Hal Lindsey

Harold L. (Hal) Lindsey, born in Houston, Texas in 1929, is a controversial evangelist and author of Christian books. A graduate of the Dallas Theological Seminary, a prominant Christian Zionist and dispensationalist, he expresses this theology in his writings.

Contents

1 Biography 2 Reputation 3 Theology 4 Bibliography 5 Quotation: 6 See also: 7 External Links

Biography

Hal Lindsey dropped out of the University of Houston to serve in the Korean War, then worked as a Mississippi River tugboat captain. His personal web site[1] (https://shop.hallindseyoracle.com/index.asp) describes that when "his first marriage broke up, he contemplated suicide, but instead found a Gideon New Testament and was converted. Lindsey became an avid reader of Scripture, particularly prophetic sections, which convinced him that the Bible was truly the Word of God."

He entered Dallas Theological Seminary in 1958 (with the help of "Colonel" Robert Thieme, pastor of Berachah Church in Houston, where Lindsey had attended) where he studied with John F. Walvoord, author of the 1974 best-seller Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis. He graduated with a degree in theology. With his second wife Jan he worked with Campus Crusade for Christ and continued with them until 1969. Hal then helped a mission in southern california which continued until 1976. During this period, in 1969, Hal wrote his first book, The Late Great Planet Earth.

Reputation

Lindsey's books are contoversial. Some opponents argue that Lindsey "hates the EU and claims it and Islam are tools of the anti-Christ". Others defend his writings and insist that they are compatible with biblical prophecy regarding the end-times.

His first book, The Late, Great Planet Earth published in 1970, became one of the best selling works of non-fiction in that decade. This book came on the heels of the Six-Day War and thus fueled the popularity of dispensational theology and its support of ethnic Israel as the people of God. It has been published in 54 languages, and has reported sales of over thirty-five million copies and is still in print. Most of his other writings are sequels or (in some instances) revisions and extensions of his first book.

Theology

In The Late, Great Planet Earth, Lindsey wrote that he had concluded that since there was no apparent mention of the United States in the books of Daniel or Revelations, that the USA would no longer be a major player on the geo-political stage by the time the tribulations of the end times arrived. He has since passed over that claim. Lindsey also predicted that the European Common Market, which preceded the European Community, was destined by Biblical prophecy to become a "United States of Europe", which in turn was destined to become a revived Roman Empire ruled by the Antichrist. The fact that there were seven countries in the Common Market related them to a beast with seven heads mentioned in Revelations. A later book bears the title The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon, which implied that the battle of Armageddon would take place shortly after that decade. Lindsey's earlier prophecies all assumed that the Cold War would continue indefinitely, and had eschatological significance; he explicitly identified the former Soviet Union with the apocalyptic figure of Gog. He also assumed that the 1960s counterculture would eventually become the dominant culture, and become the source of prophesied "immorality" that would lead to the establishment of a false religion.

Bibliography

Hal Lindsey's works include:

• The Late, Great Planet Earth first edition 1970
• Satan is Alive and Well On Planet Earth
• There's a New World Coming
• The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon
• The Final Battle
• The Terminal Generation
• Planet Earth: The Final Chapter
• Rapture
• Apocalypse Code
• Blood Moon
• Vanished into Thin Air: the Hope of Every Believer
• The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad

Quotation:

Recently, as I was studying about nuclear weapons, I discovered that science has perfected a cobalt bomb --- one of the most lethal weapons known to man. A cobalt bomb is made by placing a shield of cobalt 59 metal around a hydrogen bomb. By this comparatively simple operation the destructive capacity of the hydrogen bomb is doubled. More significantly, however, the radioactive contamination is tremendous. Scientists have dubbed it the "dirty bomb" because of its fallout. This is what I believe may be pictured in Revelation 6:12.

There's a New World Coming (Vision House, 1973 ed.), p. 110

See also:

• Christian eschatology
• eschatology
• End of the world
• Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy

External Links

http://www.hallindseyoracle.com (http://www.hallindseyoracle.com/)