Rapture Fever
by Gary North by Gary North
Introduction 13 ● Are there biblical alternatives for sinful thoughts and practices in every area of life? ● If so, what are they, specifically? ● Where do we discover them, specifically? ● Who has taught in detail about these alternatives? ● Have any of these teachers been dispensationalkts? ● Does the phrase “we’re under grace, not law” apply to criminals? To policemen and civil judges? To lawyers? ● Is politics dirty? ● Could the gospel of Jesus Christ clean up politics? ● If most politicians were converted to saving ftith in Jesus Christ today, what changes could we expect tomorrow? In a century? In a millennium? ● If the answer is “none,” is Christianity politically irrelevant? ● If the answer is “many,” where in the Bible should we look to discover the actual content of these specfic changes? ● If Old Testament law is not valid in the New Testament era, where do we find New Testament legal standards for social ethics? ● What dispensational author has written a detailed study of New Testament law and social ethics? ● What dispensational institution teaches courses in New Testament social ethics? ● Is abortion a sin? ● Is abortion grounds for excommunication? ● Is abortion a crime? ● Where do we look in the Bible to find a law against abortion, other than Exodus 21:22-26? ● What public stand did the seminaries take in 1973 when Roe v. Wade was handed down? In 1983? In 1993? ● Should seminary professors actively preach against abortion in classes on ethics? ● Do dispensational seminaries provide classes on ethics? ● Is homosexually a sin? ● Is homosexuality said to be a crime in the Bible?
14 RAPTURE FEVER ● Where is it said to be a crime in the Bible? ● Should we regard the arrival of AIDS in 1981 as an “ethically random event,” the way we regard chicken pox? ● Is bestiality a sin? ● Is bestialky said to be a crime in the Bible? ● Where is it said that bestiality is a crime in the Bible? ● If we cannot find New Testament legal standards, could dispensationalism be wrong about Old Testament law? ● Has dispensational theology become irrelevant? These questions are never addressed in print by the older dispensational theologians. They are rarely addressed by the younger ones, since they fear losing their jobs. If they make a’ wrong answer - a wrong answer being one which clearly breaks with one of the official tenets of the dispensational system - they could be fired. Not at Talbot, of course. And there are no longer any full-time positions remaining at Grace. But at Dallas you could lose your job. So the wise faculty member at Dallas Seminary follows Solomon’s advice: “A prudent man concealeth knowledge” (Prov. 12:23a). He keeps his mouth shut and his published work focused on some topic not inherently dispensational. So, dispensationalism today has no intellectual leaders. Traditional dispensational textbooks and theological treatises are going out of print. The surviving professors who wrote them, now in their eighties, no longer write new ones. Neither do the younger men. In this sense, the theological leaders of dispensationalism have adopted a strategy of prudent deferral. Like those terrorized pilgrims cowering inside the perimeter of those forever-circled wagons, they pray that Captain Jesus will arrive before word gets out that dispensationalism is terminal. Evidence of a Paradigm Shift I have already discussed one of the main signs of the shift: the quiet, unpublicized demise of dispensationalism in the
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Introduction 13<br />
● Are there biblical alternatives for sinful thoughts and practices<br />
in every area of life?<br />
● If so, what are they, specifically?<br />
● Where do we discover them, specifically?<br />
● Who has taught in detail about these alternatives?<br />
● Have any of these teachers been dispensationalkts?<br />
● Does the phrase “we’re under grace, not law” apply to criminals?<br />
To policemen and civil judges? To lawyers?<br />
● Is politics dirty?<br />
● Could the gospel of Jesus Christ clean up politics?<br />
● If most politicians were converted to saving ftith in Jesus Christ<br />
today, what changes could we expect tomorrow? In a century?<br />
In a millennium?<br />
● If the answer is “none,” is Christianity politically irrelevant?<br />
● If the answer is “many,” where in the Bible should we look to<br />
discover the actual content of these specfic changes?<br />
● If Old Testament law is not valid in the New Testament era,<br />
where do we find New Testament legal standards for social<br />
ethics?<br />
● What dispensational author has written a detailed study of New<br />
Testament law and social ethics?<br />
● What dispensational institution teaches courses in New Testament<br />
social ethics?<br />
● Is abortion a sin?<br />
● Is abortion grounds for excommunication?<br />
● Is abortion a crime?<br />
● Where do we look in the Bible to find a law against abortion,<br />
other than Exodus 21:22-26?<br />
● What public stand did the seminaries take in 1973 when Roe v.<br />
Wade was handed down? In 1983? In 1993?<br />
● Should seminary professors actively preach against abortion in<br />
classes on ethics?<br />
● Do dispensational seminaries provide classes on ethics?<br />
● Is homosexually a sin?<br />
● Is homosexuality said to be a crime in the Bible?
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