Perhaps you have seen the YouTube video going around that claims to give biblical evidence that Barack Obama is the anti-christ (see above). The presentation sounds like a learned insight on the biblical text, but I assure you it is not. It is filled with factual inaccuracies and exegetical fallacies and should be discarded onto the scrapheap of crackpot-pseudo-intellectual hooey.
Thankfully, Dan Wallace has disposed of this one in fairly short order. You can read it here. Wallace concludes this way:
“Is he the Antichrist? In the least, the linguistic torturing required to make the biblical evidence say this is beyond the pale of reason and, perhaps, sanity.”
27 Comments
Michael Templin
leave it to the Dispensationalists to come up with a crock like this. They should just abandon the fallacious hermeneutic and admit the Dr. Ladd’s eschatology is most faithful to the bible and the early church.
Everett
I love phonetic exegesis.
Collin
Well, he obviously can’t be the antichrist because I was told from the pulpit that the president of the EU was going to be the antichrist. duh.
rach
that’s like the little boy who saw “a frickin elephant”( African Elephant) at the zoo, also, i like the serious, stern tone of the narrator…
Matthew Staton
Another good piece here: http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2009/08/07/obama-is-not-the-antichrist/ I would copy and paste a paragraph but there are too many good ones to choose from. Very worth reading.
At first, I thought this video was satire. When I realized the guy seemed to actually be taking himself seriously my jaw dropped.
Michael: Just to clarify, that is a joke, right?
You might as well hold the group of all Christians responsible for the crazies that march and protest with hateful signs at soldier’s funerals. You can’t pin one crazy on an entire group that in the main rejects him; it reflects an unfair prejudice against the group and a misunderstanding of what they actually believe. Wallace, the author of the linked article here, is from the dispensation DTS. Anyway, surely you were being sly; it’s hard to tell with text-based communication sometimes.
Dave Miller
Michael, to condemn all dispensationalists because of a man like this is about as credible as this man’s rantings.
Michael Templin
very true Dave I apologize!
Michael Templin
I don’t condemn all dispensationalists because of him…I condemn them for their error in exegesis and theology. Primarily in regards to the temple, the rapture, the supremacy of ethnic Israel, the beast (antichrist), Lack of a proper understanding of the Kingdom of God, and of course the failure to read the “Grand Narrative” of scripture.
Michael Templin
@ Matthew Staton:
I have high regards for Dr. Wallace and DTS and I am fully aware of the shift in eschatological views there, ie “Progressive Dispensationalism”. Yet at the end of the day when it come to premillenialism they are wrong. And by premillennialism i mean Disp. of course, not premillennialism itself since I hold to the Historic Premill position.
Matt Svoboda
I am with Michael… Dispensational hermeneutics are not Christ-centered hermeneutics. They are hermeneutics that allow OT promises determine NT meaning rather than letting what we know from the NT make us better understand the fulfillments of OT promises.
Dispensational hermeneutics are very bad, to say the least. I keep going back and forth between Historic Premill and Amill, but one thing I know for sure, I’m no Dispy!
volfan007
I am not a dispensationalist, but I do lean that way very heavily. I feel that my beliefs are very exegetically correct. And, Michael, this video in no way represents dispensationalists. My goodness.
I’m pre-Trib. pre-Millinial, and I’m looking for the rapture of the Church to occur at any time. And, I believe that this is more true to the Bible than other “last days” views.
David
volfan007
Also, the rhetoric from some of you non-dispensationalists is very troubling. “Not Christ-centered?” “error in exegesis and theology?” “Dispensational hermeneutics are very BAD?”
Wow…and, we want to rally the troops for a GCR? And, we also have some Pastors telling other SBC Pastors that they arent preaching the true Gospel if they are not five point Calvinists?
Yea, this will work.
David
volfan007
Not.
Michael Templin
@ volfan007 “And, Michael, this video in no way represents dispensationalists. My goodness.”
The problem with your statement is that DOES represent dispensationalists! The only place these crazy eschatological-fairy tales come from in the N. American church is from that camp. 100,000s believe like this in dispensationalist circles and they have 1000s of preachers that preach this kind of stuff (not nessacaraly that obama is the antichrist but other things very similar).
This is not coming out of the New Perspective, Reformed, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. only the Dispensationalist camp. Similar teaching can be found in the occult as well. To deny this (that Dispys don’t believe like this)you would literally have to remove yourself from the a huge percentage dispensationalists, and disregard so many of there mainstream and popular books (left behind, prophecy books and conferences, middle-east studies, this goes on and on). Not only that you would have to say that the 100,000s of didpensationalist that believe this stuff do not represent didpensationalism, which would fallacious.
Michael Templin
*Dispenpensationalists (sorry for above spelling i did not proof read)
volfan007
Michael,
I do not know of anyone, except whoever made this video, that would say that Obama is the AntiChrist based on their dispensationalist views. Michael, someone has badly informed you on what dispensationalists believe if they told you this.
You should read Dr. J. Vernon McGee and Dr. H.A. Ironside for a better view. And, quit listening to Jack and Rexella Van Impe. BTW, where did Tim LaHaye say that Obama was the AntiChrist? Can you show me where he has said something like that?
Good grief, and the five pointers think that some Pastors in the SBC are mischaracterizing them!!!
