of God looking to the final future resurrection (Exod. 37; Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2). But in the New Testament we read that God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews (Rom. 3:29-30). He goes further to say that a true Jew and thus true Israel is such not outwardly or genetically, but is anyone who is inwardly connected to Christ by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 2:28-29; 4:1-18; Gal. 3:6-9, 14-18, 27-29). Attempts to understand this difference have led to different theological camps among evangelicals on the nature of the church and its relationship to Israel.

Also, there is the tension in Scripture regarding the “already but not yet” theme we find there. An example is that the Bible says we are already saved and resurrected and seated (past tense) in the heavens with Christ (Eph. 2:6-7), yet of course we have apparently not yet experienced these realities. And what about the great distress of God’s people and those outside the faith as well as the manifestation of the “Man of Lawlessness” (Mark 13:19, 2 Thes. 2:3-8)? What is the chronological relationship of these events? Has it already happened or not yet? Is the millennium a symbolic period or a literal one thousand years? Was Satan already bound when defeated at the cross or is he yet to be bound before a thousand year millennium (Rom. 8:31-39; Eph. 6:10-17; Matt. 12:29; Rev. 20:1-3)? These are just some of the tough questions that characterize eschatology. What is crucial here is a well-structured and consistent hermeneutic (method of Bible interpretation).

Major Schools of Thought in Eschatology
When one examines the eschatological landscape within academic theological circles, one finds four major schools of interpretation. The historical premillennial view states that Christ will return before a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth. Satan and his demons are all bound during this time and there will be blessing and peace for God’s people. At the end of the millennium, Satan and his forces are released and a great battle occurs followed by a great resurrection of the dead, a universal judgment, and the establishment of an eternal new heavens and new earth without sin or death.

The dispensational premillennial view follows the same general outline of the historical premillennial approach, but includes an interpretive principle of distinguishing promises made to Israel and those made to His Church. For this reason, dispensationalists put significant emphasis on the concept of the rapture of the church before a great seven-year period of tribulation before the return of Christ. During this period, God resumes his earlier program of working through the nation of Israel—a program that was interrupted when the church began in the first century.

The amillennial view holds that the millennium of Revelation 20 is symbolic and that it began at Christ’s first advent and will end at his second coming. At the second coming there will be no literal earthly 1000-year reign of Christ that separates the second coming from the new heaven and earth and the final state.

The fourth position is that of postmillennialism. On this view, Christ’s second coming takes place after a (not necessarily literal) thousand-year reign by the Church as it spreads a biblical worldview throughout the world. This universal acceptance of Christianity leads up to the culmination of a new heavens merged with earth as Christ reigns both in heaven and on earth.

All of these views if studied have been both a stimulus to the Church’s faith, but also a hindrance to it. The hindrance has two effects. One is when Christians develop a fortress mentality which hinders their interaction and cooperation with other believers who hold a different view. The other effect is when a view is taken to an extreme and (in some cases) outright heresy develops. This is the topic of this issue of Areopagus Journal.

In this Issue
Professor Donald Hartley first addresses an extreme form of dispensational theology known as ultra-dispensationalism. This is the view that the church did not start historically until late in the narrative of the book of Acts—a view that implies that the teachings and instructions in all but the last New Testament books have no relevance for contemporary Christians. In his “What Is the Future of Ultra-Dispensationalism?,” Hartley exposes the errors of this view and explains a biblical view of the church and the salvation it offers the world.

Professor Samuel Waldron and ARC’s own Steve Cowan contribute the article, “Is This It? A Response to Hyper-Preterism.” Preterism is the view that most of the prophecies in the book of Revelation were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem and the Jewish temple were destroyed by the Romans. Hyper-preterism is an extreme form of preterism that teaches that all the prophecies of Revelation (and the rest of the New Testament) were fulfilled in A.D. 70, including the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead. Waldron and Cowan provide a concise but powerful critique of this extreme eschatological view.

ARC’s Brandon Robbins evaluates an aberrant version of postmillennialism known as theonomy in his “Postmillennialism: A Little Optimistic or Slippery Slope to Dangerous Error?” Theonomists believe that all aspects of the Old Testament law (including its penal code) should be enforced by the state. Brandon argues that postmillennialism in not necessarily tied to theonomy and explains where the latter goes wrong.

The last article in this issue deals with a popular extreme eschatology that lies outside of Christian theology. In “Will the World End Next Year?” our counter-cult specialist, Clete Hux, discusses the Mayan 2012 prophecy. He shows from Scripture and Mayan history that we don’t need to fret about December 21, 2012.

Other Extreme Eschatologies
There are many more examples of “extreme eschatologies” that space does not permit us to discuss at length. Suffice it to mention that numerous cults over the years have tapped into peoples fears about end time judgment and gathered adherents into their flocks. In the 1990’s we saw the destruction of lives in the Solar Temple cult. Also in the 90’s was the Aum Shinrikyo or “Supreme Truth” group led by Shoko Asahara in Japan which used sarin gas to kill “non-believers.” Then there was the Heaven’s Gate cult that was led by their founder, Marshall Applewhite, to commit mass suicide in 1997.

Before that in 1844, William Miller adopted a premillennial view of the end times but sought to calculate from his interpretation of Scripture that the apocalypse and millennium would occur then. Many of his followers quit jobs and some even jumped off roof tops and trees trying to time their jump with Christ’s return. When nothing happened, Miller admitted his mistake. But some followers like Ellen G. White reinterpreted the errors and formulated other doctrines like the heretical “investigative judgment” which eventuated in the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist cult.

Last but not least, one of the biggest cults in the world is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses was Charles Taze Russell. At the close of the 19th Century, Russell began to adopt the heretical end time teachings of the Christadelphia Cult as well as that of Ellen G. White of the Seventh-day Adventists. Russell began to conclude that the Bible prophesied that Armageddon was to occur in 1914. He then isolated himself from the criticism and brotherhood of Christian denominations and gathered followers drawn by fear and the elitism of this doctrine. When Jesus return and Armageddon did not occur in 1914, the movement began teaching that Jesus did return, but invisibly. The Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders subsequently predicted that the end of the world would come in 1918, then in 1925, and then again in 1975. Each time the “prophecies” failed, they had to “recalculate.”

Eschatology done carelessly and without discernment can be a dangerous thing. That is why we must constantly be on our guard by studying sound doctrine and apologetics.

Craig Branch is director of the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama.