https://americanvision.org/Recent content The American VisionHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usAll rights reserved.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:03:41 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/americas-250-year-old-war-with-islam-continues/Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:03:41 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/americas-250-year-old-war-with-islam-continues/<p>What Christian non-voters don’t know about Islam may end up enslaving them or worse. Of course, not all Muslims are Jihadists, but more than 300 million are. Jihadist strategists do not believe they can militarily destroy the United States, so they target its social, economic, and political foundations to cause internal collapse.</p> <p>There are too many Christians who avoid politics to fight Islam, a revival of Communism, Socialism, and materialism for a variety of reasons they believe are biblical:</p> <p>• Jesus didn’t get involved in politics. (He also didn’t marry or have children.)</p> <p>• The rapture is around the corner. (There is no such event. No single verse in the NT says the church will be taken off the earth before, during, or after seven years.)</p> <p>• Politics can’t save us. (Whoever said it could?)</p> <p>• Christians should not be involved in politics because it’s dirty. (Does this mean you’re OK with politicians pushing their dirty politics on us and taking away our freedoms?)</p> <p>• We can’t impose our view of morality on other people. (Are you OK with letting non-Christians impose their morality on all of us? There’s no neutrality.)</p> <p>• The Christian’s Citizenship is in Heaven. (This didn’t stop Paul from appealing to his Roman citizenship.)</p> <p>• There is a separation between Church and State (There is a jurisdictional separation as the Bible teaches, but it does not teach separation of God and civil government.)</p> <p>I discuss excuses like these and many more in my book <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/myths-lies-and-half-truths" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Myth, Lies, and Half-Truths</a></em>. Islamists take advantage of our nation’s freedoms and use them against us and exploit Christian quietism and defeatist eschatology.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/mlht1_large.png?v=1365620692" alt="Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths</h3> <p>Like the Bereans of Paul’s day (Acts 17:11), Christians should check the veracity of all opinions against the only reliable standard of authority that God has placed in our hands: the Bible. This may mean a change in belief systems for some. There is no novelty in this. God confronted Peter directly about the inclusion of Gentiles into the household of faith (10:9–16). Paul confronted Peter “to his face” on a similar matter (Gal. 2:11–14). There are times when we all need to be knocked off our horse of mistaken opinions (Acts 9:4). “Testing” is a biblical mandate (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:1).</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/myths-lies-and-half-truths" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <blockquote> <p>If the people do not embrace Islam and implement the Sharia on their own accord, it becomes an obligation upon the Muslims to fight and implement Islam. In countries such as Britain and America, their people have clearly rejected to embrace Islam and will never choose to live by the Sharia. Therefore, the only two ways in which these countries can become under the domain of Islam is by the last two options, a group of Muslims rise and overthrow the government, or an Islamic state is established elsewhere and comes to conquer these nations. (<a href="https://duaat.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/how-islam-will-dominate-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Source</a>)</p> </blockquote> <p>Our Founders understood the dangers of Islam and acted on it. For example, Thomas Jefferson studied the Koran. He owned a two-volume English translation that was published in 1734. He understood that the Koran’s peace initiatives were double-talk and one-sided. Peace meant the absence of any religious or political opposition. Historian Paul Johnson confirms this judgment:</p> <blockquote> <p>Koranic teaching that the faith or “submission” can be, and in suitable circumstances must be, imposed by force, has never been ignored. On the contrary, the history of Islam from Arabia was followed by the rapid conquest of North Africa, the invasion and virtual conquest of Spain, and a thrust into France that carried the crescent to the gates of Paris. It took half a millennium of reconquest to expel the Moslems from Western Europe. The Crusades, far from being an outrageous prototype of Western imperialism, as is taught in most of our schools, were a mere episode in a struggle that has lasted 1,400 years and were one of the few occasions when Christians took the offensive to regain the “occupied territories” of the Holy Land.<strong>[1]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>As early as 1786, Jefferson, serving as the ambassador to France, and John Adams, the Ambassador to Britain, met in London with Ambassador Abdrahaman, the Dey of Tripoli’s ambassador to Britain, to negotiate a peace treaty based on Congress’ vote to fund it. Peace would come at a price. The United States initially paid tribute to the Regency of Tripoli under the Treaty of Tripoli signed in 1796 and ratified in 1797 to protect American merchant ships from Barbary corsairs. This agreement required a one-time payment of $66,000 in goods and cash, including 40,000 Spanish dollars, watches, and cloth, and explicitly stated that neither party would make any periodic tribute or further payments. See my book <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/case-for-americas-christian-heritage" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">The Case for America’s Christian Heritage</a></em> for the fascinating story about our early nation’s war with Islam.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/cachfr_large.png?v=1675169569" alt="The Case for America&#39;s Christian Heritage"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Case for America&#39;s Christian Heritage</h3> <p>There’s much work before us to reset the foundation stones of a firm reliance on Divine Providence. We need to heed the words of Benjamin Franklin who quoted Psalm 127:1 during the drafting process of the Constitution: “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it,” and “that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel.” The principles that were true and necessary centuries ago for building nations are equally true and necessary today.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/case-for-americas-christian-heritage" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>However, in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Qaramanli, demanded increased tribute and declared war on the United States when payments were delayed, initiating the First Barbary War. The conflict ended with the Treaty of 1805, which abolished the practice of annual tribute entirely in exchange for a one-time ransom payment of $60,000 for the release of American prisoners.</p> <p>Jefferson and Adams argued in vain that the United States was not at war with Tripoli and had no part in the Crusades. In what way had the U.S. provoked the Muslims, they asked? Ambassador Abdrahaman went on to explain “the finer points of Islamic jihad” to Jefferson and Adams. In a letter to John Jay, Jefferson wrote the following:</p> <blockquote> <p>The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman [Muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.<strong>[2]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Abdrahaman was paraphrasing the Koran’s “rules of engagement” found in the 47th Surah:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Whenever you encounter the ones who disbelieve [during wartime], seize them by their necks until once you have subdued them, then tie them up as prisoners, either in order to release them later on, or also to ask for ransom, until war lays down her burdens.” Unless a nation submitted to an Islamic nation, whether it was the aggressor or not, that nation was by definition at war with Islam. Jihad means “to submit.” A non-aggressing nation is at war with Islam as long as it hasn’t embraced Islam. Islam’s goal is to conquer the world, either by the submission of one’s will or by Allah’s sword.<strong>[3]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>The Muslims financed their wars and terror operations by enslaving and then selling captured seamen. From 1500 to 1830, one million European and American seamen and passengers were captured by Muslim pirates in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.</p> <p>Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), author of <em>Don Quixote</em>, was enslaved in the dungeons of Algiers for five years before he was ransomed by his parents and the Trinitarians. By 1795, America’s “peace” payments to Muslim terrorists comprised 16 percent of the entire federal budget!</p> <p>The 1797 Treaty with Tripoli was written to assure the Muslims of Tripoli that America would not impose its Christian views on Islamic nations in any treaty transaction, “as it has in itself no character of enmity against the law, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [an archaic English term for a Muslim or follower of Islam].”</p> <p>A November 3, 1784 letter to Benjamin Franklin from America’s agent in Morocco, the Italian Francisco Chiappe, Secretary of his Imperial Majesty for Foreign Affairs in Barbary, stated, “His Majesty the Emperour of Marocco (whom God preserve) commands me to write to your Excellency that he is in good Friendship and Peace with all the Christian Nations.”<strong>[4]</strong> This letter shows that, according to the Emperor of Morocco, the newly formed United States was considered a “Christian Nation,” along with Great Britain and other European countries.</p> <hr> <p>[1] Paul Johnson, “‘Relentlessly and Thoroughly’: The Only Way to Respond,” <em>National Review</em> (October 15, 2001).</p> <p>[2] Quoted in Joseph Wheelan, <em>Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror, 1801-1805</em> (New York: Carroll &amp; Graf Publishers, 2003), 40-41.