SetFree
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- Oct 7, 2022
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There are categorizations created in today's Christian seminaries that can mislead the Christian away from proper understanding in The Bible. This is not about the fact that Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and raised the third day, having died on His cross for the remission of the sins of those who believe, i.e., The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is instead more focused in the area of Bible history and Bible prophecy. One can go into great error by heeding some of those categories of belief about the end time prophecies in God's Word.
1 Historicism -- this view makes the mistake of wrongly assigning many Bible prophecies to past history, like in the Book of Daniel, or Christ's Olivet discourse of Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21. This was a popular view among the Protestant Reformers (back in Martin Luther's days). And still today, many of these exists among modern day believers that the Protestant Reformation is still in effect today, with the Pope as the Antichrist. Fact is though, the Reformers were wrong on many Bible prophecies. Because of the persecutions by the Catholic Church in the 15-16th centuries upon Protestant reformers, the Protestants then thought Bible prophecy for the END about the coming Antichrist was happening back then. It wasn't happening, and the Pope did not turn out to be the Antichrist either. Yet they still hold on to those old Reformers' failed beliefs as if it were written on stone by God Himself, and thus they deceive themselves. Historicism wrongly interprets most of Revelation as being about past historical events in Christianity. They do not consider it being much about the very end of this world.
2. Preterism -- from the word 'preter' which means 'what is past', likewise wrongly assigns many of the prophetic Signs of the end leading up to Christ's future return as being past history. Partial Presterists believe in Christ's future literal return. Full Preterists do not believe in a literal physical return by Christ, but only that it is meant spiritually. This was the main doctrine of the Protestant Church system I was raised in. They taught a very basic run through The Old Testament, and then The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and NO Bible prophecies about the END except to wait for Christ's future return. They stressed good works.
3. Dispensationalism -- includes the modern day Grace movement, or Hyper-Dispensationalism. This movement was begun back in the 1830's with the preaching of a Pre-Trib Rapture theory in Great Britain by the Edward Irving church and John Nelson Darby. It was Darby that made the doctrine popular. Along with it, Darby created the modern system known as Dispensationalism. Though he was not the first to proclaim the theory that Christ's 7 Messages in Rev. 2 & 3 represent periods of historical 'Church Ages', that was part of Darby's Dispensationalist theory. The Pre-trib Rapture theory which Darby taught would be a 'secret' coming by Christ to gather His Church prior... to the tribulation, influenced Darby's idea of Dispensationalism. They work together in tandem.
4. Futurism -- in contrast to both Historicism and Preterism, which interprets the Book of Revelation as mainly history, Futurism interprets Revelation to be about future events at the end of this world. Dispensationalism and Pre-millennialism are closely associated in the seminaries with Futurist doctrine. The Pre-tribulational Rapture theory belongs to this category.
5. Amillennialism -- this idea proposes that the "thousand years" period mentioned several times in Revelation 20 about the start of Christ's future reign with His elect priests and kings, is nothing but a metaphor, or symbol, and not literal. This theory started about the same time as the Gnostics of the 2nd century A.D. began creeping into the Christian Church to push doctrines from Greek Neo-Platonism joined with certain Christian doctrines. They did, and still do not believe, that Jesus of Nazareth actually died upon the cross, but that His disciples pulled Him down from the cross, and that Jesus married, had children, and lived a long life. In other words, they REJECT the prophecy and history of The Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He was sent to die upon the cross for the remission of the sins of those who would believe. This Amillennialism idea supports today's movements like a "one world government", since they vainly believe all peoples will eventually convert to belief on Jesus Christ, and that is the Christian's job today to bring in Christ's Kingdom here on earth, now, and without Jesus' return.
One of the easy ways to know when someone is 'stuck' in one of those seminary categories, and really isn't heeding Bible prophecy for the end as written, is how they 'confuse' someone who does know their Bible, and keeps to end time prophecy as written. Those will tend to argue among theirselves just like the Sadduccees and Pharisees, which one group didn't believe in the resurrection, and the other did. So all you had to do was just bring up the topic of the resurrection between them, which Apostle Paul did when they were trying to trap him (Acts 23:6-8).
That happens with me all the time, because I refuse to belong to those pop seminary theologians, so they often confuse me as coming from any one of those above categories at one time or another, which all I do is stick to what Scripture actually teaches 'as written'. For example, I believe Christ's future return will be immediately after the tribulation He foretold of, because that is what is actually written. But Historicists think that tribulation was already past history, like in 70 A.D., especially many converted Jews believe that. So they like to wrongly try to categorize me into their Futurist category, and wrongly assume I hold to a Pre-trib Rapture theory, when I do not.
Christ's future coming is at the END of this world, AFTER the "great tribulation" for the END He also warned us about, and that coming is PRIOR to the start of His future Millennial reign on earth. That is what is written. And His Book of Revelation was given to His 'faithful' Church who keep His Word, so we would know what would befall His Church at the END of this world leading up to His future return. For those who are faithful in keeping His Word, He showed us to expect His coming within three and one half days after and certain event in Revelation 11 takes place. No man knows what day or hour that will be, but when we see a certain SIGN written there He gave, we can... know He will be here within three and one half days of that event in Jerusalem.
