Rapture Fever
by Gary North by Gary North
Fear of Men Produces Paralysis 53 mentalist Christians are repeatedly lured by the tempting promise that they can be “the first ones on their block” to be “on the inside” - to be the early recipients of the “inside dope.” And that is exactly what they have been sold, decade after decade. Nine-year-old children were not totally deceived in 1938. They knew the difference between real life and make-believe. Make-believe was thrilling; it was fun; it was inexpensive; but it was not real. The decoded make-believe secrets turned out to provide only fleeting excitement, but at least they could drink the Ovaltine. Furthermore, children eventually grow up, grow tired of Ovaltine, and stop ordering secret decoders. When will Christians grow up? When will they grow tired of an endless stream of the paperback equivalent of secret decoders? When will they be able to say of themselves as Paul said of himself “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Cor. 13:11)? False Prophecies for Fun and Profit Those Christians who believe that we are drawing close to the last days are continually trying to identi~ both the Beast and the Antichrist. This game of “find the Beast and identifj the Antichrist” has become the adult Christians’ version of the child’s game of pin the tail on the donkey. Every few years, the participants place blindfolds over their eyes, turn around six times, and march toward the wall. Sometimes they march out the door and over a cliff, as was the case with Edgar C. Whisenant, whose best-selling two-part book announced in the summer of 1988 that Jesus would surely appear to rapture His Church during Rosh Hashanah week in mid-Septembex Half the book was called On Borrowed Time. The other was more aptly titled, 88 Reasons why the Rapture is in 1988. I can think of one key argument why his book’s thesis was incorrect no Rapture so far, and it is now February, 1993. So much for all 88
5 4 lUIPTURE FEVER arguments. The anti-Christian world got another great laugh at the expense of millions of fundamentalists who had bought and read his two-part book. The story of Mr. Whisenant’s book was front-page news briefly around the U.S. Mr. Whisenant is now ancient history, one more forgotten laughingstock who brought reproach to the Church of Jesus Christ while he gained his brief moment of fame. But replacements will surely follow. This is the whole problem. The victims self-consciously forget the last self-proclaimed expert in Bible prophecy whose predictions did not come to pass. They never learn to recognize the next false prophet because they refuse to admit to themselves that they had been suckered by the last one. Thus, this sucker’s game has been going on throughout the twentieth century, generation after generation, a pathetic story chronicled superbly by Dwight Wilson in his well-documented book, Armageddon IVOW!, a book that was not regularly assigned to students at Dallas Seminary, I can assure you. 24 A g ain and again, some prominent world political figure has been identified as either the Beast or the Antichrist Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and even Henry Kissinger.25 (It was President Reagan’s good fortune that he was a conservative so beloved by fimdamentalists, given the remarkable structure of his name: Ronald [6] Wilson [6] Reagan [6].) Salem Kirban: Master of Pre-1983 H~e The back cover promotional copy of former best-selling author Salem Kirban’s self-published book, The Rise of Anti- Christ, is representative of this paperback prophetic literature. Published in 19’78, it boldly announced: 24. Dwight Wilson, Armageddon Now!: The Prm”Uennial Res@se to Russkz and Israel Since 1917 (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, [1977] 1991). 25. Salem Kirban, Kissinger: Man of Peace? (Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania Salem Klrban Inc., 1974). As you might expect, this book is no longer in print. It sometimes appears in local library book sales for a dollar or less. If you spot it, buy it. It is a collector’s item.
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5 4 lUIPTURE FEVER<br />
arguments. The anti-Christian world got another great laugh at<br />
the expense of millions of fundamentalists who had bought and<br />
read his two-part book. The story of Mr. Whisenant’s book was<br />
front-page news briefly around the U.S. Mr. Whisenant is now<br />
ancient history, one more forgotten laughingstock who brought<br />
reproach to the Church of Jesus Christ while he gained his<br />
brief moment of fame. But replacements will surely follow.<br />
This is the whole problem. The victims self-consciously forget<br />
the last self-proclaimed expert in Bible prophecy whose<br />
predictions did not come to pass. They never learn to recognize<br />
the next false prophet because they refuse to admit to themselves<br />
that they had been suckered by the last one. Thus, this<br />
sucker’s game has been going on throughout the twentieth<br />
century, generation after generation, a pathetic story chronicled<br />
superbly by Dwight Wilson in his well-documented book, Armageddon<br />
IVOW!, a book that was not regularly assigned to students<br />
at Dallas Seminary, I can assure you. 24 A g ain and again, some<br />
prominent world political figure has been identified as either<br />
the Beast or the Antichrist Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and<br />
even Henry Kissinger.25 (It was President Reagan’s good fortune<br />
that he was a conservative so beloved by fimdamentalists,<br />
given the remarkable structure of his name: Ronald [6] Wilson<br />
[6] Reagan [6].)<br />
Salem Kirban: Master of Pre-1983 H~e<br />
The back cover promotional copy of former best-selling<br />
author Salem Kirban’s self-published book, The Rise of Anti-<br />
Christ, is representative of this paperback prophetic literature.<br />
Published in 19’78, it boldly announced:<br />
24. Dwight Wilson, Armageddon Now!: The Prm”Uennial Res@se to Russkz and<br />
Israel Since 1917 (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, [1977] 1991).<br />
25. Salem Kirban, Kissinger: Man of Peace? (Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania<br />
Salem Klrban Inc., 1974). As you might expect, this book is no longer in print. It<br />
sometimes appears in local library book sales for a dollar or less. If you spot it, buy<br />
it. It is a collector’s item.