The AntiChrist and Rapture Fraud?

[SDG]

The Antichrist Fraud By Gary DeMar


Apparently someone hacked into the Planet Preterist web site and directed users to Tim LaHaye's Left Behind web site. The front page of LaHaye's site informs viewers that a prequel to the Left Behind series–"Before They Were Left Behind–will hit stores on March 1, 2004. The title of the new volume is The Rising: Antichrist is Born. LaHaye and company are milking millions of uninformed Christians of their hard-earned dollars on one of the most ridiculous religious scams of the century.

But before there was LaHaye, there was Lindsey. Hal Lindsey wrote in 1970 that he believed that the antichrist was alive somewhere in the world. He repeated this belief in 1977 when he wrote that it was his "personal opinion" that "he's alive somewhere now. But he's not going to become this awesome figure that we nickname the Anti-Christ until Satan possesses him, and I don't believe that will occur until there is this "mortal wound" from which he's raised up."1 In 1980 he restated this conviction by claiming that "this man [antichrist] is alive today–alive and waiting to come forth."2 What was false thirty-four years ago is equally false today.

Not to be outdone, Dave Hunt voiced a similar opinion in 1990: "Somewhere, at this very moment, on planet Earth, the antichrist is almost certainly alive–biding his time, awaiting his cue. Banal sensationalism? Far from it! That likelihood is based upon a sober evaluation of current events in relation to Bible prophecy. Already a mature man, he is probably active in politics, perhaps even an admired world leader whose name is almost daily on everyone's lips."3 Like Lindsey before him and LaHaye after him, Dave Hunt is confused.

Modern antichrist hunters are pursuing a figure who no longer exists. Let's look at the biblical evidence. The word "antichrist" appears only in John's epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). "What is taught in these passages constitutes the whole New Testament doctrine of Antichrist."4 You will search in vain to find the word anywhere mentioned in Revelation or any part of the Old Testament. John's antichrist is defined in the following ways, none of which fits the modern definition:

• Anyone "who denies that Jesus is the Christ" (1 John 2:22).
• Anyone who "denies the Father and Son" (1 John 2:23).
• “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus" (1 John 4:3).
• "Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 7).

Could the Bible be any more clear? According to the Bible, antichrist is not a single individual, a world-wide political manipulator of the religious masses.

John wrote, "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour" (1 John 2:18). Notice the "when" of antichrist. Whether there was to be only one or many antichrists, John made it clear that "it is the last hour" for those who first read his letters (1 John 2:18). How do we know this? John said, "Even now many antichrists have arisen." And in case you did not get his point, he repeated it: "From this we know that it is the last hour." John was not describing a period of time thousands of years in the future. It was the "last hour" for those living in the first century. They had heard that "the spirit of antichrist" was coming. For them, "now it is already in the world" (1 John 4:3). Antichrists had arisen in John's day.

An antichrist, therefore, is anyone who "denies that Jesus is the Christ" and anyone "who denies the Father and the Son" (1 John 2:22). "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of antichrist" (1 John 4:3). "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 7). The antichrist is a religious figure, probably related to those Jews in the first century who denied that Jesus was the Messiah. John was not far off when he used the phrase "synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).

Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series is a fraud, more fiction than fact. You will do better by writing to Tyndale and asking them to abandon the series and thereby quit deceiving millions of uninformed but eager religious seekers.
1 The Great Cosmic Countdown: Hal Lindsey on the Future," Eternity (January 1977), 80.
2 Hal Lindsey, The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon (King of Prussia, PA: Westgate Press, 1980), 15.
3 Dave Hunt, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1990), 5.
4 Benjamin B. Warfield, "Antichrist," in Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield, ed. John E. Meeter (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970), 1:356.

Copyright information added by Admin below
We invite you to freely distribute the articles written by American Vision on this web site and in Biblical Worldview magazine. By doing this, you will increase the awareness of American Vision – a ministry that desires to reach as many Christians as possible with the importance and relevance of having a truly biblical worldview.

Our only requirement is that you always include our contact information on republished articles (web, print, etc.):

American Vision P.O. Box 220, Powder Springs, GA 30127, 800-628-9460, www.americanvision.org.

[SDG]

Gary Demar speaks about his views against a pre-tribulation rapture ...

Click here ....

http://www.americanvision.org/mediaa.../SERapture.mp3

Time LaHaye and others are making millions of dollars perverting truth for the sake of personal enrichment. Their fortune intake has been abundant.

But God has hid his things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes...that is to say the lowly and insignificant among us.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Brother Strange

Time LaHaye and others are making millions of dollars perverting truth for the sake of personal enrichment. Their fortune intake has been abundant.

But God has hid his things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes...that is to say the lowly and insignificant among us.

How do you think men like LaHaye have perverted truth?

[Trouvere]

Brother Daniel they have their roots deep in Darbyism.Pray,open your heart
and do some research.You are intelligent after all they let you in college.
Let me know what you find out.

Would this be an invitation to debate Prophecy?

The only position that I am against to the core of my very soul is all forms of Preterism.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Trouvere

Brother Daniel they have their roots deep in Darbyism.Pray,open your heart
and do some research.You are intelligent after all they let you in college.
Let me know what you find out.

T,

Please pray for those who cannot let their faith stretch ... and hold on to a brick wall theology.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Brother Strange

Would this be an invitation to debate Prophecy?

The only position that I am against to the core of my very soul is all forms of Preterism.

20 paces and draw. Care to tell us how LaHaye has perverted truth? And what are your rapture and Anti-Christ views?

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

20 paces and draw. Care to tell us how LaHaye has perverted truth? And what are your rapture and Anti-Christ views?

Only 20 paces? Man, I need a mile!

Anyway, I'm too lazy to get all fired up today. Maybe another day.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

20 paces and draw. Care to tell us how LaHaye has perverted truth? And what are your rapture and Anti-Christ views?

I was 11 years old when I stumbled upon Hal Lindsey's book. I sat down and spent the next few years teaching myself Dispensationalism. The only thing was, "Dispensationalism" for me was synonymous with "Bible Prophecy." There simply wasn't any info available to me at the time to learn the full breadth and range of the subject. So I became an "expert" on the 70 Weeks of Daniel, etc. but was basically illiterate on other views.

After spending my lifetime watching Dispensationalism not come true (and missing every book opportunity) I really have no position. You link to www.americanvision.org. Can you sum up their stands? Just with a quick glance it seems that they:

1) Are Dominion oriented prophetically (I may be wrong)
2) Follow the revisionist path of American History which denies the influence of the Enlightenment upon on Founding Fathers
3) Promote the embarrassingly unscientific views of AIG and ICR

I've got an after-church lunch appointment and then I'll be back - that'll be my 20 paces if there's shootout in this...