Issachar Apologetics Research Institute

The Great Disappointment served as a warning that an interpretative eschatological system needed to be formulated that incorporated what many believed to be the portion of divine revelation yet to be fulfilled while protecting those holding to these truths from falling into the hysteria and panic that can easily grip the minds of those realizing that the present age is soon coming to an end when considered in the light of eternity's time table. Such balance, for the most part, was to be found in classical dispensationalism. Classic dispensationalism holds that God deals with His people and the world in specific ways at particular points in history. The way in which He dealt with Israel during the Age of Law was not the way He deals with the Church during the Age of Grace. As such, promises distinctively made with Israel do not necessarily apply to the Church. In terms of the End Times, dispensationalism contends that these will begin to conclude when Christ removes those that believe --- both the living and the dead --- bodily to Heaven. Following this act or shortly thereafter, the Tribulation period will commence in which a number of judgments as described in prophetic portions of Scripture such as the Book of Revelation begin to take place and the forces of evil gain the upper hand more so than previously as the Holy Spirit will no longer be as engaged in the ministry of restraint. This will culminate with the Antichrist ruling openly from the Temple in Jerusalem. This horror will not be resolved until Christ returns in triumph at the Battle of Armageddon to usher in the millennial kingdom. Though echoing a number of the same themes, dispensationalism possessed a number of differences from the premillennialism that resulted in the Great Disappointment. The Millerites professed an historicist premillennialism whereas the Darbyites advocated a futurist premillennialism. In historicist premillennialism, the eschatological interpreter equates certain events already having transpired in church history with particular symbols depicted in prophetic Biblical passages. Doing so, Kyle points out, “...locks the interpreter into millennial arithmetic and makes date setting an irresistible temptation (193).” Futurist premillennialism is much more fluid and adaptable to events as they unfold. For the only event that this system of prophetic interpretation insists with absolute certainty must take place next is the Rapture. Any other ordering would destroy this interpretative chronology entirely. Though not as wedded to particular prophetic scenarios to the same degree as historical premillennialism, that has not prevented dispensationalists from speculating until their hearts are content as to how they think God will wrap up history as we know it. If anything, such analytical prognostication has become a very lucrative theological cottage industry over the course of the past century. Dispensationalism in one form or another became the most pervasive prophetic outlook throughout what would become conservative Evangelicalism. This was the result of a number of impressively insightful Bible scholars and shrewd ecclesiastical administrators that utilized the emerging technologies at their disposal to convince the Christian public just how prescient this prophetic school of thought was in understanding unfolding events. Dispensationalism came to America with the itinerant ministry of John Nelson Darby where he not only won a significant number of minds among Baptists but also interestingly Presbyterians (Kyle, 104). The cause of early dispensationalism was also helped by Scotland Yard investigator Sir Robert Andrew in the book The Coming Prince. However, dispensationalism probably received its greatest boost from the ministry of Dwight L. Moody. Though Moody is remembered as a preeminent revivalist in general, he could also be as commemorated for the role he played in spreading pretribulational, premillennialism in particular. Foremostly, this was accomplished through the establishment of Bible institutes such as the eponymous Moody Bible Institute and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) which taught this interpretative framework to aspiring pastors and Bible teachers. Yet another phenomena reinforcing these teachings were prophecy conferences held between 1875 and 1900 where those drawn to the futurist premillennial perspective could come together and forge relationships and alliances for the struggle that loomed on the horizon. Another tool that contributed to the dissemination of the dispensational perspective was The Scofield Reference Bible. Converted while in prison serving a sentence for forgery, Cyrus Scofield went on to live a commendable Christian life as a Congregational pastor, author, Bible institute instructor under Moody's auspices, and prophecy conference speaker. His magnum opus was none other than the reference Bible that bore his name. For better or worse, Scofield placed his notes on the same page as the Biblical text. Whether intentional or not, this created in the minds of unsuspecting readers the impression that the interpretation of the text was nearly as inspired as the text the notes were reflecting upon. Often nothing can cement a relationship like the threat posed by a common enemy. To believers living in the twenty-first century, it might come as a surprise that initially many Evangelicals did not necessarily hold to the idea of the Rapture as held by dispensationalist theologians. However, despite any misgivings about the Dispensationalists, like the Evangelicals they at least held to essential Christian doctrine. That was more than could be said of the religious liberalism or Modernism which seemed to be on the rise with its embrace of Darwinism, the social gospel, and skepticism of the traditional understanding of doctrines such as the divinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, and inerrancy of Scripture. As the believing remnant galvanized around a series of tractates called The Fundamentals, the Evangelicals decided to give the Dispensationalists a fair hearing, and in a number of instances, adopted the prophetic framework as their own. Pivotal to Darbyite dispensationalism was the idea that the Jewish people would return to Israel and that a European empire corresponding to a revived Roman would dominate world affairs in the final days. To those living here in the early twenty-first century, news of Israel regularly tops global headlines. However, such was not so much the case when eschatologists of the late 1800's began making speculative assertions regarding such. Christians began to take notice when world events started to align broadly with the claims of this prophetic school of thought. To many, the bloodshed and destruction of the Great War (known more commonly now as World War I) no doubt seemed like the Battle of Armageddon. The Balfour Declaration was tacit recognition on the part of the elites that oversee international affairs that the Jews would ndeed return to inhabit the land of their ancestors. Russia falling to the evils of Communism with its belligerent intent to foment revolution around the world, to those steeped in Scripture, brought to mind the kingdom of the north and its fearsome ruler predicted in the Book of Ezekiel. The League of Nations no doubt echoed in the minds embracing this interpretative methodology the world government which would emanate outward from the Antichrist's European power base to eventually incorporate the entire planet for at least a short wile. Yet unlike the Millerites before it, the dispensationalist system was flexible enough that it could readjust itself when certain predictions did not necessarily unfold as foretold. If one looked closely enough at the rhetorical fine print, one would no doubt occasionally spot qualifiers such as “this could be” or “things look like”. For example, if it looked like despite the hardships of the Great War that the world was not necessarily coming to an end, low and behold, who was that little big mouth in Italy or the even more obnoxious one with the silly mustache in Germany? Could one of those be the Antichrist that Scripture warned about? And when that did not pan out, observant analysts could reflect upon transpiring events and conclude that the ones thought to be the particular time of troubles described in Holy Writ were rather instead the times leading up to those times by laying the foundations for such sorrows. By Frederick Meekins Bibibliography Abanes, Richard. End-Times Visions: The Doomsday Obsession. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1988. Kirsch, Jonathan. A History Of The End Of The World: How The Most Controversial Book In The Bible Changed The Course Of Western Civilization. San Francisco, California: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006. Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven and Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage Since 1789 (Fourth Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991. Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History Of The End Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1988. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996. Ladd, George. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of The Second Advent and The Rapture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1956. Thompson, Damian. The End Of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium.

The cover of the 8/12/22 issue of Newsweek depicts an elephant prepared to step on a Mickey Mouse standing atop a soapbox holding a megaphone in one hand and the homosexual ensign in the other. The article is titled accordingly to decry, “War On Woke: As More Companies Take A Liberal Stand On Social Issues, The Right Is Fighting Back”. One would do well to consider the underlying philosophical presuppositions. A good number of these corporations no doubt adopted the revolutionary social agenda out of fear of being vandalized by the likes of Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Propagandists such as Newsweek would no doubt celebrate such agitation and the accompanying capitulation simply as examples of application of the First Amendment. Then on what grounds is there cause for concern if absolute values do not really exist in a pluralistic “democracy” when conservatives organize in a less destructive manner to attempt to ensure that corporatists acknowledge the interests of this ideological perspective as well? by Frederick Meekins  

Actor Ron Perlman, a self-avowed liberal, is calling for Red and Blue states to go their separate ways. The aging thespian readily admitted, “You don’t wanna live in my world and I certainly don’t want to live in yours.” The declaration acknowledged the irreconcilable differences in values that have come to characterize America for a half century at the least. But where are the condemnations that Perlman is “undermining our BELOVED democracy”? For was that slogan not invoked to justify the mob-sanctioned vandalism of assorted public monuments while blowing the Capitol Kerfuffle all out of proportion to the extent of undermining the due process of those that at most committed trespass that particular day in comparison to the massive riots instigated that previous summer? Most importantly, it is said that a liberal is a conservative that has not been mugged yet. As such, should fortunes need to be confiscated in the jurisdictions that will form this progressive alliance where a significant percentage of the population likely won’t even work, will Perlman be willing to surrender his and refuse to seek refuge in the areas he so despises but which will no doubt be characterized by greater economic freedom? by Frederick Meekins

