BAD-MOUTHING PROPHECY TEACHERS by Dave MacPherson

     Do you know any Bible prophecy teachers who can make the air blue with strong language like  @$&!#*%X and !X@$%!!# ?

     (BTW, I'm old enough to remember when mouths were cleaner than teeth - and that's pretty old, right?)

     Let's have a little history on prophecy teachers of the past whose speech could be more acrimonious than harmonious.

     Robert Cameron, a leading Canadian posttrib teacher and editor of "Watchword and Truth" during the last century, was militantly anti-pretrib.

     In 1902, in a series in his publication covering pretrib rapture history and doctrine, Cameron described pretrib as a "novelty" and said that the first church it was taught in was Edward Irving's in London, England "by confessedly lying spirits" and "seducing spirits" who "were the authors of this novel, unscriptural, and misleading doctrine." 

     Cameron had been influenced by Robert Baxter who had joined Irving's church and soon had a "revelation" that the pretrib rapture would happen on July 14, 1835. Baxter eventually became disillusioned, left Irving's church, and wrote a tell-all book which stated that he and the other "prophets" in Irving's church who had been focusing on the same rapture "had all been speaking by a lying spirit, and not by the Spirit of the Lord."

     My book "The Rapture Plot" reveals the most vitriolic and caustic pretrib teacher of the past: John Nelson Darby. In an undated work located between works dated 1850 and 1865, Darby spoke of "ignorance," "confusion," and "blindness" and said: "How entirely this system destroys spirituality and divine intelligence!" 

     His vocabulary added "superficiality," "extreme levity," and "unmingled darkness."

     But he was only getting warmed up.

     He then said "unbelief and Satan," "absence of spiritual intelligence," "utter futility of its reasonings," "open blasphemy," "mass of unscriptural fancies and follies," "gross absurdities," "real blasphemies," and "blasphemies."

     Was Darby applying these judgmental and offensive phrases to what he viewed as Irvingite aberrations? Or to persons openly hostile to God or the Bible? No. He was applying these abusive phrases to a published work defending the historic posttribulation rapture view!!

     If John Darby the master "special effects" man had lived long enough, just think of the Hollywood studios who could have signed him up! But that's a stretch!

     However, it's a long - and much more profitable - jump from John Darby to Joe Ortiz and I am happy to recommend Joe's two worthwhile books that challenge every known claim put forth by premillennial dispensationalists. They are, "The End Times Passover" and "Why Christians Will Suffer 'Great Tribulation.' "
    In his two books (which took over 20 years to write before publishing them) Joe Ortiz refutes the "Left Behind" polemics written by the likes of Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, Hal Lindsey, John Hagee, Thomas Ice and other known 'pre-tribbers.' In his books, Ortiz uses a succinct word comparison study that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that pre-trib authors fail to use God's words as they were initially intended. Joe does not "interpret" Bible words, he translate each word into the English idiom straight from the original manuscripts. For example, Joe points out that such words as "Left" that we see in Luke 17:34-37 do not identify people who will be "left" behind during the so-called Rapture to Heaven myth. That word (left) is defined by the Greek word "aphiemi" which means "to send forth, let go, remit, forgive, leave alone, suffer (allow), permit." The word "aphiemi" is the same word we see used in the Lord's prayers to define the words "forgive" found in Matthew 6:12 and 14.
    "Can there be any doubt whatsoever that the word Left in Luke 17:34-37 mean anything else but "to forgive?" Yet, the majority of Christians choose to believe that during the so-called catching up to meet with the Lord in the air the sinner will be "left" behind while the righteous will be taken to Heaven."

     According to the exactitude of God's word, those who are "left" are the forgiven people and those taken are the ones who will be bound and tossed into the fire, (John 15:6; Matthew 3:10 and 12; Matthew 13:30 and 39; Matthew 17:9;).

Dave MacPherson. What People are saying

What They Are Saying About ... THE RAPTURE PLOT!        

                                                                   

Gary DeMar (President American Vision): "A majority of prophecy writers and speakers teach that the church will be raptured before a future tribulation period. But did you know that prior to about 1830 no such doctrine existed. No one in all of church history ever taught pretribulational rapture. Dave MacPherson does the work of a journalistic private investigator to uncover the truth....The Rapture Plot is the never-before-told true story of the plot - how plagiarism and subtle document changes created the 'mother of all revisionisms.' A fascinating piece of detective work." Robert H. Gundry (Professor Westmont College): "As usual MacPherson out hustles his opponents in research on primary sources. C. S. Lovett (President Personal Christianity): You don't read very much of Dave MacPherson's work before you realize he is a dedicated researcher. Because his work has been so honest and open his latest work The Rapture Plot has produced many red faces among some of the most recognized rapture writers of our time. When their work is compared to his it is embarrassing for them to see how shallow their research is." R. J. Rushdoony (President Chalcedon): "Dave MacPherson has been responsible for major change in the eschatology of evangelical churches by his devastating studies of some of the central aspects thereof. In The Rapture Plot MacPherson tells us of the strange tale of 'rapture' writings, revisions, cover-ups, alterations and confusions. No one has equaled MacPherson in his research on the 'pretrib rapture.' Attempts to discredit his work have failed...."

About the Author: Born 1932 of Scotch/English descent Dave MacPherson is a natural for British historical research. His calling was journalism. Receiving a BA in English in 1955 he spent 26 years as a newsman reporting and filming many notable events persons presidents and dignitaries.