Fearlesss Dave MacPhearson write that "When I began my research in 1970 into the exact beginnings of the pretribulation rapture belief still held by many evangelicals, I assumed that the rapture debate involved only "godly scholars with honest differences." The paper you are now reading reveals why I gave up that assumption many years ago. With this introduction-of-sorts in mind, let's take a long look at the pervasive dishonesty throughout the history of the 179-year-old pretrib rapture theory."
MacPhearson wrote a book called "The three R's: Rapture, Revisionism, Robbery : Pretribulation Rapturism From 1830 to Hal Lindsey."
He says "...the Los Angeles Times revealed that �The Magog Factor� (1992) by Hal Lindsey and Chuck Missler was a monstrous plagiarism of Prof. Edwin Yamauchi�s scholarly 1982 work �Foes from the Northern Frontier.� Four months after this exposure, Lindsey and Missler stated they had stopped publishing and promoting their book. But in 1996 Dr. Yamauchi learned that the dishonest duo had issued a 1995 book called �The Magog Invasion� which still had a substantial amount of the same plagiarism! "
"Dallas Seminary professor Merrill Unger�s book �Beyond the Crystal Ball� (Moody Press, 1973) constituted a colossal plagiarism of Lindsey�s �The Late Great Planet Earth� (1970). After Lindsey�s book came out, Unger had complained that Lindsey�s book had plagiarized his classroom lecture notes."
However, if Merrill Unger was a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary when Hal Lindsey was a student there and did write notes for his classroom teaching quite similar to what Hal Lindsey wrote in The Late Great Planet Earth, then it is likely that Lindsey plagiarized Unger's notes for Late Great Planet. When Unger's book, Beyond the Crystal Ball came out three years after Late Great Planet and the similarity cold be seen, then since Late Great Planet came out first, it might seem Unger plagiarized Lindsey. But the truth may very well be the opposite.
Many Christians who are not followers of dispensationalism have observed the dishonesty of dispensationalists. Maybe it is a habit they have learned from the dispensationalist celebrities, as well as being a part of their natural man nature.
Christians are not supposed to cultivate their images, their appearances. In fact, the KJV translates the Greek words prosopon and opsis as appearance.
"For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart." II Corinthians 5: 12
"Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's." II Corinthians 10: 7
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." John 7: 24
Celebrities enjoy their fame in order to satisfy their self-esteem. Self-esteem is pride, no matter that Carl Rogers and Abraham H. Maslow taught about self-esteem.
Cultivating image in order to be more accepted by those who claim to be Christians and to sell more books arises out of pride.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." I John 2: 15-16
Dispensationalist celebrities love the world and the pride of life, indicating they remain in the state of the naural man of I Corinthians 2: 14.
In our post-Christian culture. image is everything. Some years ago,a TV commercial on NBC for Canon cameras told us that "Image is everything." In the image culture success has become more and more a matter of giving an appearance of being successful and attractive. And the main game in the worldly culture is to win image and success for oneself. An artist is successful when he attains to much image.
Network television is responsible for making the the image culture, created earlier by Hollywood movies, much more a dominating part of popular culture.
And - a Christian celebrity with a big image and fame can be much more effective at deceiving those who claim to be Christians into accepting whatever theology the celebrity is pushing, and for most celebrities it is the prfe-trib rapture and Jewish supremacy.
In the age of deception at its height, the urge to deceive people becomes widespread and dominates the institutions of society, not just the media. The 501C(3) IRS incorporated churches are institutions of society, of the world.
There are a large number of Christian celebrities of our time, many of whom are
still living. Some include Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell,
Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, Tim LaHaye, Grant Jeffrey, John
Hagee, Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, Jimmy Swaggart,
and Hal Lindsey. Almost all of these Christian celebrities teach the
pre-tribulation rapture theory, that God has two distinct peoples, the Jews and the Church, that
Christians cannot be Israel and that the Jews, saved or unsaved,
remain the chosen of God. Although
Rick Warren is or was a member of the Southern Baptist denomination, I am not
sure that he teaches the doctrines of dispensationalism. Robert
Schuller has taught other forms of false doctrines and might not be classified as a
dispensationalist.
So the Christian celebrity system is to a great extent responsible for
the present day widespread
popularity in the Churches of the doctrines of the pre-tribulation
rapture, the radical separation of Church and Jews, and that the Jews remain God's chosen people.
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.�
40 For he that is not against us is on our part.�
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.�
Luke 9:49�And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.�
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.
The Pre-trib rapture theory is a terrible heresy and is almost as Satanic as the Preterist heresy which beleives that Matthew 24 & 25 and all of Revelation took place by AD 70.