An online theologian insists that Trump should be denied the possibility of a second presidential term because certain activist elements of the Black community found the candidate to be “divisive”. We are led to believe that Black people constitute about 10% of the population. Like it or not, there were Black people that voted for Trump. Thus, the percentage of Black people opposed to him constitute an even smaller percentage of the overall population in terms of ethnicity and electoral preferences. So unless such a response is over fear of the tendency of this demographic to destroy property when activists of this extraction fail to get their way, why should the concerns of such individuals be given a disproportionate sway over American politics? So does this piece of ratiocination proffered for public consideration by this online theologian apply to other contexts? Should Kamala Harris or Michelle Obama be barred from even running for the Oval Office because a statistically significant number of White people find these political figures “divisive” to the point of harboring animus against the Caucasian majority. by Frederick Meekins

A Christianity Today article in the July/Aug 2022 issue is urging people to read “Black books”. Alright, I highly recommend the writings of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams and Candace Owens. I won’t “recommend” the works of explicit Leftists. However, it never hurts to keep those under watch as well so you can understand how such subversives intend to suppress your liberty and swindle your property away from you often through the formulation of elaborate word games and rhetorical slights of thought. It is unfortunate that the author of the article did not ask the pastor who justified filthy explicit literature if he was aware of the Biblical text how it is shameful for a man to have long hair. Might be one thing for a youth to have long hair. But by the time you are celebrated as the pastor of a particular congregation, one would think such ministers would have been able to make it the barber shop by that point. by Frederick Meekins

In light of what is being categorized as the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, leftwing activists are calling for a sex strike until unbridled access to infanticide is once again what the intellectually lazy rhetorically refer to as the law of the land. These banshees on a sex strike shouldn't have been giving it out anyway given most of them are not married. The sex strike actually an efficient way to determine the sort of leftist women the discerning man of character doesn’t want to get entangled with to that degree in the first place. The campaign will only impact the carnally reprobate. However, should a man get caught up in this that may not have taken into consideration what it is that his wife actually believes, the way to countermand the sex strike is to leave the toilet seat up until it's over. Those impacted by the proposed sex strike are the sorts society does not need reproducing in the first place. For decades, the notion of the forty year old virgin has been mocked as an object of social ridicule. In light of the depravity gripping much of American culture, it now seems such people might be the wisest people in any given room. by Frederick Meekins

A pastor remarked that Tuesday night visitation ought to be as popular as Sunday morning church. When you become a Christian in general and a church member in particular, most of the time you acquiesce to the claim that organized religion has assessed on your time on Sunday mornings. An argument can be made that such a precedent was set to an extent by certain understandings of Scripture and solidified by the practice of tradition. However, no such obligation exists to show up Tuesday evenings because a particular pastor has decided to fill a gap of time between Sunday and midweek Bible study or prayer meeting. Most are able to attend Sunday morning services because the culture grants a considerable amount of free time both before and after the primary worship service. No similar blocks of time bracket Tuesday evening visitation, a religious endeavor specifically called for nowhere in the pages of Scripture in terms of being a ritualized compulsory observation. This activity is held right on the tail end of what would be considered a regular work day. As such, what tasks are pastors and other religious laborers required to participate in that are more in your area of expertise not at a time of their particular choosing but rather one you bark out as an arbitrary order after completing a task particularly tiresome from their own vocation? by Frederick Meekins