</p> <p>[3] Robert Spencer, <em>The Truth about Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion</em> (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2006) and Robert Spencer, <em>The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)</em> (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2005).</p> <p>[4] “To Benjamin Franklin from Francesco Chiappe: Two Letters, 3 November 1784”: <a href="https://bit.ly/3OpbNUB" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">https://bit.ly/3OpbNUB</a>. Hitchens adds the following: “Let us not call this view reductionist. Jefferson would perhaps have been just as eager to send a squadron to put down any Christian piracy that was restraining commerce. But one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli’s ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, America’s two foremost envoys were informed that ‘it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.’”</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/the-first-principles-of-every-debate/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:10:23 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/the-first-principles-of-every-debate/<p><em>We must always begin with <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-first-principles-of-every-debate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">first principles</a> in any debate.</em></p> <p>The Bible states a simple but fundamental fact: God’s government over all things is singular, absolute, without compromise, and without legitimate competitors. All earthly governments are delegated by God’s decree and limited. Contrary to the Declaration of Independence, it’s false to claim that “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” if by that claim such governments are independent of God’s ultimate governing authority.</p> <p>George Frideric Handel’s English-language oratorio <em>Messiah</em> (1741) set the truth of God’s established and immutable government to music in a majestic way:</p> <blockquote> <p>For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: <strong>and the government shall be upon His shoulders</strong>: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).</p> </blockquote> <p>No commentary was needed. The words speak for themselves. God is the basis for what all good government is and should be. All earthly governments are derivative and are bound to follow God’s governing principles related to their designated jurisdictions and limited authority.</p> <p>The capstone to the Passion Narrative in the Gospels is Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”:</p> <blockquote> <p>For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!<br> Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah!<br> The kingdom of this world is become<br> The kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ!<br> And He shall reign for ever and ever!</p> </blockquote> <p>The starting point in any discussion of civil governments in all their forms (city, county, state, national) is Who is ultimately in charge? We see this with the Pharaohs of Egypt, King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, the Caesars, the Herods, kings claiming a divine right, and atheist regimes during the twentieth century whose divine edicts led to the deaths of more than 100 million people in the name of the god-like sovereign State. They all claimed to be the ultimate authority for the good of mankind. Otherwise, why would people put them in power? No one chooses a governor or a governing power unless there is the promise of good government, but that “good” government can mean death to those who oppose or disagree with the knew governing power and its definition of what’s good.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/RFC-front_large.png?v=1603236877" alt="Restoring the Foundation of Civilization"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Restoring the Foundation of Civilization</h3> <p>There are many Christians who will not participate in civilization-building efforts that include economics, journalism, politics, education, and science because they believe (or have been taught to believe) these areas of thought are outside the realm of what constitutes a Christian worldview. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/restoring-the-foundation-of-civilization" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>We must always begin with first principles in any debate. In this episode, Gary teaches students how to think about their own assumptions and foundations and why they believe what they claim to believe. Facts are important, but worldview precedes facts and interprets the facts.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-first-principles-of-every-debate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-110-does-a-coin-date-when-revelation-was-written/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:45:48 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-110-does-a-coin-date-when-revelation-was-written/<p><strong>Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 110</strong></p> <p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/does-a-roman-coin-date-when-revelation-was-written" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">responds</a> to a recent video by Joel Richardson about a Roman coin that he claims &ldquo;proves&rdquo; that the book of Revelation was written during Domitian&rsquo;s reign.</em></p> <p>Quite a bit of diversity existed in early Christianity regarding the date that John wrote the book of Revelation, and the dominance of one opinion is not synonymous with unanimity of opinion. Several writers in recent years have noted that markedly different opinions about the date of Revelation abounded among early Christian writers. For example, Adela Yarbro Collins took notice of “traditions about the date of Revelation” that “were apparently independent of Irenaeus.”</p> <p>More recently George Wesley Buchanan wrote that in the church fathers “there is no consistent agreement on the precise time when John lived and wrote.” In an earlier book, <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/new-testament-eschatology-what-the-early-church-believed-about-bible-prophecy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">The Early Church and the End of the World</a></em> co-authored with Gary DeMar, I categorized these various opinions regarding the date of Revelation under different headings, from “very early,” e.g., the time of Claudius, (41–54 A.D.) to “very late” during the reign of Trajan (98–117 A.D.).</p> <p>This chapter and the next expand significantly upon that research. The two chapters provide passages from ancient and medieval texts, showing that there were at least ten different traditions favoring a date of the book of Revelation before 70 A.D. These interpretations all predate the seventeenth-century commentary of Luis Alcasar, which is regarded by many as the first preterist commentary of Revelation. In this chapter I have arranged the texts starting with those that portray the earliest dating of the Apocalypse around 30 A.D. to those which dated it about 53 A.D.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/RFCfr_large.png?v=1779468036" alt="Revelation and the First Century"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Revelation and the First Century</h3> <p>Criticisms against preterist interpretations of the book of Revelation elicit questions: Did any early and medieval Christian writers interpret the visions of Revelation in a preterist manner? Are preterist interpretations of the book of Revelation a modern, seventeenth century invention, as is claimed by some? This book answers these questions by providing selections from ancient and medieval commentaries on the book of Revelation, writings composed long before the seventeenth century. Many of these selections are translated into English here for the first time. All of the selections reflect the fact that some Christians in ancient and medieval times interpreted visions in the book of Revelation in a preterist fashion.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/revelation-and-the-first-century" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary responds to a recent video by Joel Richardson about a Roman coin that he claims &ldquo;proves&rdquo; that the book of Revelation was written during Domitian&rsquo;s reign. Richardson challenges those who hold to an early date (i.e., before AD70) to answer his claims, even though he admits that the coin can&rsquo;t actually prove a late date.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/does-a-roman-coin-date-when-revelation-was-written" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://americanvision.org/categories/microscope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for all episodes of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/signs-signs-everywhere-signs/Thu, 24 Sep 2026 09:30:54 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/signs-signs-everywhere-signs/<p>Predictions about the end times have a long history, as Francis X. Gumerlock points out in his book <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-day-and-the-hour-christianitys-perennial-fascination-with-predicting-the-end-of-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">The Day and the Hour: Christianity’s Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World</a></em>. The events we see today have recurred throughout the centuries.</p> <p>“In 1712, William Whiston, [Isaac] Newton’s successor as professor of mathematics at Cambridge, had predicted that a comet would soon destroy the world. In November 1750, the third volume of Whiston’s memoirs recalled the second woe of Revelation 11:13 to predict the fall of a tenth part of London, the death of seven thousand men, ‘and the remnant so affrighted that they gave glory to the God of heaven.’”<strong>[1]</strong></p> <p>The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 led many people to conclude that the event was the prelude to the end of the world.</p> <p><img src="https://americanvision.org/images/uploads/lisboneq.png" alt="Lisbon earthquake" title="Lisbon earthquake"></p> <p>“In February 1763, when the Peace of Paris ended the Seven Years’ War, a pious Methodist, George Bell, prophesied the end of the world for February 28. John Wesley [1703-1791], who had surmounted any early belief in the imminent coming of Christ, had to preach to show the ‘utter absurdity of the supposition that the world was to end that night.’ Yet many were afraid to go to bed and wandered about the fields ‘persuaded that if the world did not end, at least London would be swallowed up by an earthquake,’ as Lisbon had been only eight years before.”<strong>[2]</strong></p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/DAHfront_large.png?v=1673474916" alt="The Day and the Hour"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Day and the Hour</h3> <p>By exposing these erroneous predictions made century after century, The Day and The Hour encourages an approach of "cautious ignorance" concerning the date of the final coming of Christ and related events, and magnifies the truth of Christ's words that the day and the hour is indeed unknown. This fascinating chronicle of predictions will rivet the attention of any student of Bible prophecy, regardless of your eschatological position.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-day-and-the-hour-christianitys-perennial-fascination-with-predicting-the-end-of-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>News of earthquakes in our day holds prophetic significance for many Christians “because we are to such an extent ‘strangers to the past,’ [thus] we easily read into the events and circumstances of our own day a distinctiveness and uniqueness that may not actually be there.”<strong>[3]</strong></p> <p><strong>Plagues</strong></p> <p>Two historic plagues ravaged the Roman Empire: the Antonine Plague (AD 165–180) and the Cyprian Plague (249-262 A.D.). The plagues killed roughly a quarter to a third of the population, including three of its emperors.</p> <p>The Plague of Justinian reached the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in AD 541 and was soon claiming up to 10,000 lives per day—so many that unburied bodies were eventually stacked inside buildings or left in the open.</p> <p>The Black Death in 1347 was a virulent strain of plague that invaded Europe from the East, most likely via Italian sailors returning home from Crimea. This “Black Death” would eventually spend half a decade tearing across the continent. The populations of whole towns were wiped out, and it was said that the living spent most of their time burying the dead in mass graves. “We see death coming into our midst like black smoke,” the Welsh poet Jeuan Gethin wrote, “a plague which cuts off the young, a rootless phantom which has no mercy or fair countenance.” …The Black Death finally subsided in the West around 1353, but not before it killed as many as 50 million people—more than half the population of Europe.</p> <p>The Italian Plague of 1629-1631 was one of the most calamitous outbreaks of bubonic plague. It began in 1629, when troops from the Thirty Years’ War carried the infection into the Italian city of Mantua. … In Milan and Venice, city authorities quarantined the sick in “pesthouses” and burned their clothes and possessions to prevent the spread of infection. The Venetians even banished some of their plague victims to a pair of islands in a nearby lagoon. These harsh measures may have helped contain the scourge, but it still killed some 280,000 people, including over half the residents of Verona. The Republic of Venice, meanwhile, lost nearly a third of its population of 140,000.</p> <p>The Great Plague of London hit between 1665 and 1666. … At its peak in September 1665, some 8,000 people were dying each week. … “Never did so many husbands and wives die together,” a pastor named Thomas Vincent wrote, “never did so many parents carry their children with them to the grave.” (His account of the plague in <em>God’s Terrible Voice in the City by Plague and Fire</em>, 1667, is graphic; seven in his own household died.)</p> <blockquote> <p>As the sickness spread, London’s authorities tried to contain the infected by quarantining them in their homes, which were marked with a red cross. Somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 people eventually perished before the outbreak died down in 1666. Later that same year, London was visited by a second major tragedy when the Great Fire of 1666 torched much of its city center.</p> </blockquote> <p><img src="https://americanvision.org/images/uploads/londonfire.png" alt="London fire" title="London fire"></p> <p>The Great Plague of Marseille, which began in 1720, was Western Europe’s last major outbreak of medieval plague…. People died by the thousands, and the piles of bodies on the streets grew so large that convicts were conscripted to dispose of them. In nearby Provence, “plague walls” were even built to try to … contain the infection, but it still spilled over into southern France before finally disappearing in 1722. By then, it had killed roughly 100,000 people. (<a href="https://www.history.com/news/6-devastating-plagues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">History.com</a>)</p> <p>Between 1918 and 1920, a deadly outbreak of influenza affected over a third of the world’s population and ended the lives of 20–50 million people. Of the 500 million people infected in the 1918 pandemic, the mortality rate was estimated at 10% to 20%, with up to 25 million deaths in the first 25 weeks alone. (<a href="https://www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Mphonline.com</a>)</p> <p><strong>Signs in the Heavens</strong></p> <p>Blood Moons: Prophecy prognosticators claimed that a tetrad of blood moons in 2014 and 2015 were a prelude to some unnamed prophetic event. See my article “<a href="https://garydemar.com/will-four-blood-moons-usher-second-coming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Will Four Blood Moons Usher in the Second Coming?</a>” for an introduction to the topic. So-called Blood Moons and Blue Moons are common occurrences and have nothing to do with Bible prophecy. The same is true of lunar and solar eclipses.</p> <p>Comets (e.g., Halley’s Comet): “Halley’s returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers since at least 240 BC.”</p> <p><img src="https://americanvision.org/images/uploads/halleycom.png" alt="Halley&amp;rsquo;s Comet over Jerusalem" title="Halley's Comet over Jerusalem"></p> <p><strong>Jupiter Effect</strong></p> <p>In 1982, the planets would be in a straight-line formation perpendicular to the sun. This alignment — an event that occurs every 179 years according to Gribbin and Plagemann in <em>The Jupiter Effect</em> — supposedly exerts an uncommon gravitational pull on the planets.</p> <p>Hal Lindsey saw eschatological significance in the Jupiter Effect. He wrote in 1980, “This alignment causes great storms on the sun’s surface, which in turn affect each of the planets. The sun storms will not only affect our atmosphere, as was previously mentioned, but they will slow down the Earth’s axis slightly.” This slowdown, according to Lindsey and his “author-experts,” would mean putting “a tremendous strain on the Earth’s faults, touching off earthquakes.” This new wave of earthquakes was to bring about great floods because dams have been built over fault lines. In addition, we were to see “nuclear power plant meltdowns at facilities built on or near the Earth’s faults.”<strong>[4]</strong> What happened? Nothing.</p> <p>Astrophysicist John R. Gribben, one of the authors of the best-selling book <em>The Jupiter Effect</em>, admitted in his 1999 book <em>The Little Book of Science</em> that “[t]here is no Jupiter effect” and “I’m sorry I ever had anything to do with it.”<strong>[5]</strong></p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/lbfront_large.png?v=1683813853" alt="Left Behind: Separating Fact from Fiction"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Left Behind: Separating Fact from Fiction</h3> <p>What difference does it make what we believe about the end times anyway? DeMar shos how our point-of-view regarding end-times prophecies affects the way we live each day. In addition, DeMar answers skeptics who use failed end-times predictions to disprove the Bible. Giving us a different perspective on the end times, this approach to the Bible can revolutionize the life of the church.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/left-behind-separating-fact-from-fiction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <hr> <p>[1] Eugene Weber, <em>Apocalypses: Prophecies, Cults, and Millennial Beliefs Through the Ages</em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 100-101.</p> <p>[2] Weber, <em>Apocalypses</em>, 102.</p> <p>[3] Carl Olof Jonsson and Wolfgang Herbst, <em>The “Sign” of the Last Days—When?</em> (Atlanta, GA: Commentary Press, 1987), x.</p> <p>[4] Hal Lindsey, <em>The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon</em> (King of Prussia, PA: Westgate Press, 1980), 31.</p> <p>[5] John Gribben, <em>The Little Book of Science</em> (New York: Barnes &amp; Noble, 1999), 39.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/four-views-of-revelation/Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:57:23 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/four-views-of-revelation/<p><em>Gary</em> <em><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/four-views-of-revelation-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">briefly discusses</a></em> <em>the four major interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation.</em></p> <p>Revelation uses many Old Testament symbols: eating scrolls, beasts, marks on the forehead, gold, thrones, sun, moon, stars, candlesticks, Balaam, Jezebel, dragon, Gog and Magog, Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon. It’s unlikely that Old Testament references to people and places appeared either in John’s day, or will appear in their original form in our day or a time future to us. God uses them as a form of prophetic shorthand that those who were familiar with the Scriptures would have recognized but not always understood. Simon J. Kistemaker states the following in his commentary on Revelation:</p> <blockquote> <p>The conclusion we must draw is that the numbers, images, and expressions of greatness must be interpreted as symbols that present the idea of totality, fullness, and perfection. Much of John’s symbolism derives from the Old Testament Scriptures and from the ecclesiastical context in which he spent his time. Let us note that the Jewish mind of the first century received and presented information by means of pictures, illustrations, and symbols. <strong>[1]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Interpreting any piece of literature takes skill and broad knowledge. Like with any piece of literature — and the Bible is literature — it’s necessary to know a great deal about the type of literature you are studying. In fact, the word “literal” is derived “from the word Latin <em>litera</em> meaning letter. To interpret something literally is to pay attention to the <em>litera</em> or to the letters and words which are being used. To interpret the Bible literally is to interpret is as <em>literature</em>. That is, the natural meaning of a passage is to be interpreted according to the normal rules of grammar, speech, syntax and context.”