I came to Briercrest College in the fall of 2002 to teach in a one-year sabbatical-replacement position. Prior to accepting the position, I asked about the dispensationalism in their statement of faith but I was assured that the school was actually going to be removing that as a requirement to teach at Briercrest, and so […]
dispensationalism
Will Jesus Return in 1988?
I remember September, 1988 well for one reason: my friend Sean’s parents gave away and sold all their possessions. Why? They were convinced that Jesus would return in a few days based on the calculations of Edgar Whisenant, calculations that Mr. Whisenant had published in the bestselling booklet 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In […]
How to tell you were raised dispensational
This morning I was working out on the back deck while my wife was preparing a late breakfast for the family (including extended family that are visiting). Then I walked back into the kitchen only to discover bacon frying in a pan, waffles cooking in the waffle maker … and nobody in the kitchen to […]
47. The Devil’s in the Music: On growing up evangelical in the 80s
I grew up reading Hal Lindsey books. Beginning with The Late, Great Planet Earth (1970), Mr. Lindsey had a string of bestsellers throughout the 1970s. And each of those books promoted a popularist form of dispensationalist Christianity that read the predicted future of the book of Revelation in the unfolding events of the evening news. […]
Does evangelical pessimism need a makeover?
When I was growing up I was taught dispensational premillennialism, an eschatology (theology of last things) that has as one of its hallmarks an unshakeable pessimism about the imminent future. Basically, things will keep getting worse until Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom. Dispensational pessimism continues to form a broad swathe of North American conservative […]