So it’s patriotic to wear a mask under threat of statist violence but Democrats are the party that regularly condemns the notion of patriotism. Technically, didn’t Biden find his way through grief by stealing another man’s wife? Guess to Democrats, insurgents looting in the streets are about respect and dignity. So are Biden’s BLM allies going to put in the hours of study needed for these “jobs of the 21st century” or is that acting “too White”? Biden’s wife apparently “put their family back together” while their adultery tore her original marriage apart. In his opposition to Russia, did Biden ever condemn the role played by the Soviets in selecting a young Barack? Biden condemning the violence in Charlottesville from several years ago. Ashame he has nothing to say about the violence erupting in America’s cities perpetrated by those whose ideology is not that appreciably different than the agenda endorsed by leading Democrats. If Biden is so opposed to “systemic racism”, why did he enter the presidential campaign to begin with? Shouldn’t he have stepped aside in favor of minority candidates? So deluded fanatics gather in a parking lot to watch on a screen the exact same oration that can be viewed on screen at home? Weren’t the Democrats now insisting that it is patriotic to wear a mask without question at one time insisting that questioning the edicts of rulers represented the epitome of patriotism? Got to love the commercials and news coverage that make you out to be some kind of subversive or mental defective if you are less than thrilled with the “new normal”. Of course Biden isn’t going to say anything about China. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you or at least your dimwit child. If it was safe enough to have fireworks at the Democratic convention, how come it’s apparently not safe to have the light pillar memorial for September 11th? “Joe will bring us together.” Actually, there is next to nothing left to compromise over if this to remain a free nation. “Joe will bring us together.” Ideological distancing is perhaps even more important than social distancing. Science as defined by whom? When he mentioned jobs, at least Biden did not proceed to spell it as a three letter word this time. Too bad media not as concerned about preserving the Constitution and America’s foundational liberties as Jackie Kennedy's crab apples. Pastor Robert Jeffres told Fox News that President Trump IS the Republican platform in that apparently the party has not published a traditional statement of belief in 2020. At this time, there is no other viable alternative to the anarchy and tyranny that would brutalize America under a Biden regime. However, I am rhetorically sorry, but if I would be appalled at such a verbal formulation especially coming out of the mouth of a pastor in regards to Barack Obama, I cannot endorse the concept of the führerprinzip in regards to Donald Trump. As a free individual, you ought to stand for an objectively stated set of beliefs, not unwavering fidelity to a mere human being who, while at the moment articulates a number of admirable policies, is clearly on the record of profoundly altering what he allegedly believes when doing so proves advantageous from a standpoint of existential utilitarianism. These are indeed sad times for America. A commercial warns that, if you pay a babysitter more than $100 per week, you might owe nanny taxes. If that means per sitter, instead of paying one sitter $200, you’d be better off splitting between two sitters for $99.99 each. A campaign advertisement for Senator Warner lamented Trump’s alleged threat to cut off funding for schools that do not comply with the President’s demand to open. But this administration cannot be blamed for developing such a hardline tactic. For when have federal funds not had strings attached? Why do schools not directly meeting the needs of students need funds in the first place? NBA players and owners are forming a coalition to pursue social justice and racial equality. Does that include their exorbitant salaries being surrendered to be redistributed to those that have not achieved a similar level of accomplishment or who have barely even lifted a finger? Because social justice has very little to do with being an individual but rather about being part of a group. Aren’t the ones concerned now about the negative things said about Bill Gates as the purveyor of compulsory vaccination propaganda and threats of punitive measures against those vowing not to submit to the policy preference of a mere private citizen the same ones that used to condemn him relentlessly for accumulating his wealth through making available reasonably accessible technology and over his less than rugged countenance? In a sermon on the Creation Mandate, Pastor Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church, where it is explicitly stated on the website that he himself has only one son and one granddaughter, remarked that usually those with large families go to small churches with other large families as they have often been shamed by side remarks and comments on the part of those with small families at large churches. Maybe those that have remained single as a result of any number of circumstances remain aloof from these churches with large families not only because of snide remarks about remaining single but because of the explicit equivocation in such environments of that relationship status with moral debauchery even when the targets of such derision have remained chaste by Biblical standards. It might be a blessing for a family to have many children. However, it is the responsibility of that family and not everybody else to provide for these children. The Baptists tossing the loudest fits about the unmarried are the same ones that get the most bent out of shape if one settles for someone outside a narrow band of churches in which there are barely any desirable singles to begin with. By Frederick Meekins