Note: This is the sixth and final article on worldview concepts that Christians have failed to overcome. (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth) George Will called 1968 “perhaps the worst year in American History” and called the sixties “the most dangerous decade in America’s life as a nation.”[1] This is not surprising because of the continued escalation of the Vietnam War, the draft, and the assas [...]
Gary discusses some of the logical consequences of the craziness being espoused by certain people lately. What people often object to is the legislation of morality that affects them personally. Some women want abortion to be legal so they can choose the procedure if a birth control device fails. They object to any legislation that would make abortion illegal and infringe on their personal choices [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 78 Gary disputes the claim of preterists being “scoffers” by using the Bible to interpret itself and also by recognizing the Bible’s own timing of when the last days take place. What does the Bible say, not just about the “last time,” but about the “last days”? In 1 Peter 4:7, we read: “The end of all things is at hand.” Whatever “all t [...]
Hermeneutics is often defined as the science and art of interpreting what people write (mostly) and speak. R.C. Sproul writes: “The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. It is a well-developed science that can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation and thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misun [...]
Gary continues his interview with artist Dan Riedel about his friendship with Dr. Cornelius Van Til. Without the Christian worldview, Van Til says: Our argument, then, is that those who come apparently ever so near the Christian position but stop short or maintaining the fundamental conceptions of an absolute Christ, an absolute Scripture, and regeneration, reduce experience to an absurdity. Here [...]
Futurists just can’t bring themselves to believe what Jesus actually said and meant about His “this generation” coming, that it was “about to” take place, before all those who first heard His words died (Matthew 16:27-28). Jesus told His apostles that they would not finish going through the cities before He came (10:23). The use of “about to” in Matthew 16:27 coincides with 10:23, 23:36, and 24:34 [...]
Gary interviews his long-time friend, Dan Riedel, who painted the artwork for the cover of the new book, The Objective Proof for Christianity. [T]he process of knowledge is a growth into the truth. For this reason we have spoken of the Christian theistic method as the method of implication into the truth of God. It is reasoning in a spiral fashion rather than in a linear fashion. Accordingly, we h [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 77 Gary analyzes a clip from a teacher on Facebook claiming that Gog and Magog from Ezekiel 38-39 will soon be upon us. A more recent interpretation holds that Ezekiel’s Gog and Magog battle is fulfilled in the details of Revelation 20:7–10 when Rome and its international armies attacked Israel and destroyed the temple in A.D. 70. This approach is diffic [...]
How do we determine how documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution should be interpreted? Let’s check with those who were there when they were written and the circumstances for their construction. Such a methodology comes to mind with a book I read as a child, We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike (1960).Eyewitness accounts are the starting point (e.g., Luke 1:1 [...]
Politicians constantly boast about how they are helping people. Gary disagrees. The only functions allowed to the state by the Bible are defense of its people and punishment of criminals. To go a step beyond this is forbidden. Biblical law works to prevent power being concentrated in any one institution, by creating and sanctioning many institutions—family, church, community, voluntary association [...]
One of the arguments against the preterist (past) interpretation of the Olivet Discourse and the use of the second person plural “you” is an appeal to Matthew 23:35: “And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” The claim is made that Jesus’ use of “ [...]
Gary discusses ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He explains when and why it began and what its jurisdiction and purpose is. Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) establishes the proper definition of the word “right”: “Conformity to the will of God or to his law, the perfect standard of truth and justice. In the literal sense, right is a straight line [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 76 Gary discusses Jesus’ statement in Matthew 23:35 about Zechariah, son of Berechiah. There is no record of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 1:1) being murdered. Berechiah, like Zechariah, is a common name in the Bible (1 Chron. 3:20; 6:39; 9:16; 15:17; 15:23; 2 Chron. 28:12; Neh. 3:4, 30). Jesus says that it was this Zechariah who was murdered by som [...]
I love the monthly news magazine World. You can thank David Chilton for contributing to its existence. He used his influence to help launch World with editor Joel Belz and wrote a monthly column for the publication for years. You should subscribe. You can do it here. Gary North wrote the following in his article “David Chilton Made the Case for Long-Run Christian Optimism.” “From the very beginnin [...]
Gary continues his discussion with Bob Cruickshank about the biblical usage of the word “antichrist.” (Click here for Part One.) You will not find the word antichrist in the book of Revelation. This is significant since the John who defines antichrist for us in his first two letters is the same John who penned the book of Revelation. Second, according to the Bible antichrist is not a s [...]
In the Foreword to Tony Campolo’s book Red Letter Christians, Jim Wallis tells a story about a secular Jewish country-music songwriter and disk jockey who told him that a new social movement was being birthed as a result of Wallis’ God’s Politics and other “social conscience” books. Here’s how Wallis tells it: “I love your stuff and have been following your book tour.” Then he told me he believed [...]
Gary interviews his friend Bob Cruickshank about a few recent articles he has written about the “antichrist.” The word “antichrist” appears only in John’s epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). John’s description of antichrist is altogether different from the modern image. John’s antichrist is • Anyone “who denies that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22). • Anyone who “denies the Fa [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 75 Gary interviews Ed Stevens about the 1993 Covenant Eschatology Symposium that was held in Florida. Debates continue over which biblical passages refer to the AD 70 judgment coming of Jesus and those that refer to what is commonly called the yet Second Coming of Jesus. As I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no unanimous agreement among scholars on [...]
In January of 1993, the Covenant Eschatology Symposium was held in Mt. Dora, Florida. It was hosted by R.C. Sproul. I would like to thank Ed Stevens for providing materials about the Conference and for being a guest on an upcoming episode of American Vision’s podcast, which will be posted soon at AmericanVision.org. We also discussed David Chilton’s move to full preterism. Those in attendance disc [...]
Gary and Kim Burgess return to the conversation of 1 Corinthians 15 by discussing parallel passages in 2 Corinthians. GARY: When one studies Shakespeare, for example, one has got to go back to Shakespeare’s time to understand Shakespeare properly, but, somehow, odd as it is, when it comes to the Bible, it is more or less treated like a magic book for many people; a book somehow immune from these s [...]