<strong>[2]</strong> The Bible should not be read outside the way it uses language to tell its story.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0220/1508/products/figtree_large.png?v=1578455246" alt="The Rapture and the Fig Tree Generation"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Rapture and the Fig Tree Generation</h3> <p>Since the national reestablishment of Israel in 1948, countless books and pamphlets have been written defending the doctrine assuring readers that it could happen at any moment. Some prophecy writers claimed the ‘rapture’ would take place before 1988. We are far removed from that date. Where are we in God’s prophetic timetable?</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-rapture-and-the-fig-tree-generation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary briefly discusses the four major interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation. Futurism, Historicism, Idealism, and Preterism have all been promoted—to greater and lesser degrees—throughout church history. What others have believed in the past should not determine how the Bible should be understood, but what the Bible itself actually says.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/four-views-of-revelation-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p> <hr> <p><strong>[1]</strong> Simon J. Kistemaker, <em>Revelation: Exposition of the Book of Revelation</em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2001), 16.</p> <p><strong>[2]</strong> R.C. Sproul, <em>Knowing Scripture</em> (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977), 48–49.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/twisting-scripture-to-accommodate-the-spirit-of-the-age/Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:09:28 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/twisting-scripture-to-accommodate-the-spirit-of-the-age/<p>A documentary film called <em>1946</em> claims that the 1946 Revised Standard Version translation imported the word “homosexuality” into the Bible when the New Testament does not use the word “homosexual.” “[A] translational error caused the word homosexual to be added to the Bible 80 years ago.” The <em>1946</em> documentary is making its rounds again. I saw it being promoted on Facebook. Let’s test this argument. Twisting Scripture is a favorite pastime. We’re seeing some of this with some of today’s Democrats running for office as Christians. Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is the most notable. There are others. None of this should surprise us since Scripture Twisters existed in the New Testament era. In Acts 20:29-30, the Apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders about impending dangers to their church. He uses the metaphor of “savage wolves” to describe false teachers who will infiltrate the church after his departure.</p> <p>The <em>1946</em> website opens with the following hook: “What if the word ‘homosexual’ was never meant to be in the Bible?” Where should we begin? With Creation. God made them male and female. First, this creation description should end any debate over the legitimacy of homosexuality. Second, the command was to be “fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). Same-sex sexuality (homo + sex = homosexual) cannot fulfill this command. On the merits of creation alone, homosexuality is excluded. In making them male and female, God created their anatomy to accommodate the command to be fruitful and multiply. (Even atheistic evolution concedes that male-female sexual relationships are required for evolution to take place: No male and female, no reproduction, therefore no evolution.) Is it any wonder why the Apostle Paul describes the same-sex relationship as “unnatural” (Rom. 1:26-27)? In biblical terms, marriage is exclusively heterosexual (different + sex = heterosexual). Jesus said it was like this from “the beginning” that God ‘God made them male and female” (Matt. 19:5; Matt. 1:27; 5:2).</p> <p>We find the following in Romans 1 that describes the anti-creation norm:</p> <blockquote> <p>For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged <strong>the natural function for that which is unnatural</strong>, and in the same way also <strong>the men</strong> abandoned the <strong>natural function of the woman</strong> and burned [ἐξεκαύθησαν/exekauthēsan] <strong>in their desire toward one another, men with men</strong> committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.</p> </blockquote> <p>Homosexuals try to argue that Paul is describing the upper classes in Rome using their political and economic stations to abuse boys sexually. First, this is an admission that Paul is describing same-sex sexuality: “men with men,” the definition of “homo” (same) “sex” sexuality. There’s a word for that: homosexuality. Second, the sexual relationship is mutual: “<strong>burned in their desire toward one another</strong>.” The desire is mutual. One person is not being forced to comply by being dominated by older males and females to procure young boys and girls for sex. The “desire” is mutual. This is not to say that grooming does not take place. It’s happening all across the United States in government schools.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/bkp5647_front.1__78227_zoom__29640.1342099739.1280.1280_large.jpg?v=1364990075" alt="Whoever Controls the Schools Rules the World"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Whoever Controls the Schools Rules the World</h3> <p>Whoever Controls the Schools Rules the World shows how education can be used as a vehicle for social change from Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler to secular humanism and radical Islam. Our worldview opponents understand that education is where the war of ideas is fought. If Christians are serious about securing the future for our children, they must understand the nature of the war we are fighting. If you have children, want children, or know someone who has children -- you need to get this book and read it before it becomes too late to save the generation to follow us from the ruins.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/whoever-controls-the-schools-rules-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Here we get a little technical. The argument comes down to how the 1946 Revised Standard Bible translated a particular Greek word in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (ἀρσενοκοῖται) and 1 Timothy 1:10 (ἀρσενοκοῖται) as “homosexual.” The 1611 KJV translates the Greek ἀρσενοκοίταις (arsenokoitais) in 1 Timothy 1:10 as “for them that defile themselves with mankind.” The 1560 Geneva Bible translates arsenokoitais as “buggerers,” a word that usually refers to anal intercourse. Why didn’t the translators use the word “homosexual”? Because the word didn’t exist, but the behavior did. It didn’t need to exist because the description of the sex act is specific in the Bible. Would it be accurate to translate “the husband of one wife” in 1 Timothy 3:2 as “not a bigamist or a polygamist”? Yes, it would. But we know what Paul meant.</p> <p>Many words we use today didn’t exist centuries or even a decade ago. Consider the “Glossary of LGBTQ+ and Gender Terms” used to describe a multitude of contrived sexual identities, from “<strong>Abrosexual</strong>: An individual that has a fluid and/or rapidly changing sexuality that fluctuates between different sexualities” to “<strong>Two-Spirit</strong> (also two spirit or, occasionally, twospirited): A modern, pan-Indian, umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe certain people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial role in their cultures.” At last count, there are <a href="https://pflag.org/glossary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">169 gender neologisms</a>.</p> <p>Then there is the panoply of gender affirming pronouns. None of these existed before 1946, but somehow, they are legitimate terms and identifiers among today’s LGBTQ+ crowd, but the word “homosexual” cannot be the proper word to translate certain Greek words found in the Bible.</p> <p>Consider 1 Timothy 1:10 again: “To whoremongers, to <strong>buggerers</strong>, to menstealers, to liars, to the perjured….” The KJV translates the Greek word ἀνδραποδισταῖς as “menstealers.” Some translations translate it as “enslavers” (ESV)<strong>[1]</strong> or “slave traders” (e.g., NIV, NLT). The New King James translation translates it as “kidnappers.” Each translation describes what the word means, even though those words did not exist when these translations were published (1560: Geneva Bible/1611: KJV).</p> <p>When you go to the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint/LXX), the same Greek word in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 is found in 1 Cor. 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. It’s from these two verses that we get the definition of homo (same) sex-sexuality because these OT verses describe same-sex sexuality. You can see the word “coitus” (κοίτην/<em>koiten</em>), sexual intercourse, in the description. So whatever is described in Leviticus 18:22 (below) and 20:13 is described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10: “a male who has sexual intercourse with males, especially in a penetrative role.”</p> <p><em>Arsenos</em> means male and <em>koiten</em> means “to lie down”: “<em>arsenokoítēs</em> …, ‘a male’ and <em>koítē</em>, ‘a mat, bed’) — properly, a man in bed with another man; a <em>homosexual</em>.” For example, “You shall not lie in bed with a male as those who lie with a female; it is an abomination” (Lev. 18:22). For a male to engage in sexual relations with another male is the definition of homosexuality. Two men are of the same (homo) sex. It’s quite simple.</p> <p>Will any of this convince homosexuals and those who defend their behavior? It might, but don’t count on it. It’s not about facts. The Apostle Paul describes how people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). Sin blinds the eyes and makes the ears deaf to the truth.