Dallas Morning News - 10/24/1998
By Deborah Kovach Caldwell
Sherman Sims walked out of Prestonwood Baptist Church one night, a four-page outline called "The Future Program of God" in his
hand. The topic was the end of the world.
He was one of 3,000 people who'd gone to the Far North Dallas church to hear what some Christians believe the Bible says about
the end times. Though Mr. Sims struggled to follow the discussion of tribal wars, the European Union, the stock market, and how it
all fits into God's plan, the architect from Duncanville was clear about the message.
"You've got to be prepared," Mr. Sims said.
For six weeks this fall, large crowds are flocking to a Bible conference sponsored by the Dallas Theological Seminary. Hand-holding
young couples with children, retirees, physicians in scrubs, teenagers and business people wearing pagers - they're all here looking
for answers.
In the waning days of the millennium, apocalyptic interest is at an all-time high. Christian bookstores are selling books with such
titles as End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon? and Final Dawn Over Jerusalem. Producers of a new evangelical video called
Apocalypse promise to shake believers and save souls. In one survey, 20 percent of Americans said the Second Coming will
happen around 2000.
Probably nowhere else is this kind of thinking more diligently promoted than Dallas. For nearly a century, ideas about the Antichrist,
the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming have been hatched and perfected at Dallas Theological Seminary. Students
come from all over the world to study and spread the message. Hal Lindsey - author of the Late Great Planet Earth, which sold 20
million copies and popularized the topic - studied there.
Peering out from a podium at Prestonwood one recent Tuesday, Dr. John Walvoord, the seminary's 88-year-old chancellor, asked
the crowd: "Are you ready?"
Someday soon, said the great evangelical Bible scholar, Jesus may leave his throne in heaven and swoop to earth with a loud
ka-bang. Dead Christians will be resurrected. Living ones will float to the clouds, meeting Jesus in a moment called the Rapture.
Everyone left behind will suffer seven years of chaos called the Tribulation.
"It's about to take place," Dr. Walvoord said.
These days, the seminary and its followers have an audience beyond the usual churchgoers.
"There's a lot of interest in future things," said Reg Grant, conference coordinator. "We're here as a source of help."
So the seminary is sponsoring "The Road to Armageddon and Beyond," which runs until Nov. 3. The $30 course includes
evangelical heavyweights such as seminary president Chuck Swindoll and Dr. Walvoord. This week's study, "Babylon: Iraq and the
Coming Middle East Crisis," taught by Charles Dyer, is Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The seminary has never set a date for Jesus' return. But conference speakers say world events are pointing toward the Second
Coming. The only escape, they say, lies in belief in God's salvation through Jesus - a belief that gains them a spot among those
raptured to heaven.
One speaker, seminary professor Mark Bailey, stood on a podium under a huge screen of flames surrounding the words, "The
Tribulation."
"I don't think we've ever had a better setup for God to restart the clock today," he told the crowd.
After his talk, he issued a plea.
"We as evangelicals have the truth of Scripture, and we are in a position to be heard in America, even in our politics, as never
before," he said. "What God is going to do is bring upon the Earth one of the most incredible judgment periods the world has ever
known. I'd hate for you to go home tonight not prepared."
Many scholars argue that the Bible's authors never intended their work to be interpreted as literal prophecy. The Antichrist in
Revelation, for example, alludes to the Roman emperor Nero, who represented evil to early Christians. The passage predicting
Armageddon, scholars say, refers to the final victory of good over evil, not a literal battle. The Rapture, mentioned in I Thessalonians,
is an expression of St. Paul's confidence Christians will spend eternity with Jesus.
Nevertheless, apocalyptic teachings are widely held by average people.
Those raised in evangelical faiths are taught versions of the events of the Second Coming, said Daniel Wojcik, a University of
Oregon professor and author of The End of the World As We Know It.
"It's a long-lasting tradition in American culture," he said.
Since the 1970s, in part because of Mr. Lindsey's work, these beliefs have seeped into popular books, movies and television.
According to a 1994 survey, Dr. Wojcik said, 61 percent of Americans believe Jesus will return; 44 percent believe in the Battle of
Armageddon; 49 percent believe an Antichrist will arise; and 44 percent believe in the Rapture.
Such ideas are comforting, he said, because they help people believe history is following a specific path.
"They believe that ultimately things are in God's hands, and it's all going to work out fine," Dr. Wojcik said.
End-times fever also broke out during the Persian Gulf War. Then, Dr. Walvoord appeared on Larry King Live and the Today show to
discuss his theology and best-selling book, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis.
"Of course, it wasn't the Second Coming," said Dr. Walvoord, who has written a new book called End Times: Understanding Today's
World Events in Biblical Prophecy. "But the Bible does indicate at the end of the age the Middle East will be the center of events."
He said the turn of the millennium is heightening people's interest again, though he called their fascination "misguided," since the
Bible doesn't pinpoint an end date. He's now speaking twice a month at conferences nationwide.
We'll know the end is here when the Rapture happens, he said. And that could be very soon.
Isn't the idea of people floating up to the clouds a difficult sell?
"It's a question of whether or not you believe in the supernatural," he said. "Christians believe there's a resurrection from the dead,
and that's supernatural. You can't explain the Bible without accepting there's a supernatural."
For some, it's easy to accept.
"We can't learn too much about our future," said Beverly Clampitt of Rockwall. "I want to go in the Rapture too. It's going to be
soon." |
