Do You Believe In The Rapture?

Harold Camping was proved a false prophet (again) when his May 21, 2011 end-of-the-world predictions did not come to fruition. This didn’t stop Camping however, he simply moved his date, and it hasn’t stopped other prophetic speculators from getting in on the action. This edition of Vantage Point is the first in a three part panel discussion on Bible prophecy that aired on a local tele [...]

Should the Bible Always be Interpreted ‘Literally’?

How many commentaries on the book of Revelation have been promoted that claim to be “the most literal interpretation of Revelation”? In fact, it’s often argued that the only way to interpret Revelation is literally. Does literally mean “truly,” or does it mean “just what a verse says and nothing else”? It can’t mean the latter since no one, not even those who claim to interpret Revelation literall [...]

Islam, Bible Prophecy, and the Antichrist

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 regrouped to paint a new end-time picture. The takeover of the American Embassy by a group of Islamic extremists during the Carter administration fueled speculation that Islam was an emerging prophetic movement. [...]

Bible Prophecy 101

In the wake of Harold Camping’s rapture predictions, a local television station had Gary DeMar and several other local Christian leaders on to talk about this important issue. In this edition of Vantage Point you can watch Gary’s interview on the show. In future episodes we’ll share the panel discussion portion of the program. [...]

Have We Become Desensitized to Evil?

The first reports that came out about Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer, described him as a “right-wing, Christian fundamentalist.” Here’s how CNN reported the story on July 23, 2011: A picture is emerging, gleaned from official sources and social media, of a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway’s multi-cultural society. CNN never told u [...]

Jack Van Impe: Wrong About Bible Prophecy, Right About Islam

Although Gary DeMar and Jack Van Impe have vastly different beliefs in regard to Bible prophecy, they can agree on Islam. TBN recently refused to air one of Van Impe’s programs because it criticized “chrislam”. Watch this episode of Vantage Point for more on the lunacy of trying to blend Christianity and Islam. [...]

Christian Post Publishes News Article on AV's National Prophecy Conference

The folks at the Christian Post web site have published a news article about American Vision’s National Prophecy Conference. I go to Christian Post several times a week. It’s a very good site for up-to-date news. Here’s how the article by Michelle A. Vu begins: Mainstream Christian end times theology, subscribed to by many respected evangelical leaders, is wrong, said the preside [...]

"That's Not in the Bible"

I just got back from American Vision’s National Prophecy Conference. If you weren’t there, you missed a great time of teaching, fellowship, and beautiful scenery at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina that overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains. The speakers were first class. The amount of material covered was amazing. A good time was had by nearly all. Only two people — a couple — walk [...]

Before Harold Camping, there Were Hal Lindsey and Chuck Smith

Before Harold Camping, there were Chuck Smith and Hal Lindsey. Lindsey is the author of widely and wildly popular The Late Great Planet Earth (1970). Smith has been the pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, since 1965. He is a popular and well-respected Bible teacher. What many people don’t know or remember is that he set some very specific dates of his own in the 1970s. I wonder wha [...]

Why Modern-Day Prophecy Theorists are More Dangerous than Harold Camping

How is it possible that most evangelical critics of Harold Camping are more dangerous than the failed prognosticator? For the simple reason that it’s no longer May 21, 2011, and Harold Camping will be relegated to the dust bin of prophetic history, but prophecy prognosticators will continue to abound by claiming that Jesus is still coming “soon” even if we don’t know the “day and hour.” In nearly [...]

Are You Ready for the End of the World on May 21, 2011?

Tomorrow, May 21, 2011, is the fateful day according to Harold Camping and many Christians have taken extreme action, believing they will be raptured tomorrow and have no future on earth beyond that. What will become of these Christians once they realize that it’s not over and they’re still here? Don’t be fooled by end time speculators, watch this episode of Vantage Point to see [...]

Rapture: Fact or Fiction?

Many pastors and modern prophecy writers teach that the Church will be raptured off the earth prior to a seven year tribulation. Where in the Bible is this found? Nowhere. Confused? Watch this edition of Vantage Point for an honest look at the “rapture”. [...]

One Christian's "Fringe" is another Christian's Orthodoxy

The newspapers are commenting regularly on the Harold Camping claim that a so-called rapture will take place on May 21, 2011 with the end of the world to following on October 21st. Here’s one that National Public Radio (NPR) posted on its website: “Is the End Nigh? We’ll Know Soon Enough.” Even the international press has been reporting on Harold Camping’s end-time prediction. “If Mr Camping were [...]

American Atheists Planning Rapture Party

Many Christian teachers, authors and preachers have been saying that the Rapture could occur at any moment. Most recently, Harold Camping has said that the Rapture will be on May 21, 2011 and many of his followers are traveling around warning others, some have even quit their jobs. The group American Atheists is planning Rapture Parties across the country to show how silly it is to them. The athei [...]

Vincent Bugliosi: Prosecutor, Judge, and Jury of God

Vincent Bugliosi has struggled with whether God exists. He’s not sure, and he contends that both sides in the debate should not be dogmatic. The opening words on the flap of his new book Divinity of Doubt: The God Question ((Vincent Bugliosi, Divinity of Doubt: The God Question (New York: Vanguard Press, 2010), 129.)) summarize his position: “Do you believe in God? If your answer is yes or no, Vin [...]

"Those who Can Not Remember the Prophetic Past are Condemned to Repeat It"

[caption id=“attachment_4285” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=““Defeat of the Turks at the Gates of Vienna””][/caption] Joel Richardson believes the Bible teaches “that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran’s Muslim Mahdi.” ((“Get ready for an Islamic Antichrist, warns new book,” World Net Daily (August 3, 2009)) [...]

The Rise of the Islamic Antichrist: Fact or Fiction?

Joel Richardson, a pen name, is a prophecy writer who rejects the long-held Roman/European end-time antichrist theory made popular by the Scofield Reference Bible and later dispensational writers for what he conceives to be an Islamic/Middle Eastern end-time theory and a Muslim antichrist. He’s written several books and articles on the subject. Two books have gained a lot of attention: Antichrist: [...]

Why the Rapture is Not in Revelation

This article continues my brief review of Jeff Lasseigne’s Unlocking the Last Days. I’m not picking on Lasseigne. He’s not the only commentator to interpret Revelation in terms of what’s going on in our generation. Such an interpretive approach is pandemic in end-time speculative commentaries whose authors claim they interpret the most symbolic book of the Bible literally. Thirty-five years ago Ha [...]

A Review of "Unlocking the Last Days" by Jeff Lasseigne

Of the writing of commentaries on the book of Revelation there are many. In his Commenting and Commentaries, first published in 1876, C. H. Spurgeon remarks that “the works upon REVELATION are so extremely numerous . . . and the views so many, so different, and so speculative. . . . Numbers of these prophecyings [sic] have been disproved by the lapse of time, and others will in due season share th [...]

An Incomplete Systematic Theology

[caption id=“attachment_4173” align=“alignleft” width=“242” caption=“The Christian Faith”][/caption] Michael Horton is Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California. He has written a number of popular books on a variety of subjects. His latest book is The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for P [...]