Part Two of Gary’s discussion of a new book by David Jeremiah and the publishing history of (failed) prophecy books.
Hal Lindsey and dispensationalists in general have a low regard for the Law of God, [1] similar to the views of the arch-heretic Marcion (second century A.D.). “Marcion stressed the radical nature of Christianity vis-a-vis Judaism. In his theology there existed a total discontinuity between the OT and the NT, between Israel and the church, and even between the god of the OT and the Father of Jesus.”[2] Dispensationalist teaching is similar to Marcion’s radical discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament and his radical distinction between Israel and the church. How did this affect the Jews?
One consequence of Marcion’s rejection of the Old Testament was hostility to the Jews. Both Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism, which were much more critical of Old Testament Law than the Reformed tradition, are also more inclined to anti-Semitism. The rejection of the authenticity and authority of the Old Testament by nineteenth-century liberalism was followed by virulent anti-Semitism, especially in Germany. [3]
So then, it’s the “rejection of the Old Testament” that brings on “hostility to the Jews,” the very thing that Lindsey castigates Christian Reconstructionists for promoting. If there is one group that has shown an almost total “rejection of the Old Testament,” it’s dispensationalists. Dispensationalism teaches that the law is no longer obligatory during the so-called “church age.” Consider the following unbelievable bit of nonsense written by a prominent dispensationalist:
Donald Grey Barnhouse, a giant of a man in free grace, wrote: “It was a tragic hour when the reformation churches wrote the Ten Commandments into their creeds and catechisms and sought to bring Gentile believers into bondage to Jewish law, which was never intended either for the Gentile nations or for the church.” He was right, too. [4]
The sixth commandment reads: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Germany was a “Gentile nation.” The sixth commandment is “Jewish law, which was never intended for the Gentile nations.” Dispensationalism creates an environment for any despot to do what he wants, even murder, since Jewish law, the Old Testament, was never intended for the Gentile nations. Hitler murdered millions of Jews, but what law would Hal Lindsey use to judge him? The Ten Commandments? But that’s “Jewish law.”
Click here to read Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart’s response to Lindsey’s The Road to Holocaust.
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Buy NowPart Two of Gary’s discussion of a new book by David Jeremiah and the publishing history of (failed) prophecy books. Gary relates a conversation he had with an individual that believed Hal Lindsey’s book, The Road to Holocaust, was an accurate representation of what the Bible teaches about the history of the Jewish people. Dispensationalism teaches that an unthinkable extermination of millions of Jews is still yet to come.
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[1] Hal Lindsey is a wee bit schizophrenic on this point. He states the following: “I’m very much involved in urging Christians to be politically active. I’m very much for Christians’ being active and running for government, seeking to bring Judea-Christian morality into our various governments.” Hal Lindsey, “Week in Review,” Trinity Broadcasting Network (June 5,1989). “Judea-Christian” morality includes Old Testament biblical law. In the midst of his diatribe against Christian Reconstruction, Lindsey nullifies his entire thesis by stating this obvious Reconstructionist distinctive: “It is correct to say that Biblical Law should serve as a pattern for civil law as John Calvin taught.” Lindsey, Road to Holocaust, p. 157. He wants a “pattern” but no “blueprint.” What is this supposed to mean, and how does this differ from what Reconstructionists are saying?
[2] W. Ward Gasque, S.Y. “Marcion,” The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, J. D. Douglas, Gen. Ed. (Rev. Ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), p. 620.
[3] Harold O. J. Brown, Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy, or the Apostles to the Present (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984), p. 455, note 38.
[4] S. Lewis Johnson, “The Paralysis of Legalism,” Bibliotheca Sacra (April/ June, 1963), p. 109.