Dallas Theological Seminary, outpost for Christian Zionism
In part I, we explained why Christian Zionists at the pulpit of mega-churches find it impossible to tell the truth about many New Testament Bible passages without compromising their position, which is always in support of the state of Israel. Their words often conflict with Jesus’ statements to his disciples about heaven and hell, especially in the 25th Chapter of Matthew.
Jesus’ words should be of vital interest to anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ, or to anyone who believes in an afterlife. But not so, this one chapter may be the most deliberately and subtly avoided and massively distorted one in the New Testament. And that distortion helps provide a theology to justify or enable the ethnic cleansing that has been going on in the Mideast since 1948.
How the Scofieldites planted their end time scenario in the bible
Pastors and theologians have trouble with the 25th chapter of Matthew because in Jesus’ words it clearly states that service and faithfulness is at least a factor in what is painted as a narrow path to heaven. These words seem to say that a lot of pastors may be goats, with a one-way trip to what Jesus referred to as the fate of the hypocrites “where there shall be crying and gnashing of teeth.” (See the last verse of the 24th chapter) Dr. John Walvoord, former President of Dallas Theological Seminary, was and remains one of the most devout Christian Zionists, though he probably was never called that during his lifetime. His own massive writings reveal how much he leaned upon the distorted Scofield Reference Bible for his world view. Walvoord was listed as one of nine on the “Editorial Committee” of this book.
Were it not for the Scofield Dispensationalist Reference Bible, which provides a crutch for distorting Jesus’ words, the pastor and celebrity leaders like Ted Haggard, discussed in Part 1, and Dr. John Walvoord, our suject for today, would have to either change what they teach, or literally tear Matthew 25 out of the Bible. Here Jesus made his most descriptive and complete reference to heaven, hell, and what it takes to become a resident of each one.
Dallas Theological Seminary, a Scofield Outpost from its Founding
Celebrity Christians have been successfully Zionized by Oxford University Press’s multi-generational program in the many seminaries where pastors are trained. It was founded in 1924 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, who wrote many volumes on Dispensationalism and end times prophesy.
Scofieldism is made clear by comparing the words of Dr. John F. Walvoord, who was the president of Dallas Theological seminary from 1952 until his 1987 death, to the notes in the Scofield (Oxford) Reference Bible of 1967. Walvoord’s tutelage, and his beliefs became theology for many. First let’s look at what this pastor training institution says it teaches:
Full Doctrinal Statement includes: (http://www.dts.edu/aboutdts/fulldoctrinalstatement.aspx)
“We believe that the whole Bible in the originals is therefore without error.”
“We believe that according to the “eternal purpose” of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always “by grace through faith,” and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ.”
Article V “THE DISPENSATIONS”
“We believe that the changes in the dispensational dealings of God with man depend on changed conditions or situations in which man is successively found with relation to God,“
Dallas Theological Seminary says it believes the entire Bible is God’s Word, but in the next line it accepts Oxford’s Dispensations, written into a study bible in 1908. This is a good place to note that its past President Walvoord is listed as one of the nine scholars on a “committee to revise” the 1967 Oxford Scofield Reference Bible. (page v)
We can also judge the Dallas Theological Seminary by its graduates. It proclaims that it is dispensational, so it is logical to wonder how much influence this has on the 12,000 pastors and scholars who graduated there. Would they also abuse the words that are attributed to Jesus Christ in teaching others? Many graduated seminarians could be noted, including end times author Hal Lindsay, but one stands out. John F. Walvoord graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and later, in 1952, he became its President for the next 34 years until his death. Doctor of Divinity Walvoord, in the conclusion of his 1973 book, Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis makes a concluding statement that is taken almost verbatim from the footnotes in the Oxford (Scofield) Reference Bible.
On page 28, Walvoord states:
“From the standpoint of the Arab world, the presence of Israel in the Middle East is a festering sore that can only be remedied by radical surgery. Israel has clung to its hope of a Promised Land, so the Arab world has clung to its hope of driving Israel into the Mediterranean and restoring the entire land, including Jerusalem, to Arab possession.”
Page 37:
“The historical development of the Old Testament centers around Abraham and his descendants as a people chosen by God. They were heirs of the Promised Land and the prophesied source of the Messiah, the future King of kings and Savior of the people of God.”
Page 176:
“A Return to /Rule From Zion; The purpose of Christ’s return to the Mount of Olives will be to establish Jerusalem as the capital of his world kingdom. The law will once more go out from Zion.”
On Page 178 Walvoord winds up his thesis:
“The judgment of the non-Jews who survive the tribulation period was described in Matthew 25: 31-46. According to this scripture, Christ will gather all the Gentile population of the earth to appear before His newly established throne in Jerusalem.
In the judgment, individuals will fall into one of two Classes, the sheep and the goats. Christ the King will invite the sheep to enter his Kingdom. These are the ones who will have aided the Jews during their intense persecution. They will have visited them in prison, clothed them when they were naked, fed them when hungry, and hidden them from their tormentors.
