Question For All You Prophecy Buffs
 

I was wondering what was taught about prophecy in ancient times. I know that we look at prophecy through the lense of modern developments and I was wondering when it became popular to teach about one world government and one world religions based on prophecy. In Jesus time, the Pharisees thought they had the prophecies all figured out, but in reality, they ended up missing the boat. I would like some insight on prophecy teaching from 200 AD through maybe the 1700's to 1800's. I was wondering how the teachings as we know them today developed.

Todays foretellers depend heavily on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

I agree. I don't think putting today's events into speculation is necessarily wrong, but I think we should put it into perspective.

Here is a school of thought that tries make all history bible prohecy.
http://1335.com

Most Pentecostal churches I know are not for prophet organizations....

The early Church uniformly believed in what is called the post trib rapture.

In the past they pretty much argued about every point and detail, just like today. Different schools of thought held sway at different times, just like today.

To understand Bible Prophecy in the apostolic churches of today you need to study the history of Dispensationalism and how it was developed as an answer to the skepticism of the Enlightenment. Obviously, not all apostolics are dispensationalists, but most of "the movement" developed from within that framework.

For the dates you mention, the biggest debate was literal versus allegorical interpretation. The world was predicted to end with the 2nd coming of Christ over and over again in the Middle Ages. The year 1000 AD; the year 1100 and then 1200, and so on. I forget the exact year, but something like 1214 gripped a lot of people's minds for reasons that I have also forgotten.

In the late 1600's there was a movement, starting in England, that believed the rise of Protestantism and the waning of absolutism represented the dawn of a New World Order.

They felt that just as Sir Isaac Newton had "defined the order" of the world (planetary motion, gravity, the inverse square law, etc) so also would science define the human world and its laws of government. This was the spirit in which the US was born - just look at the back of a dollar bill.

That's where the "New World Order" came from, a belief (sadly an often mistaken belief) that human wisdom and science had "come of age" and that a paradise was on the horizon. The many disappointments that resulted from this have had a big hand in the birth of dispensationalism and such.

Thanks! I find all this very interesting. Wish I had a good easy to read book documenting this.

Thank you for your insights. I am familiar with dispensationalism but am unsure how it fits into your outline. Certainly, science is revered as the answers to everything.

I like these sorts of responses. EVERY VIEWPOINT OF PROPHECY claims the early church proposed their version. Lol

It is historical fact that NO ONE BELIEVED ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH would be separate entities, with a plan of salvation peculiar to each group, forever, until 1830.

I'm guilty of rambling. The question did ask about a time period before dispensationalism was properly developed. I guess I threw that in there because in my mind the history of dispensationalsim is so interwoven into the fabric of what it means to be "apostolic" today.

I learned the dispensational point of view as a kid but never thought of it as being anything other than "Bible Prophecy" until I was challenged about it as a minister in my 30's. That's when I really began to appreciate the idea of there being "schools of thought" within the realm of "Bible Prophecy." Ever since then, things haven't been as simple as they once were.

If one lived in the first century and heard the teachings of Jesus and then read the OT. and read the epistles and read the epistle to the seven churches ,what would it have meant to someone in the first century ?

I think it would have meant different things to different first century individuals, and the subjective interpretations of the many cryptic passages would have led to discussion, debate, division, and occasionally disfellowship or even dismemberment.

A book that might be useful:
http://www.amazon.com/History-Prophe.../dp/0664244793




I don't endorse anything on this site, but here is a prophesy that will be getting more and more news and media attention as the day approaches:

http://www.adishakti.org/mayan_end_t...12-21-2012.htm

Prophecy teaching throughout early church history
 

ILG, I whole heartedly recommend Leroy Froom's "The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers". It is a four volume overview of prophetic teaching and exposition, from the intertestamental period up to the early 1900s. It covers preChristian Jewish prophecy teachers, early church prophecy teachers, medieval prophecy teachers, and so forth. It identifies who, when, where, and what they taught, and how earlier teachers influenced later teachers (and thus teachings) throughout the time period under discussion.

The author is a Seventh Day Adventist, and by the time you get to the mid 1800s I imagine that SDA bias may begin to show through somewhat, however I have found he has given a very good and honest examination of pre-Millerite prophecy teachings - Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish - using extensive source material and original quotations.

It is an incredibly detailed comparative study of the last 2500 years of prophecy teaching and interpretation, and it is also well written and an enjoyable read.

Here we agree my friend...blessings to you and yours

Amen, and blessings in return!

What's the significance of 1830 there ?
What happened in that year?

Ok I'll be first and this is not to cause contention or hurt any brethren,but for various reasons this is believed to be the origins of dispensational theology.