Lies and fallacious arguments from Pre-Tribulationists:
The PTRC (Pre-Trib Research Center) stresses three practical implications that flow from the rapture teaching:
- Pretribulationism leads to godly living in an unholy age.
- This New Testament teaching promotes a strong emphasis upon evangelism of the lost.
- When believers come to understand this eternal perspective, it leads to a zeal for worldwide missions.
Do you see the fallacy that the PTRC is delivering in the above? Actually, there are a number of them, such as Poisoning the Well and Wishful Thinking. They are claiming that only the Rapture teaching leads to godly living, emphasizes evangelism, and leads to a zeal for worldwide missions. This, of course, is a lie!
The gullible individual reading that will think that if they do not believe the Rapture teaching, then they are guilty of those things, and thus be manipulated into believing a false and bankrupt theology. John Walvoord pulled the same trick in his book The Rapture Question, where he essentially said that anyone who does not believe in the Rapture teaching is worshiping the Devil (not those exact words, but something to that effect).
It was another fallacy. The reader would come across that argument and because they do not want to be known as doing such, would be manipulated into believing something that is simply and completely untrue. If you pay careful attention to Dispensational writings, you will discover that they engage in the use of fallacies quite a lot. Do not be fooled by them! Read your Bible! Learn your Bible and the historical timeline of when the writers lived and what events were happening around them! When you know this, Dispensationalists cannot lie to you about the prophetic fulfillment of certain passages. While you are at it, make sure you familiarize yourself with what the epistle of Hebrews has to say, because it is quite damaging to much of the belief system of Dispensationalism.
Furthermore, how can the PTRC claim that the Rapture teaching leads to godly living when Dispensationalists do not believe in repentance, obedience, or even holiness? It is impossible to live a godly life if you are not daily repenting, walking in obedience, and living in holiness. As much as you may not like to hear it, the likes of C. I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, Thomas Ice, etc., are up there alongside Charles Finney. Their interpretational practices are akin to that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, citing randomly isolated verses of Scripture ripped from their various contexts and joined together with other randomly isolated verses of Scripture ripped from their various contexts.
Do not let Dispensationalists act like the Catholic church for your beliefs. Read the Bible for yourself. Pray (before you open your Bible) that God would give you wisdom, understanding, and discernment, and to teach you according to His Word. Remember that chapters and verses were not part of the original writings of Scripture. Pay attention to the surrounding context of a verse, and do not rip it out of that context. Yield to the whole counsel of the Word of God. Compare Scripture with Scripture, allowing Scripture to interpret itself. Learn the historical timeline of the authors of Scripture, the characters of Scripture, and the events in Scripture.
Furthermore, how can the PTRC claim that the Rapture teaching leads to godly living when Dispensationalists do not believe in repentance, obedience, or even holiness? It is impossible to live a godly life if you are not daily repenting, walking in obedience, and living in holiness. As much as you may not like to hear it, the likes of C. I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, Thomas Ice, etc., are up there alongside Charles Finney. Their interpretational practices are akin to that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, citing randomly isolated verses of Scripture ripped from their various contexts and joined together with other randomly isolated verses of Scripture ripped from their various contexts.
Do not let Dispensationalists act like the Catholic church for your beliefs. Read the Bible for yourself. Pray (before you open your Bible) that God would give you wisdom, understanding, and discernment, and to teach you according to His Word. Remember that chapters and verses were not part of the original writings of Scripture. Pay attention to the surrounding context of a verse, and do not rip it out of that context. Yield to the whole counsel of the Word of God. Compare Scripture with Scripture, allowing Scripture to interpret itself. Learn the historical timeline of the authors of Scripture, the characters of Scripture, and the events in Scripture.