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/mlht1_large.png?v=1365620692" alt="Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths</h3> <p>Like the Bereans of Paul’s day (Acts 17:11), Christians should check the veracity of all opinions against the only reliable standard of authority that God has placed in our hands: the Bible. This may mean a change in belief systems for some. There is no novelty in this. God confronted Peter directly about the inclusion of Gentiles into the household of faith (10:9–16). Paul confronted Peter “to his face” on a similar matter (Gal. 2:11–14). There are times when we all need to be knocked off our horse of mistaken opinions (Acts 9:4). “Testing” is a biblical mandate (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:1).</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/myths-lies-and-half-truths" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>The homosexual movement will do anything to appeal to the ill-informed, and it often works. For example, one argument used is an appeal to Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into German and the use of the word <em>knabenschender</em> that pro-homosexuals claim meant “boy molester.” If Luther only meant to condemn pederasty, a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy, then why did he write the following?</p> <blockquote> <p>Martin Luther correctly identifies homosexuality with the sin of Sodom. Commenting on Genesis 19:4-5, he writes: “I for my part do not enjoy dealing with this passage, because so far the ears of the Germans are innocent of and uncontaminated by this monstrous depravity; for even though disgrace, like other sins, has crept in through an ungodly soldier and a lewd merchant, still the rest of the people are unaware of what is being done in secret. The Carthusian monks deserve to be hated because they were the first to bring this terrible pollution into Germany from the monasteries of Italy.” (<em>Luther’s Works</em>, 3:251-252).</p> <p>In the same section of Luther’s Genesis lectures, he refers to “the heinous conduct of the people of Sodom ” as “extraordinary, inasmuch as they departed from the natural passion and longing of the male for the female [see Rom. 1:26-27], which is implanted into nature by God, and desired what is altogether contrary to nature. Whence comes this perversity? Undoubtedly from Satan, who after people have once turned away from the fear of God, so powerfully suppresses nature that he blots out the natural desire and stirs up a desire that is contrary to nature.” (<em>Luther’s Works</em>, 3:255)</p> </blockquote> <p>A standard argument used against the Bible’s prohibition of homosexuality is the claim that Jesus or His disciples never mentioned it. They didn’t have to since any Jew familiar with the Torah knew same-sex sexuality was an abomination. That’s why Jesus didn’t have to condemn rape (Deut. 22:25-26), sex with animals (Ex. 22:29), incest (Lev. 18:6-18), abortion (Ex. 21:22-25), kidnapping (Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7), arson (Ex. 22:6), or tripping blind people (Lev. 19:14). Following the Jesus-didn’t-mention-it argument, Jesus must not have been opposed to rape, incest, kidnapping, bestiality, sex with minors, abortion, or tripping blind people.</p> <hr> <p>[1] “That is, those who take someone captive in order to sell him into slavery.”</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/it-s-just-not-there/Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:05:37 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/it-s-just-not-there/<p><em>Gary</em> <em><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/its-just-not-there-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">begins a short lesson</a></em> <em>on the four views of the book of Revelation.</em></p> <p>Political tyranny and religious apostasy are not necessarily signs of impending eschatological destruction. They, too, have been with us since the Fall. The light of the gospel was nearly extinguished as the church approached the sixteenth century. Few could ever have predicted what was about to happen, not only in terms of Christian revival but also in the explorer’s spirit to open passages to unknown worlds. Explorers fought the heaviness of pessimism and charted dreams for parts unknown. How different is our day?</p> <blockquote> <p>At the end of the year 1492 most men in Western Europe felt exceedingly gloomy about the future. Christian civilization appeared to be shrinking in area and dividing into hostile units as its sphere contracted. For over a century there had been no important advance in natural science, and registration in the universities dwindled as the instruction they offered became increasingly jejune and lifeless. Institutions were decaying, and many intelligent men, for want of something better to do, were endeavoring to escape the present through studying the pagan past. <strong>[1]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>There is little in this chronicle of the times that could not serve as an accurate description of our own era. A general societal pessimism fills speculation about our future. Christian influence seems to be shrinking due to infighting among rival Christian groups. A general malaise hovers over the educational establishment. Educational reform is demanded from each end of the political spectrum and from everyone in between because of a deficient curriculum that cannot compete with our European and Japanese economic rivals. Escape is in the air as many turn to paganism through New Age humanism, the occult, and goddess worship. As in Columbus’ day, Islam is “expanding at the expense of Christendom.” <strong>[2]</strong></p> <p>If, as the writer of Ecclesiastes writes, “there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9), then how do we evaluate historical tumults prophetically? Five hundred years ago many in Christendom believed that the end was near. As we now know, their speculations were misguided. How can we now discern when such “signs” are prophetic indicators since “a generation goes and a generation comes” (1:4) but the end does not?</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0220/1508/products/LDM-front_large.png?v=1572279906" alt="Last Days Madness"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Last Days Madness</h3> <p>In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of ‘end-times’ fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and clearly explaining a host of other controversial topics.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary begins a short lesson on the four views of the book of Revelation. He begins with the most popular: futurism. The vast majority of futurists are premillennial and dispensational as well. A recurring problem with this view is that the dependent pieces of the system are simply not found in the Bible; they&rsquo;re just not there.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/its-just-not-there-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p> <hr> <p><strong>[1]</strong> Samuel Eliot Morison, <em>Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus</em> (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1942), 3.</p> <p><strong>[2]</strong> Morison, <em>Admiral of the Ocean Sea</em>, 3.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-109-the-one-way-to-interpret-this-generation/Fri, 18 Sep 2026 06:31:33 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-109-the-one-way-to-interpret-this-generation/<p><strong>Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 109</strong></p> <p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/the-one-way-to-interpret-this-generation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">responds</a> to a critic who challenges his interpretation of &ldquo;this generation&rdquo; in Matthew&rsquo;s gospel.</em></p> <p>In Matthew 24:33, the word “you” (plural) is used twice: “so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize [lit. know] that He is near, right at the door.” Who does Jesus say will see “all these things”? Certainly not a future audience. “So, you too, when you see all these things.” The first “you” is obviously Jesus’ present audience as is the second “you.” No one reading Matthew 24:33 could conceive that either use of “you” by Jesus refers to an audience different from the audience to whom Jesus was addressing.</p> <p>There is a third use of the second-person plural in verse 33. The Greek word <em>ginōskete</em> is also a second-person plural and means “you know” or “you recognize.” If Jesus had a future generation in mind, He could have eliminated all confusion by saying, “even so they too, when they see all these things, they will recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, that generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”</p> <p>We can follow the way Matthew uses the near demonstrative “this” throughout his gospel to see that he has his present audience in view and not one in the distant future: “this way” (6:9), “this day” (6:11), “this fellow” (9:3), “this news” (9:26), “this city” (10:23), “this place” (12:6), “this man” (13:56), “this people” (15:8); “this rock” (15:18), “this desolate place” (15:33), “this little child” (18:4), “this mountain” (21:21), “this stone” (21:44), “this image” (22:20), “this gospel” (24:14), “this generation” (24:34), “this woman” (26:13), “this night” (26:31). “This” refers to what’s near.</p> <p>If Jesus had wanted to identify a future generation, He could have chosen the adjective that to distinguish the generation to whom He was speaking from a future generation (e.g., Matt. 7:22 [“that day” is in the future]; 8:12 [“that place” refers to the place of judgment distant from our place and time]; 10:19 [“that hour” refers to a future time]; 24:10 [“and at that time” refers to a future time but within the time parameters of “this generation”]; 24:36 [“that day and hour” refers to a future day and hour that was near the end of their generation (1 John 2:18; Heb. 10:25), not their present day and hour]; 26:29 [“that day” refers to a time when Jesus is in the kingdom, a future time]). The texts that govern the timing of the Olivet prophecy—Matthew 23:36 and Matthew 24:34—make it clear that Jesus was speaking of the events leading up to and including the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.