The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation
at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered"
by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-15,
titled "Bible Questions and Answers." A copy of the tape can be
obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by
dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 1994 by John MacArthur Jr., All
Rights Reserved.
Question
I’ve always found the teaching of Harold Camping to be confusing. And, I was wondering, where does he go wrong, and especially with the rapture?
Answer
Yes, his teaching is confusing. I’ve never been asked about him before. That’s interesting, because we don’t have family radio in this area, but wherever you have family radio, he owns a network of family radio stations, which are good, and he gets on and it is very confusing. But, he tends to be a five-point Calvinist, very strong in Reformed area, but with some rather personalized interpretations of things.
And when he gets into eschatology--which is not uncommon, to be honest with you, with Reformed people, they are just completely lost. And when he gets into the book of Revelation, like so many other people of the Reformed tradition, they bought a Reformed theology that was codified and packaged prior to the historical development of eschatological theology and the flow of doctrine. So, they just don’t want to talk about it. And when he gets into Revelation, it gets very confusing. And when you add to that, the fact that he is now convinced that the rapture will occur in 1994 [note: question asked prior to Sep 28, 94], I think it’s September 28th …that, that is the day of the rapture, and that it’s all proven in a great, huge, thick book…well, we’re going to find out how trustworthy he is. And probably before September 28th, by watching what he does in the months prior. But, yes, you’re right, his teaching is confusing.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and
Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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