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Morning Seminar
A Critique of Left Behind Thinking (Popular Dispensationalism)
—Lyle D. Bierma
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Introduction
Since the first Left Behind volume appeared in 1995, the series has become a publishing phenomenon. There are now 12 volumes, with tens of millions of copies sold, along with two movies and a board game.

The events of the Left Behind series are based on an interpretation of Scripture known as dispensational premillennialism, sometimes called just dispensationalism.   But more than just dispensationalists are reading the books; they are immensely popular in many non-dispensationalist circles as well. People are reading these books either uncritically or with questions about how they fit into a Reformed theological framework.

The purpose of this seminar is to offer some theological critique of popular dispensationalism represented in the Left Behind series.

I. Qualifications

1. I'm speaking from a Reformed amillennial perspective. This is where I'm standing, and this is how it looks from where I'm standing.

2. Dispensationalism is an umbrella term for a wide variety of viewpoints within that tradition. Hence some of what I will be saying will be generalized and oversimplified.

3. I want to recognize that there is a good deal of scholarly work that has been done in the dispensational tradition (Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, etc.).   But the popular form of dispensationalism represented in the LB books is by far the most popular, and that is what I am addressing.

4. I want to recognize also that there is a recent scholarly movement within dispensationalism known as “progressive dispensationalism,” which has moved theologically much closer to the Reformed amillenialist and the historic premillenialist positions, but it has not made much of an impact at the popular level yet.

5. There are many things to appreciate about dispensational Christians and to learn from them:

•  We share many BASICS of the Christian faith (as Brothers And Sisters In Christ)

•  Their zeal for evangelism and missions

•  Their focus on the Second Coming and commitment to live in its expectation

Hence I want to speak respectfully and charitably of these Christians, and not suggest that my tradition has all the answers or has nothing to learn from them. My critique is intended not as an attack but as an explanation of some of the concerns I have from where I'm standing in the Christian tradition—rooted in love.

II. Concerns (selected)

1. Interpretation of Prophecy “Literally"

Is prophetic and apocalyptic biblical literature really to be read like history before it happens? Are these texts of Scripture really like “tomorrow's newspaper” (as Hal Lindsey wrote)? Can it so easily be woven into a historical narrative as the LB series has done? In my judgment, we can't really hear the message of Scripture when we don't carefully consider the genre of the literature we're working with.

2. Dating of Christ's Return

Not all dispensational premillenialists do this, but many prominent ones do, and the setting of Left Behind assumes a Rapture and return of Christ in the present. The practice of estimating the date of Christ's return has a long history, even though Christ tells the apostles in Acts 1:7, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority."

•  Problem with credibility of the gospel

As prominent Christian predictors keep getting this wrong, Christians look silly in the eyes of the world, and it damages the credibility of the gospel. People may think, "If they keep getting that wrong all the time, if they can't figure out what the Bible teaches, why should we ever believe anything else that they're saying?

•  Problem with mission planning

A missionary friend in the Middle East in the 1980s was belittled by missionaries from the dispensationalist tradition, because he and others in his tradition were establishing ten-year strategies for reaching Muslims in his area. They thought it was ridiculous to do long-term planning, because the Rapture would happen before such a plan could be carried out. Who knows how much outreach of the gospel in that part of the world was hurt because of their refusal to do that kind of planning?

•  Problem with engagement with culture

If we associate certain aspects of misery in the world (such as overpopulation in the 1970s, which was foreseen as leading to famine, a sign of the end times), we may end up governing our action in such a way that we no longer engage a culture and a sinful world in which we live to the extent that we are called to do.

3. View of Israel, the Church, and the Kingdom

•  Problem of separation of Israel and the Church in God's plan of salvation

The Bible is the story of one plan of God as it unfolds in one relationship with one people of God.

•  Problem of future kingdom only

When Jesus Christ comes the first time, the kingdom is inaugurated. It is not consummated, but we live within the tension of the kingdom already come and kingdom not yet come. Jesus says in Matthew 12 that "the kingdom of God has come upon you." The kingdom is already here, a present reality, and we live already now under the reign of Jesus Christ, though not yet in its full expression.

•  Problem of defeat of Satan

In dispensationalism, nothing serious happens to Satan until the Second Coming. It seems to be a serious oversight if we don't have Satan affected at all by the kingdom of God until the end of history. Isn't Jesus' ministry and death on the cross at his first coming in large part about dealing a serious blow to Satan?

4. Biblical Basis for the Rapture as Separate from the Return of Christ

The idea of a Rapture that precedes the return of Christ, which is the whole premise of the Left Behind series, doesn't take seriously enough Scripture itself and its context. In 1 Thess. 4:17, Paul says that at the return of Christ, living believers "will be caught up in the clouds," or raptured, "to meet the Lord in the air." The word for "meet" that is used here has a very technical meaning. It's the kind of meeting that takes place when a visiting dignitary is getting close to his or her destination and a welcoming party from the destination goes out to meet and accompany this dignitary back to the original destination. In this passage, the word suggests that living believers will be caught up to meet the returning Christ, and accompany him back to earth, his destination—not taken off the earth. The Rapture and return are simultaneous, not separated by seven years

Verse 16 foresees a loud, public proclamation of return of Christ that precedes the Rapture—not a secret, silent Rapture as portayed in LB, of which only the righteous are aware.

5. The Placement of the Rapture before the Tribulation

•  Problem with exegesis

Matthew 24 places the Rapture of the saints after the tribulation, not before, as LB portrays. In fact, the whole book of Revelation is written to prepare the church for the tribulation it will have to endure.

•  Problem with rapture becoming “tribulation insurance”

The LB series describes in great detail the suffering associated with the tribulation. It is supposed to scare people—scare them into thinking and hopefully scare them into believing. But the good news of the gospel then becomes: if you believe, you won't have to suffer this tribulation. People are frightened into faith. This looks like a theology of fear, unlike Paul's approach in 1 Thess. 4.

Conclusion
Why are the LB books so popular in non-dispensationalist circles? They give readers a good story, one with action, suspense, romance, and intrigue. But maybe also because there is not much out there to compete with them when it comes to eschatology for persons in the pew. Maybe then this is a good opportunity for us in the non-dispensationalist tradition to do something about that. Maybe we shouldn't be expending so much energy criticizing dispensational premillenialism. Maybe we should do more teaching and preaching on the last things in a way that helps people understand the end times from our own theological perspectives and helps them live accordingly. Maybe a good place to start is for somebody to organize a conference on preaching apocalyptic texts. Now there's an idea.

—provided by Lyle Bierma