Are those men who keep men's agendas of those above seminary categories aware of that? No. Why? Because they are too busy arguing among theirselves like the Sadduccees and Pharisees, where both fall in a ditch.
1 Historicism -- this view makes the mistake of wrongly assigning many Bible prophecies to past history, like in the Book of Daniel, or Christ's Olivet discourse of Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21. This was a popular view among the Protestant Reformers (back in Martin Luther's days). And still today, many of these exists among modern day believers that the Protestant Reformation is still in effect today, with the Pope as the Antichrist. Fact is though, the Reformers were wrong on many Bible prophecies. Because of the persecutions by the Catholic Church in the 15-16th centuries upon Protestant reformers, the Protestants then thought Bible prophecy for the END about the coming Antichrist was happening back then. It wasn't happening, and the Pope did not turn out to be the Antichrist either. Yet they still hold on to those old Reformers' failed beliefs as if it were written on stone by God Himself, and thus they deceive themselves. Historicism wrongly interprets most of Revelation as being about past historical events in Christianity. They do not consider it being much about the very end of this world.
2. Preterism -- from the word 'preter' which means 'what is past', likewise wrongly assigns many of the prophetic Signs of the end leading up to Christ's future return as being past history. Partial Presterists believe in Christ's future literal return. Full Preterists do not believe in a literal physical return by Christ, but only that it is meant spiritually. This was the main doctrine of the Protestant Church system I was raised in. They taught a very basic run through The Old Testament, and then The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and NO Bible prophecies about the END except to wait for Christ's future return. They stressed good works.
3. Dispensationalism -- includes the modern day Grace movement, or Hyper-Dispensationalism. This movement was begun back in the 1830's with the preaching of a Pre-Trib Rapture theory in Great Britain by the Edward Irving church and John Nelson Darby. It was Darby that made the doctrine popular. Along with it, Darby created the modern system known as Dispensationalism. Though he was not the first to proclaim the theory that Christ's 7 Messages in Rev. 2 & 3 represent periods of historical 'Church Ages', that was part of Darby's Dispensationalist theory. The Pre-trib Rapture theory which Darby taught would be a 'secret' coming by Christ to gather His Church prior... to the tribulation, influenced Darby's idea of Dispensationalism. They work together in tandem.
4. Futurism -- in contrast to both Historicism and Preterism, which interprets the Book of Revelation as mainly history, Futurism interprets Revelation to be about future events at the end of this world. Dispensationalism and Pre-millennialism are closely associated in the seminaries with Futurist doctrine. The Pre-tribulational Rapture theory belongs to this category.
5. Amillennialism -- this idea proposes that the "thousand years" period mentioned several times in Revelation 20 about the start of Christ's future reign with His elect priests and kings, is nothing but a metaphor, or symbol, and not literal. This theory started about the same time as the Gnostics of the 2nd century A.D. began creeping into the Christian Church to push doctrines from Greek Neo-Platonism joined with certain Christian doctrines. They did, and still do not believe, that Jesus of Nazareth actually died upon the cross, but that His disciples pulled Him down from the cross, and that Jesus married, had children, and lived a long life. In other words, they REJECT the prophecy and history of The Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He was sent to die upon the cross for the remission of the sins of those who would believe. This Amillennialism idea supports today's movements like a "one world government", since they vainly believe all peoples will eventually convert to belief on Jesus Christ, and that is the Christian's job today to bring in Christ's Kingdom here on earth, now, and without Jesus' return.
One of the easy ways to know when someone is 'stuck' in one of those seminary categories, and really isn't heeding Bible prophecy for the end as written, is how they 'confuse' someone who does know their Bible, and keeps to end time prophecy as written. Those will tend to argue among theirselves just like the Sadduccees and Pharisees, which one group didn't believe in the resurrection, and the other did. So all you had to do was just bring up the topic of the resurrection between them, which Apostle Paul did when they were trying to trap him (Acts 23:6-8).
That happens with me all the time, because I refuse to belong to those pop seminary theologians, so they often confuse me as coming from any one of those above categories at one time or another, which all I do is stick to what Scripture actually teaches 'as written'. For example, I believe Christ's future return will be immediately after the tribulation He foretold of, because that is what is actually written. But Historicists think that tribulation was already past history, like in 70 A.D., especially many converted Jews believe that. So they like to wrongly try to categorize me into their Futurist category, and wrongly assume I hold to a Pre-trib Rapture theory, when I do not.
Christ's future coming is at the END of this world, AFTER the "great tribulation" for the END He also warned us about, and that coming is PRIOR to the start of His future Millennial reign on earth. That is what is written. And His Book of Revelation was given to His 'faithful' Church who keep His Word, so we would know what would befall His Church at the END of this world leading up to His future return. For those who are faithful in keeping His Word, He showed us to expect His coming within three and one half days after and certain event in Revelation 11 takes place. No man knows what day or hour that will be, but when we see a certain SIGN written there He gave, we can... know He will be here within three and one half days of that event in Jerusalem.
Are those men who keep men's agendas of those above seminary categories aware of that? No. Why? Because they are too busy arguing among theirselves like the Sadduccees and Pharisees, where both fall in a ditch.
