I was driving in my car early the other morning and I heard some call in Christian show where the guy was talking about how the tribulation started in 1988 and how Satan, since 1988, has control of all the churches, and Christians who are a part of the church are being led astray.
Can anyone tell me what this is called and more of a background and why they believe what they believe??
I have never heard this before, and I have heard many different beliefs on the end times (preterism, amillenialism, postmillenialism, posttrib rapture, etc.)
This is based on the classic dispensationalist belief that the rise of national Israel, in 1948, heralds the end of the age. Christ's statement in Mark 13, and parallels, that 'this generation' will witness the end, is taken not to mean his generation, but the generation that witnesses the reconstitution of Israel as a nation. And a generation being 40 years, the end must come within 40 years of 1948- thus, 1988.
Go on amazon and just look at a book called
88 Reasons the Rapture Will Happen in 1988.
In point of fact, dispensationalism was damaged to the core by the passing of this date with no consequence.
The three solutions have been-
1. Believe that 1988 still had significance, as the radio fellow seems to believe, while ignoring the rapture prediction.
2. Believe that the 40 years starts not in 1948, but in 1967, with the retaking of Jerusalem by Israel. Thus, the key date is, oddly enough, September-October 2007. Ever wonder was this is the first election cycle in which Pat Robertson isn't declaring his candidacy? Because as far as he's concerned, it's all over within the next month.
3. Change the definition to 100 years instead of fourty, thus giving you a maximum date of 2048 or, at most, 2067.
Naturally, this is all hogwash and I think people who believe in all this, let alone dispensationalism at all, should be committed. But that's the logic of date-setting, anyway.