The greatest demonstration of true faith in God during this period of intense anti-Semitism will be actions taken to help the suffering Jews. While their works in themselves will not be the basis of salvations seen in this period, to befriend the Jew during this time will be an unmistaken evidence of true faith in Christ in an understanding of the Scriptures. Accordingly, those believers will be known by their works in a difficult time, but like the believer of all ages, they will be saved solely by faith in God through the gracious death and redemption of Jesus Christ.
By contrast, the unbeliever will be exposed by a revelation of their selfish cruelty toward the Jews during the tribulations. These individuals described as goats will be cast into everlasting fire signifying that they will be put to death. Just as unbelieving Jews will be judged, so unbelieving Gentiles will also be judged.
The remaining population of the earth, still in their earthly bodies, will then enter the millennial kingdom of Christ’s reign on earth.”
-End Walvoord:
A direct comparison of Walvoord’s words with the Oxford footnotes on pages 1036 and 1037, show them to be substantially identical (Also discussed in part I, endnote 3). This should be no surprise because Dr. Waloord, it seems, helped write the Oxford footnotes.
Today Scofieldized dispensationalism is the game practiced in thousands of prosperous mega-churches, some over the airwaves. Labor free salvation is the promise. Nothing to give up that you don’t want to part with; nothing to do that you don’t have time for; nothing to sacrifice until you are ready to give it up. The only problem is, this violates much of what Jesus Christ left behind as a clear command.
Con-men of all frames offer something for almost nothing. Internet solicitations without end offer to share millions of dollars with lucky you if you will just do the smallest favor for them….first.
Politics is built around getting something for nothing, always something for you or your group at the expense of someone else….either the other taxpayers, or booty like oil to be taken from another people by force.
Finally there is “salvation for nothing” perhaps the oldest of all con-games. During the Crusades the Catholic Church offered “indulgences” that promised heaven in exchange for a small contribution. Today dispensational churches and Celebrity Christian broadcasters offer a free pass. But to make “salvation” free they must rid themselves of the pesky passage in the Bible in which Jesus Christ tells us about the Strait Gate, and the cost of following him. Matthew 25 must go! Scofieldism has tried to kill Matthew 25, but it has failed because Jesus’ words are true and clear and will not be denied. We have only to shut out the heresy that surrounds us and read them.
-C.E. Carlson
Authors post script:
It is not our place to tell you what the Bible should say to you, only what it seems to say to your writer and a small few who helped start We Hold These Truths, and we do not always agree. Most of us have had our own adventures in “Dispensationalism” and we do agree it is heretical to Jesus’ teachings. We are like a man who finds a bomb or a rattlesnake, curled up on the path. At the very least, we have an obligation to warn passersby of what we have been so lucky as to find. We leave it to you to decide what species of rattlesnake it is. This author is a former Baptist Deacon who was once invited to hear Dr. Walvoord talk at a local seminary, and thought in an honor. I can recall his face, but very little of what he said, other than that future war in the Middle East was certainly God’s will, and we should not try to prevent it. WHTT advisors seem to agree that the New Testament speaks for itself and most of it can be understood by any reader. This includes Matthew 25.
Endnotes
(Endnote 1, Matthew 25, King James Edition)
http://www.bible.com/bibleresources/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=matthew+25&passage2=&passage3=&passage4=&passage5=&version1=9&version2=0&version3=0&version4=0&version5=0&Submit.x=47&Submit.y=4
(Endnote 2, selected verses from Matthew 25)
1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. -(end of first parable) 14For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (end of parable) 30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. -(end of second parable) 31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was hungery, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 40—Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
(Endnote 3, footnotes to Matthew 25:32 to end, Scofield, p-1036-37)
This judgment of individual Gentiles is to be distinguished from other judgments in Scripture, such as the judgment of the Church (2 Cor.5:10-11), the judgment of Israel (Ezek.20:33-38, and the judgment of the wicked after the millennium (Rev.20:11-15). The time of this judgment is “when the Son of man shall come in his glory,” i.e. at the second coming of Christ after the tribulation. The subjects of this judgment are “all nations,” i.e. all Gentiles (Greek: ethne) then living on earth. Three classes of individuals are mentioned: (1) sheep, saved Gentiles; (2) goats, unsaved Gentiles; and (3) brethren, the people of Israel. The scene is on earth; no books are opened; it deals with the living rather than with those translated or raised from the dead. The test of this judgment is the treatment by individual Gentiles of those whom Christ calls “my brethren,” living in the preceding tribulation period when Israel is fearfully persecuted (cp. Gen.12:3). The good works mentioned are the proof but not the ground of faith and salvation. The fact that the righteous and the unrighteous are still mingled and require separation after the establishment of Christ’s throne on earth makes evident that no rapture, i.e. translation of the saints, could have taken place at the time of Christ’s coming to the earth after the tribulation. In such a case the separation here described would have already occurred before the establishment of the throne. The sheep are Gentiles saved on earth during the period between the rapture and Christ’s second coming to the earth.
Ted Haggard
Barbara Walters takes viewers to ‘heaven’ interview ABC Dec 19, 20/20: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051220/tv_nm/television_heaven_dc_1
Haggard from Tel Aviv: http://nonprophet.typepad.com/nonprophet/text/haggardemail.txt
Celebrity Christian graduates include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Theological_Seminary
Lewis Sperry Chafer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Sperry_Chafer
