As anyone who is familiar with Bible prophecy knows, Russia was the designated end-time bad guy throughout the last century. With the fall of the former Soviet Union, prophetic speculators have regrouped to paint a new end-time picture based on current headlines. The takeover of the American Embassy by a group of Islamic extremists during the Carter administration fueled speculation that Islam was [...]

I’ve been writing on the subject of eschatology (the study of the last things) for a long time and countering the argument that a near end-time apocalypse is around the corner. Over the years I have participated in innumerable debates, written ten books on the subject, and published nearly 100 articles. If there’s anyone new to this subject, I can assure you that there’s nothing new in what prophe [...]

People have been trying to identify a particular antichrist for centuries. Christopher Hill’s book on the subject just deals with antichrist in seventeenth-century England. (There were many more through the centuries and in other countries.) The candidates included Protestants, the Pope, radical sects, bishops, the Crown, the “‘Establishment’ generally,” the universities, and “the Turk,” an early [...]

“The newspaper has no prerogative to challenge God’s word of truth. Nor do those who read the newspapers.” ((Greg L. Bahnsen, “The Prima Facie Acceptability of Postmillennialism,” The Journal of Christian Reconstruction, Symposium on the Millennium, ed. Gary North, 3:2 (Winter 1976–77), 53–55.)) With Russia involved in Syria, the prophecy pundits are making prediction [...]

In a previous article, I mentioned that dispensationalist Thomas Ice and semi-dispensationalist Alan Kurschner will be debating the “rapture” question on September 25th in Plano, Texas. The debate thesis is: “The Church Will Face the Antichrist Before the Rapture.” Kurschner is taking the affirmative (prewrath, semi-dispensational position) and Ice is taking the denial (pretribulational, full disp [...]

Dispensationalist Thomas Ice and semi-dispensationalist Alan Kurschner will be debating the “rapture” question on September 25th in Plano, Texas. The debate thesis is: “The Church Will Face the Antichrist Before the Rapture.” Kurschner is taking the affirmative (prewrath, semi-dispensational position) and Ice is taking the denial (pretribulational, full dispensational position). Put simply, Thomas [...]

With all kinds of alarming end-times predictions in the air, there has rarely been a greater need for some common sense on Bible prophecy. I would like to introduce you to a resource that meets that need perfectly: A Beginner’s Guide to Interpreting Bible Prophecy: A Five-Part Study. The topic of Bible prophecy is always in the news. The latest prediction is that something prophetic is going [...]

In a previous article (Joel Richardson Issues Challenge to Hank Hanegraaff Over “Replacement Theology”) I dealt with some of the exegetical issues related to the charge that if a Christian does not follow the end-time prophetic scenario of dispensational premillennialism and some of its sister views, then that person is labeled a “supercessionist” who believes that the Church replaces Israel in Go [...]

The following is reported on WND’s website: “It could shape up to be a battle between theological titans. Religious teacher, human rights activist and New York Times best-selling author of “The Islamic Antichrist” Joel Richardson is calling for a public debate with Hendrik ‘Hank’ Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute. The subject would be ‘replacement theology,’ a c [...]

I know I’m going to get into trouble for writing this article. That’s OK. It needs to be said. While there are numerous contributing factors as to why we are at this point in time with the Supreme Court about to redefine the very nature of the family and what it might mean long-term for our nation, there are two specific items that I want to address in this article. [...]

A few years ago I wrote “A Beginner’s Guide to Bible Prophecy.” It’s in four parts, and it’s illustrated. It’s the very beginning of trying to understand the topic. Some of what’s included in the guide are points I make during some of my talks on the subject. You can download it here: A Beginners Guide to Bible Prophecy Feel free to pass it around. “ [...]

One of the foundation stones of dispensationalism in particular and futurism in general is the claim that “this generation” in Matthew 24:34 either refers to a future generation (“the generation that sees these signs”) or the Jewish race. Norman Geisler, in his critique of Hank Hanegraaff’s The Apocalypse Code, argues that the Greek word genea should be translated “race.” He writes: “as virtually [...]

The Bible (as well as the Constitution, Art 3, sec. 3) requires two witnesses to substantiate that an event has taken place (Deut. 17:6). The two-witness requirement is a safeguard for those accused of a crime. When an accusation is made and there is not a second witness, the single witness is investigated to see if he or she is telling the truth (Deut. 19:16-20). What’s true in cases related to c [...]

I was doing my typical daily research when I came across the article “The Jews in End Time Bible Prophecy” written by David R. Reagan of Lion and Lamb Ministries. In it he claims the following: “We are living in exciting times when we can witness Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. Many of these prophecies relate to the Jewish people and their nation.” As I and others have written [...]

The first of four Blood Moons has appeared in the sky. Millions of Christians have become fascinated with the phenomenon. Books have been written on the subject. Why all the interest and excitement? Because the lunar event is supposedly all about Bible prophecy and the end of the world or the so-called “rapture” of the church that these prophecy prognosticators claim will usher in the Second Comin [...]

Because of the latest developments in Syria, prophecy prognosticators are coming out of the woodwork . . . again. The same thing happened in 2011 when prophecy hobbyists were claiming that Isaiah 17 was being fulfilled right before our eyes. Here’s an example from a video that was uploaded on July 21, 2011: Damascus in Isaiah 17 is going to be destroyed in 1 day. This is about to occur in our life [...]

Greg Laurie is a popular evangelist. Periodically he goes off topic and discusses Bible prophecy. A few years ago, another prominent evangelist went off topic and wrote an article on why we are living in the last days and how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes. I wrote a four-part series of articles critiquing his argument. He and I spoke on the phone about the topic and my po [...]

During the round-table discussion phase of the Reno, Nevada, Symposium on the Book of Revelation, each of us was asked what there is about the two competing positions that we say is a positive feature. When premillennialist Jim Hamilton was asked about preterism, you could tell he had a hard time coming up with something positive. Preterism is the biggest threat to premillennialism. To say anythin [...]

I’ve been following prophecy speculators for almost exactly 40 years. They all have one thing in common. They’ve been consistently wrong for nearly 2000 years. In the 1970s, Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth was a mega-best seller. It was the No. 1 non-fiction book of the decade. (Some would put it in the fiction category.) Lindsey predicted that it would all fall apart by 1988 based on th [...]

Prominent dispensationalist and end-time advocate Jan Markell had this to say about the latest conflict in the Middle East: “God hasn’t abandoned Israel. He does have an end-times plan for her. It involves some harshness, but it also involves salvation as a nation — though that comes later, during the time of the tribulation.” Every time there’s a dust up in the Middle East prophecy pundits tell u [...]