</p> <p>If we abandon these clear time statements, then these signs can be applied to any generation. As history attests, this is exactly what’s happened. There have always been wars, false prophets, famines, tribulation, lawlessness, and persecution. If people fail to recognize the timing of these events set by Scripture and the historical context of Jesus’ words, they will always be led astray by those who keep insisting that it’s our generation that will experience the end times.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/WRWfr_large.png?v=1678474893" alt="Wars and Rumors of Wars"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Wars and Rumors of Wars</h3> <p>A first-century interpretation of the Olivet Discourse was once common in commentaries and narrative-style books that describe the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. There is also a history of skeptics who turn to Bible prophecy and claim Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” and the signs associated with it. A mountain of scholarship shows that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in exacting detail when He said it would: before the generation of those to whom He was speaking passed away.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary responds to a critic who challenges his interpretation of &ldquo;this generation&rdquo; in Matthew&rsquo;s gospel. The critic claims Gary is assuming what he has to prove, but Gary shows the opposite. Words like &ldquo;generation&rdquo; can be somewhat arbitrary, but when this phrase is read in other parts of the NT, especially Acts 2, it becomes clear that it is not about many generations, but about a very particular one: those hearing Jesus&rsquo; words in the first century.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/website/the-one-way-to-interpret-this-generation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://americanvision.org/categories/microscope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for all episodes of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/hiding-the-truth-is-the-first-step-for-control/Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:56:06 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/hiding-the-truth-is-the-first-step-for-control/<p>Propagandizing, media bias, and selective fact-finding to manipulate people have a long history. It’s much more sophisticated today. Keeping people in the dark about the issues of the day is a practice used by both sides of any debate. Socialism is all the rage, and yet rarely do we find today’s media outlets examining the actual impact of socialist policies. The same is true of communism, abortion, Islam, same-sex sexuality, and transgenderism. The Bible has something to say about this:</p> <blockquote> <p>The first to plead his case seems right,<br> Until his neighbor comes and examines him (Prov. 18:17).</p> </blockquote> <p>But what if the neighbor is given a rigged book? What if specific facts have been hidden from him?</p> <p>Charles Babbage (1791-1871), an English scientist and mathematician who conceptualized the idea of a programmable computer, understood that scientists often manipulated evidence to add credibility to a theory. Babbage described three types of misconduct: forging (<strong>the outright invention of data</strong>), trimming (<strong>the cosmetic ‘massaging’ of data to display them to the best advantage</strong>), and cooking (<strong>discreetly losing the data that were out of line or did not help the hypothesis</strong>).<strong>[1]</strong></p> <p>For years, many critics of the Bible have claimed that the Bible supports slavery as it was practiced in the United States and the Caribbean. If this is true, then why was a special “trimmed” Bible created for slaves to read?</p> <blockquote> <p>According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/09/674995075/slave-bible-from-the-1800s-omitted-key-passages-that-could-incite-rebellion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">NPR</a>, <em>Parts of the Holy Bible, Selected For the Use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islands</em>, is on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., and is one of only three known copies of this abridged version of the King James Bible. Printed by the Missionary Society For the Conversion of Negro Slaves, the text of the Bible was used by missionaries from England to convert slaves to Christianity.</p> </blockquote> <p>The edited version left out anything “that might lead slaves to turn on their masters. For instance, Moses doesn’t even exist until he is an old man in the ‘Slave Bible.’”</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/mlht1_large.png?v=1365620692" alt="Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths</h3> <p>Like the Bereans of Paul’s day (Acts 17:11), Christians should check the veracity of all opinions against the only reliable standard of authority that God has placed in our hands: the Bible. This may mean a change in belief systems for some. There is no novelty in this. God confronted Peter directly about the inclusion of Gentiles into the household of faith (10:9–16). Paul confronted Peter “to his face” on a similar matter (Gal. 2:11–14). There are times when we all need to be knocked off our horse of mistaken opinions (Acts 9:4). “Testing” is a biblical mandate (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:1).</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/myths-lies-and-half-truths" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>They cut everything from Genesis 45 to Exodus 19. Anthony Schmidt, the associate curator of Bible and Religion in America at the museum, explained, “What they’ve cut out is the story of the Israelites’ captivity in Egypt and their eventual liberation and journey to the promised land.”</p> <blockquote> <p>The censored version removed 90 percent of the Old Testament and 50 percent of the New Testament, eliminating potentially seditious passages such as Exodus 21:16, which reads: “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Exodus 21:16 is a key anti-chattel slavery passage. Many of this nation’s earliest settlers paid for their passage as indentured servants. Indentured servitude is neither unbiblical nor unconstitutional. A thief who was unable to make restitution for a property crime could be sold into servitude for his theft (Ex. 22:3b). Even after the abolition of slavery, indentured servitude was retained by the Constitution as a legitimate form of punishment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, <strong>except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted</strong>, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (Amendment XIII, Section 1). We should, therefore, distinguish between slave (man stealing) and bondservant (indentured servant). We should also keep in mind that the word “slave” appears only once in the King James Bible (Jer. 2:14a), as does the word “slaves” (Rev. 18:13). This may surprise you, but the word <em>slavery</em> does not appear anywhere in the King James Bible. <strong>[2]</strong></p> <p>Robert L. Dabney, the most articulate defender of Virginia and the South, commented:</p> <blockquote> <p>It need hardly be said that we abhor the injustice, cruelty, and guilt of the African slave trade. It is justly condemned by the public law of Christendom&hellip;. It is condemned by the law of God. Moses placed this among the judicial statutes of the Jews: “And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”<strong>[3]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>While Dabney makes a biblical case against man-stealing, he defended the legitimacy of owning slaves that were once procured through theft. He based his argument on property laws. Joel McDurmon had this to say about Dabney’s argument:</p> <blockquote> <p>Dabney’s analogy to land titles reveals the deep flaw in what was an oft-repeated defense of slaveholding in light of its indefensible origins. With land disputes, we are discussing that which is already indisputably <strong>property</strong> and can be nothing else. With the slaves, the discussion is nothing of the sort. Instead, the discussion is of that which should never have been property to begin with. Justice in this case is not a discussion of property, but life and liberty. This is not a discussion of property disputes. It is a question of <strong>manstealing</strong>. Justice is not restored by monetary values or sums; it requires, according to God’s law, the death penalty and <strong>the release of the wrongfully enslaved person</strong>.<strong>[4]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Exodus 21:16 does not indicate that it applies only to Israelites, as some argue. If it does, then verse 12 would also only apply to Israelites since its language is identical to what we find in verse 16:</p> <p>• “He who strikes a <strong>man</strong> so that he dies shall surely be put to death” (21:12).</p> <p>• “And he who kidnaps a <strong>man</strong> whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death” (21:16).</p> <p>James B. Jordan offers a good summary of the issues involved: “The Bible punishes all man-stealing with a mandatory death penalty. In Deuteronomy 24:7, the kidnapping of covenant members is particularly forbidden, but in Exodus 21:16, all man-stealing is prohibited. It might be maintained that if we read v. 16 in context of v. 2, it is only Hebrews who are protected and avenged by this law. The text simply says ‘man,’ however, and there is no indication in the immediate context (vv. 12, 14) that ‘man’ is restricted to covenant members.”<strong>[5]</strong></p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/LOC-front_large.png?v=1644675877" alt="The Law of the Covenant"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Law of the Covenant</h3> <p>If we take a man-centered approach to these laws, we might say that the purpose of this legislation is only to ensure human prosperity. Such an approach to the law of God misses the most basic point. These laws show us God's own genuine personal care for His world, and as such these laws cannot be altered by human whim. To be sure, the Bible is man-oriented, and thus obedience to these laws will improve human life; but the laws are God's, and cannot be changed by man. Thus, as we examine the laws in Exodus 21-23, our first concern must be the glory of God, not whether these laws seem right to us sinful men. If we start with God, we will soon see how these laws also improve human life.