David
Michael Templin
Its not someone (singular), but plural. Get on the internet and look at the hundred of articles on similar subject (ex, Obama is the antichrist, the pope is the antichrist, in 2012 the president of the EU will be the antichrist, etc), and then go check out articles ranging back the rise of dispensationalism (hitler,gorbachev, stalin,earlier popes, bill clinton, etc claimed by Disp.to be the beast). I never said that tommy ice, Lahaye or any of those boys in lynchburg said that Obama was the antichrist reread my past posts, yet they promote the same unhealthy eschatology which has infected our churches from age 6 to 96, and is grounded upon opinion, speculation, and bad hermenuetics. And they try to read the newspaper for their”end time” charts that they sell.
Read my earlier post for just a small amount of reasons why this “system” that is imposed on the Bible is wrong.
And this has nothing to do with Calvinism, for one Calvinism is incompatable with Dispensationalism. Some try to take the Soteriological ideas from Calvin and impose them into a dispensational system, yet what they are doing are making yet another system. For Calvinism you need his soteriology, eschatology, and ecclesiology function correctly in that system.
Michael Templin
When we let systematic theology influence our biblical exegesis we are constantly going to impose unnecessary categories upon the word of God, and we will still ask scripture questions that are not even in its scope of meaning. All I am trying to say is: read the bible, be changed by it through the Spirit, exegete the scripture, do the research for a proper historical background, let it answer the questions it is supposed to, be changed by it once again now that you have more understanding, develope doctrine from the actual word itself, and make disciples.
Derek Taylor
Do people seriously think Obama is a mesmerizing speaker? I know he attracts big crowds all over the world, but the real anti-Christ will have people hanging on every word. Obama is soooo boring after 10 minutes – hey, even his supporters admit that he is way too scripted. There are some pretty funny videos out there showing how he really does put people to sleep.
The real anti-Christ will be so intelligent and charismatic that he will make Obama look like a piker. Plus, he will be extremely spiritual, even performing miracles. This guy says he’s spiritual, but so has every U.S. President since George Washington – yet Obama refuses to even pray publicly. He is trying really hard to make the presidency a secular office.
There are so many angles you could look at and see that this guy doesn’t fit into the puzzle… whether you are dispensationalist, amillenialist, panmillenialist or whatever.
John Holmberg
Regarding dispensationalism (disp):
I agree with many of the caricatures on here that disp has been the result of some extremely whacky eschatological views, and has arguably done more harm than good in Christianity. I personally grew up in a tradition that tried to interpret current events in light of biblical prophecy, and now I look back and am ashamed for believing some of it, and I laugh now because of how ridiculous it is.
However, I believe that if we look throughout all of church history, there have always been groups that have done this very thing, regardless of the fact that disp has only been around for around 200 years. We always see sects who claim the world is going to end, who claim that Jesus will come back on such and such a date, who claim that they are the true witnesses and the kingdom will be ushered in by them. So on that note, I just think that kind of whacky disp is following the lead of many of our forebears.
On another note, it agitates me when I hear disp used as a blanket statement. If we look at the academic disp within the last 20 years, we will find that 99% of them would disagree with the Tim LaHaye & John Hagee types. Many of them don’t see the modern nation-state Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and they don’t try to interpret all current events in light of biblical prophecy. IMO, they have learned from the absurd statements of many of their forebears and are changing their approach.
Personally, I’m pan-mill (i.e. I don’t give a darn), but I believe we shouldn’t throw disp out because many of its forebears have had whacky eschatological beliefs. For instance, I believe their emphasis on progressive revelation is a good one, and one that we should adopt and learn from. The axiom that God deals with people differently at different points of time is helpful for biblical exegesis. Also, although God is working primarily through the church now, disp has been quick to point out that the NT still affirms a place for Israel in God’s plan. This has often been taken extremely too far, but it’s true nonetheless (and we’re starting to see more non-disp scholars agreeing with it everyday). It’s a shame that what most people think is that you have to choose between disp and covenant theology (i.e. reformed), because I think both of them are very wrong in many places, yet both have their strengths and are right in many places. It’s not an “either-or” for them, it’s a “yes & no” for both. Such is the case with all systems, IMO (although the up and coming missional theology is spot-on, IMO). Disp has many wonderful scholars who shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as LaHaye and Hagee (e.g. Darrell Bock).
Michael Templin
“If we look at the academic disp within the last 20 years, we will find that 99% of them would disagree with the Tim LaHaye & John Hagee types.”
This is very true, yet the problem still remains: The church and thearm chair theologians do not reflect the academy. Progressive Dispensationalism has had very little influence within the church, in comparison to revised and classical, or even wacko Disp. theology like the hal lindsey types. They are yet to catch up and frankly i dont know if they ever will. I stand proudly as a premillennialist, yet a Historic one, and I pray many will have their eyes opened.
volfan007
Michael,
You sound like a 29 yr old, young man, who has not been out of seminary for very long. How old are you?
David
Michael Templin
21
Mr. Hyde
@Michael Templin
I am curious about something. You seem to have a great distaste for those who hold to some form of disp. theology. So I would like to know if you think they are saved (or if their theology disqualifies them)?
Michael Templin
of course they are saved…If they are believers in Jesus the Messiah and are repentant of their sins! That goes with anyone. I don’t think Dr. Burk is not saved just because he is a Dispensationalist and that goes for everyone else. My problem lies in their understanding of theological themes.
James Hunt
Regarding the u-tube clip. What a bunch of lame, ignorant eisegetical garbage.
Mark
For a pre-Halloween shock or two, Google “Famous Rapture Watchers – Addendum,” “Pretrib Rapture Diehards,” and “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty.” The book version of all this and much more is “The Rapture Plot” (see Armageddon Books).