Hank Clarifies his Views
by Hank Hanegraaff
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Clarifying his views: Re: "New take on Rapture puts authors in apocalyptic feud"
appearing 12/10/04 in The Dallas Morning News (reprinted by permission)
Letters to the Religion editor
05:51 PM CST on Friday, December 10, 2004
Nov. 6
Just a note to clarify some misconceptions concerning my view of biblical eschatology communicated in the article.
First, Tim LaHaye's assertion that I subscribe to the "nonsense that Christ came back in 68 A.D." is surely one of his more creative works of fiction. Such a notion is not even hinted at in my book, The Last Disciple, nor have I made such a statement in any forum. Dr. LaHaye simply manufactured this assertion out of whole cloth.
Furthermore, I have never suggested that the Rapture has already taken place. Thus, the article's opening sentence, "What if the Rapture has already happened?" is misleading. In fact, unlike the "Left Behind" series which is based on the pre-Tribulational Rapture theory posited and popularized in the 19th century by John Nelson Darby, "The Last Disciple" series is centered on the great and glorious truth of Resurrection.
Finally, nowhere in "The Last Disciple" is there any suggestion that in order "to survive, early Christians must decipher a mysterious code." While deciphering the symbols of Revelation is often difficult for 21st-century Christians addicted to "newspaper theology," John's coded letter would have been substantially clear to first-century believers.
Thank you for the opportunity to make the above clarifications and to affirm that I hold to what is taught in Scripture and codified in the creeds: Jesus is coming again; the dead will be resurrected; and the problem of sin will be fully and finally resolved.