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-law-of-the-covenant" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>We know that in the New Testament Paul condemns slave traders (kidnappers) in 1 Timothy 1:10:</p> <blockquote> <p>But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and <strong>kidnappers</strong> and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.</p> </blockquote> <p>The book of Revelation considers those who traffic in “slaves and human lives” to be immoral and destined for judgment (18:13). Nowhere does the New Testament support trafficking in slaves. Paul’s letter to Philemon does not support the notion that the New Testament tolerated chattel slavery. Onesimus was probably a bondservant who owed a debt to Philemon. Paul encourages the runaway Onesimus to return to Philemon and encourages Philemon to release Onesimus upon his arrival. Paul promises to pay Philemon if Onesimus “owes you anything” (Phil. 18). Paul’s mention of a debt seems to indicate that Onesimus was an indentured servant.<strong>[6]</strong></p> <p>Charles Colson applied the principles of Old Testament law regarding restitution and property crimes to today’s judicial system:</p> <blockquote> <p>Recently I addressed the Texas legislature&hellip;. I told them that the only answer to the crime problem is to take nonviolent criminals out of our prisons and make them pay back their victims with restitution. This is how we can solve the prison crowding problem.</p> <p>The amazing thing was that afterwards they [the legislators] came up to me one after another and said things like, “That’s a tremendous idea. Why hasn’t anyone thought of that?” I had the privilege of saying to them, “Read Exodus 22. It is only what God said to Moses on Mount Sinai thousands of years ago.”<strong>[7]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>The history of the enslavement of African blacks has impeded the gospel. Gary North writes: “Slavery as a system came to North America in the early eighteenth century, and it was grounded in the racist prejudices that increased with every shipload of victimized blacks. Racism seems to have been the foundation of slavery rather than the reverse.”<strong>[8]</strong> With the coming of Christ, Christians are to preach the gospel to make disciples of the nations; making them “slaves to Christ,” not slaves to other men.</p> <hr> <p>[1] Walter Gratzer, <em>The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-Deception and Human Frailty</em> (Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000), vii.</p> <p>[2] Gary North, <em>Tools of Dominion: The Case Laws of Exodus</em> (Institute for Christian Economics, 1990), 121.</p> <p>[3] Robert L. Dabney, <em>A Defence of Virginia, [And Through Her, of the South]</em> (New York: Negro University Press, [1867] 1969), 288. Reprinted by Sprinkle Publications, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1977.</p> <p>[4] <em>The Problem of Slavery in Christian America</em> (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2017).</p> <p>[5] James B. Jordan, <em>The Law and the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21-23</em> (Powder Springs, GA American Vision, [1984] 2022), 104.</p> <p>[6] See Brian J. Dodd, <em>The Problem with Paul</em> (Downers Grove, IL: InterVaristy Press, 1996), 81-110.</p> <p>[7] Charles Colson, “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms,” James M. Boice, ed. <em>Transforming Our World: A Call to Action</em> (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1988), 154-55.</p> <p>[8] North, <em>Tools of Dominion</em>, 180.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/audience-relevance-and-time-indicators/Wed, 16 Sep 2026 07:21:17 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/audience-relevance-and-time-indicators/<p><em>Gary</em> <em><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/audience-relevance-and-time-indicators-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">continues his lesson on hermeneutics</a></em> <em>by looking briefly at the context and time words that bookend the book of Revelation.</em></p> <p>The past fulfillment of most of the prophecies in Revelation 4-19 is compellingly suggested by the various time indicators contained in its less symbolic, more didactic introduction and conclusion.</p> <p>Revelation 1:1 opens the prophecies of Revelation and prepares the reader to understand them: &ldquo;The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.&rdquo;</p> <p>Does not John specifically say the things &ldquo;must shortly come to pass&rdquo;? And in case you miss it he repeats it, using different, though synonymous, terminology in Revelation 1:3c: &ldquo;The time is at hand.&rdquo; And in case the reader skipped the introduction, he repeats these ideas as he closes. Revelation 22:6: &ldquo;These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.&rdquo; Revelation 22:10: &ldquo;And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.&rdquo;</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0220/1508/products/HD-front_large.png?v=1650328409" alt="House Divided"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>House Divided</h3> <p>The book that started a revolution. Bahnsen and Gentry stir the hornet's nest with this comprehensive refutation of Dispensationalism. The two pillars of law and eschatology are dealt with evenly, fairly—and most importantly—biblically.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/house-divided-the-break-up-of-dispensational-theology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary begins to discuss the book of Revelation and points out important details that most modern Christians dismiss. Although the Bible is written FOR us, it wasn&rsquo;t written TO us. The vast majority of the New Testament is recording historical events and their significance. These past events still have great importance and meaning, especially for vindicating Jesus&rsquo; authoritative claims about His identity.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/audience-relevance-and-time-indicators-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/did-john-macarthur-make-his-case-on-the-olivet-discourse/Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:24:23 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/did-john-macarthur-make-his-case-on-the-olivet-discourse/<p>Jonathan Sedlak, author of <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Matthew-Trusting-Jesus-First-Century/dp/1957726091" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Reading Matthew, Trusting Jesus: Christian Tradition and First-Century Fulfillment within Matthew 24-25</a></em>, told me in a recent phone call that it was John MacArthur’s book <em>The Second Coming: Signs of Christ’s Return and the End of the Age</em> (2006) that led him to investigate preterism because it mentioned several preterists, including me (although my name is misspelled as Demar rather than DeMar).</p> <p>In <em>The Second Coming</em>, MacArthur seems to go out of his way to avoid dealing with the inherent problems of his prophetic system. Here’s just one example:</p> <blockquote> <p>[N]otice Christ’s only explicit remarks about the destruction of the temple are those recorded in verse 2 [of Matthew 24], as Jesus and the disciples were departing from the temple (v. 1). In the Olivet Discourse itself He makes no clear reference to the events of A.D. 70. His entire reply is an extended answer to the more important question about the signs of His coming and the end of the age. Virtually ignoring their initial question, He said nothing whatsoever about when the destruction of Jerusalem would occur. That is because those events were not really germane to the end of the end of the age. They were merely a foretaste of the greater judgment that would accompany His return, previews of what is to come ultimately. (<em>SC</em>, 80)</p> </blockquote> <p>This is a remarkable statement, given that nothing in the context of the Olivet Discourse indicates that Jesus is “ignoring their initial question.” How does MacArthur know this? He doesn’t. This is not exegesis. He is reading his dispensational system into the text. He scrupulously avoids the heart of the debate over the time texts, especially regarding “this generation” (24:34).</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/LDM-front_large.png?v=1572279906" alt="Last Days Madness"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Last Days Madness</h3> <p>In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of "end-times" fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and clearly explaining a host of other controversial topics.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>“Virtually ignoring their initial question, He said nothing whatsoever about when the destruction of Jerusalem would occur.” Nothing whatsoever? MacArthur (or whoever edited this book) had to say this because to admit that Jesus was describing what was going to happen to the temple that was standing there—“not one stone <strong>here</strong> shall be left upon another” (24:3)—would mean Jesus had a great deal to say “about when the destruction of Jerusalem would occur.” It would occur before that existing generation passed away (24:34).</p> <p>I could say a lot about MacArthur’s comments on Matthew 24, but I’ve said them repeatedly elsewhere. I found this comment surprising.</p> <blockquote> <p>Notice, moreover, that the great tribulation Christ described involves cataclysm and suffering on a global cosmic scale (vv. 29-30)—not a local holocaust in Jerusalem only. (<em>SC</em>, 78)</p> </blockquote> <p>If Jesus isn’t describing “a local holocaust in Jerusalem only,” then how is it that it can be avoided by escaping to the mountains outside of Judea (24:16-20)?</p> <p>The cosmic language of 24:29-30 is typical of cosmic language used to describe a judgment on Babylon (Isa. 13:1-11) and “Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Zeph. 1:1-4). See R.C. Sproul’s comments in <em>Matthew: An Expositional Commentary</em> (2019). For example, “In Old Testament prophecy, there is a very clear use of cosmic phenomena in descriptions of judgment. In other words, when God promised to send judgment, He often spoke in highly figurative language” (653-654). Sproul then quotes Isaiah 13:9-10, 13, and 34:4. He notes that while “Jesus’ language was figurative, … He was describing a judgment event that literally happened within that generation.” (654) Sproul goes on to note that “Josephus writes that certain signs were observed between the years AD 60 and 70, one of which was a blazing comet.” (655). Josephus described a comet, a “star resembling a sword,” that passed over Jerusalem in AD 66, which many might have believed was a sign of an approaching calamity.