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by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on February 18th, 2011
Help answer this question below.
Evidence that critics often cite to support their claim that Mr. Lindsey is a false prophet:
- Hal Lindsey prophecies in his book, "The Late Great Planet Earth", that the Soviet Union would be the Empire of the Anti-Christ. Well, the USSR no longer exists and now Hal Lindsey has changed his view. His prophecy did not come true.
- Hal Lindsey also prophesied in the same book that Jesus would return within 40 years of the birth of the nation of Israel (citing Matthew 24 and the budding of the fig tree). The 80's have come and gone Hal... and we're still here.
Further, in a sermon given (and recorded) in 1979 he made the following predictions:
- He predicted a limited nuclear war before 1984 and an all out world war before 1989
- He predicted that the world will run out of all raw materials before 1986
- He predicted that the “Jupiter Effect” will occur in 1982 and at that time dams will burst and nuclear power plants will have major melt downs
- He predicted that the European Union will be the most powerful entity in the world by the mid 1980’s
- He stated that the Antichrist is alive and well in Europe as he is making this speech and will soon make his appearance
- He predicted the murder of all Mormons
- He predicted that by the end of the 1980’s the Arab nations will have a complete strangle hold on America and dominate the wealth of the U.S.
- He predicted that Russia will invade Jerusalem in the 1980’s and that the U.S. will be powerless to do anything about it.
- He predicted to the people of his audience that the rapture will occur in their lifetime.
And if there's any doubt as to the predictions made in the referenced sermon I will add that I I heard him state these exact predictions (some with new dates) multiple times on Christian Radio and TV throughout the 1970's and 1980's - so this is being written by a first hand witness to Mr. Lindsey's predictions.
by Stormarm on January 23rd, 2012
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Comments
Thank you for your answer.
However, could you show us from the Biblical text where the person must overtly claim to be a prophet in order for this Biblical test to apply to them - I'm not seeing it.
Deuteronomy 18 (ESV)
15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Thank you.
by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on January 23rd, 2012
It says "But the prophet who presumes ..." -- the position of prophet in ancient Israel was just that: an appointed and annointed position; it was an office in ancient Israel like priest and (from Saul to the Exile) king.
Also note v20: "but the prophet who presumes to speak a word IN MY NAME ..." and v22: "When a prophet speaks IN THE NAME IF THE LORD ..." That's a very important qualification. That's the where it says that a person must be overtly claiming to be a prophet - or more specifically, one claiming to have a word direct from God Himself that he is to announce to the congregation, and which they are thus obligated to OBEY.
Now where does the passage suggest that every single thing a laymen says, or even actual prophet says, from "looks like rain" to "Broncos are gonna win!" is to be considered a prophecy ("literally, an oracle from the LORD") which should get him killed if it proves in error.
by Stormarm on January 23rd, 2012
Please reread the referenced citations from Mr. Lindsay. From my vantage point he was clearly speaking as an oracle or mouthpiece of God. They were more than opinion and certainly not in the class of something as trivial as discussing sports or the weather.
And if an explicit, "Thus saith the Lord is required then Joseph Smith and the Mormon General Authorities are off the hook too.
by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on January 26th, 2012
Joseph Smith, as well as Brigham Young and his successors did claim to have received revelations from the Lord. Smith's prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea was based on one such claimed word from God.
Lindsey never claimed to have been recieved any communication from God. He was simply asserting that certain Biblical passages meant what something they clearly did not. He'll be held to account for it come the Judgment, and every Christian pulpit should denounce him and his writings, and excommunicate him (though on the basis of NT instructions regarding how to deal with scripture-twisters and wolves-in-sheeps-clothing, not on the basis of the OT teachings on how to deal with false prophets), but unless he claimed that his bogus predictions were explicit communications from God to him personally, you can't get him on the charge of being a false prophet.
by Stormarm on January 27th, 2012
YOU WROTE
"...unless he claimed that his bogus predictions were explicit communications from God to him personally, you can't get him on the charge of being a false prophet."
MY RESPONSE
Hal Lindsay has claimed to receive revelations from God aside from his writings on TBN, in radio interviews, and elsewhere. So if that's the criteria then he's right along side Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
After all, many of the texts that modern Latter-day Saint claim were divine revelations weren't given as such by Smith or Young they got exalted and canonized as such after the fact by their followers. Critics often err on this point.
And since the prophecies of future events that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other LdS General Authorities that are used by critics don't meet the criteria established in your post then they're off the hook too.
(see http://carm.org/false-prophecies-of-joseph-smith as one of many examples)
So, I'll let my Mormon friends and family members know that by the criteria given in your last post their leaders just as valid as Hal Lindsay.
After all, such criteria must be objective and fairly applied in all cases. We can't have one criteria for those in our group and another for those who are outside of our group.
by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on January 27th, 2012