</p> <p>MacArthur’s <em>The Second Coming</em> reads as if it was written in a hurry or maybe edited in a hurry. For example, in one place MacArthur writes that preterists “ultimately depart from and nullify the strict literal sense of Matthew 24:34,” while on the previous page he chides preterists for insisting that Matthew 24:34 should be interpreted with “wooden literalness.” (<em>SC</em>, 81, 80) MacArthur should have studied how “this generation” is used elsewhere in the New Testament. “This generation” always refers—without exception—to the generation to whom Jesus is speaking.<strong>[1]</strong> Since the meaning of “this generation” is crucial for establishing the proper time setting for the Olivet Discourse, MacArthur should have spent considerable time justifying his interpretation. See my books <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Last Days Madness</a></em> and <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Wars and Rumors of Wars</a></em>, John Bray’s <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/matthew-24-fulfilled" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Matthew 24 Fulfilled</a></em>, and James Jordan’s <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/matthew-23-25-a-literary-historical-and-theological-commentary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Matthew 23-25</a></em> for a thorough discussion of this topic.</p> <p>MacArthur described the preterist interpretation of “this generation” a “misunderstanding” (<em>SC</em>, 219) without addressing the extensive arguments preterists use to defend their position. Preterists are not the only ones who have this “misunderstanding.” Here are three examples from commentators who would not describe themselves as preterists:</p> <p>• [T]he obvious meaning of the words “this generation” is the people contemporary with Jesus. Nothing can be gained by trying to take the word in any sense other than its normal one: in Mark (elsewhere in 8:12, 9:19) the word always has this meaning.<strong>[2]</strong></p> <p>• [This generation] can only with the greatest difficulty be made to mean anything other than the generation living when Jesus spoke.<strong>[3]</strong></p> <p>• The significance of the temporal reference has been debated, but in Mark “this generation” clearly designates the contemporaries of Jesus (see on Chs. 8:12, 38; 9:19) and there is no consideration from the context which lends support to any other proposal. Jesus solemnly affirms that the generation contemporary with his disciples will witness the fulfillment of his prophetic word, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the dismantling of the Temple.<strong>[4]</strong></p> <p>I could quote many more examples. See the list in my book <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Wars and Rumors of Wars</a></em>. Why didn’t MacArthur attempt to refute these non-preterist scholars? Do they misunderstand Scripture’s clear teaching?</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/WRWfr_large.png?v=1678474893" alt="Wars and Rumors of Wars"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Wars and Rumors of Wars</h3> <p>A first-century interpretation of the Olivet Discourse was once common in commentaries and narrative-style books that describe the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. There is also a history of skeptics who turn to Bible prophecy and claim Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” and the signs associated with it. A mountain of scholarship shows that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in exacting detail when He said it would: before the generation of those to whom He was speaking passed away.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>In addition to an incomplete study of how “this generation” is used in the gospels, MacArthur morphed “near” and “shortly” into “imminent” without ever making an exegetical case for it. If the Holy Spirit wanted to convey that Jesus could return at “any moment” over nearly 2000 years (so far), He would have directed the biblical writers to use Greek words meaning “any moment,” not “near” or “shortly.” He didn’t.</p> <p>Consider James 5:8-9, a passage MacArthur uses to support his contention that Jesus could come “at any moment” but was near to those who first received and read his letter. (<em>SC</em>, 51) “<strong>You</strong> too be patient; strengthen your hearts, <strong>for the coming of the Lord is at hand</strong>” (5:8). The “you” (plural) referred to them. “At hand,” or “near,” cannot be made to mean “any moment.” The next verse defines “at hand”: “Behold, the Judge is standing <strong>right at the doors</strong>” (5:9). “At hand” = “right at the doors.” How far from the door is Jesus in Revelation 3:20? Being “right at the door” means being close enough to knock. Compare James 5:9 with Matthew 24:33, “even so <strong>you</strong> too, when <strong>you</strong> see all these things, recognize that He is near, at the doors.”</p> <p>MacArthur’s short commentary on Revelation, <em>Because the Time is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation</em>, is a problem historically since nearly 2000 years have passed since the events were said to take place soon” (1:1; 22:6) “because the time is near” (1:3; 22:10) for those who first read the Apocalypse (1:1). MacArthur is either oblivious to the debate surrounding this issue or he tactically decided to steer his readers around the topic so as not to raise a very big red flag.</p> <p>David Chilton, author of <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/paradise-restored-a-biblical-theology-of-dominion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Paradise Restored</a></em>, <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-great-tribulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">The Great Tribulation</a></em>, and <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-days-of-vengeance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">The Days of Vengeance</a></em>, told me that he listened to a series of talks by MacArthur on hermeneutics and biblical interpretation. David was impressed by how helpful it was. Then he listened to some messages that MacArthur gave on Bible prophecy and could not understand why MacArthur was not following the interpretive principles he fleshed out in his short course on hermeneutics.</p> <p>MacArthur states that interpreting “this generation” in a “wooden literalness” fashion would mean that “the rest of the Olivet Discourse must be spiritualized or otherwise interpreted figuratively in order to explain how Christ’s prophecies could all have been fulfilled by A.D. 70 without His returning bodily to earth.” (<em>SC</em>, 80) Do preterists spiritualize (a word not often defined) the events Jesus described in Matthew 24 and elsewhere in the gospels? Not at all! There were <strong>literal</strong> earthquakes (Matt. 27:54; 28:2; Acts 16:26) and <strong>literal</strong> famines (Acts 11:28; cf. Rom. 8:35), just as Jesus predicted (Matt. 24:7). The same is true of literal “false prophets” (1 John 4:1).</p> <p>What do we make of Paul’s statement that the “gospel” had been preached “throughout the world [<em>kosmos</em>]” (Rom. 1:8), “to all the nations” (Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Tim. 3:16d), “in all creation under heaven” (Col. 1:23; also 1:6), just as Jesus predicted would take place (Matt. 24:14) before that generation passed away? Jesus used the Greek word <em>oikoumenē</em> in verse 14. When compared with how it’s used in Luke 2:1 and Acts 11:28, the gospel only had to be preached throughout the then-known world to be fulfilled, and it was. Then there are Jesus’ specific words that the <strong>literal</strong> temple the disciples asked about would be destroyed before the last apostle died (Matt. 16:27-28), before their generation passed away (24:34).</p> <p><em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Last Days Madness</a></em> and <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Wars and Rumors of Wars</a></em> answer every argument MacArthur raises, and his books avoid addressing. Some might claim that MacArthur is unaware of the work done in this area. This debate has been around for centuries. Anyone writing on this topic should be aware of the current literature. He knew what was going on. He (or his editor) quotes an internet article of mine and references other preterist sources like Ken Gentry.</p> <hr> <p>[1] See Gary DeMar, <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church</a></em> and <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/wars-and-rumors-of-wars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Wars and Rumors of Wars</a></em> at AmericanVision.org</p> <p>[2] Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene A. Nida, <em>A Translator’s Handbook of the Gospel of Mark</em> (New York: United Bible Societies, 1961), 419.</p> <p>[3] D.A. Carson, “Matthew” in <em>The Expositor’s Bible Commentary</em>, gen. ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, 12 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985), 8:507.</p> <p>[4] William L. Lane, <em>Commentary on the Gospel of Mark</em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 480.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/an-introduction-to-biblical-hermeneutics/Mon, 14 Sep 2026 07:04:58 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/an-introduction-to-biblical-hermeneutics/<p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/an-introduction-to-biblical-hermeneutics-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">begins a short course</a> on hermeneutics—the art and practice of interpretation—on today&rsquo;s podcast.</em></p> <p>The Bible can be an intimidating book, but it doesn&rsquo;t have to be. We must be like the Bereans who examined “the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).</p> <p>Too often, Christians rely on so-called Bible experts and complicated charts that include gaps in time, outrageous literal interpretations, and numerous claims that current events are prime indicators that the end is near. Many Christians are unaware that the same Bible passages have been used in nearly every generation as proof that the end or some aspect of the end would take place &ldquo;soon.&rdquo;</p> <p>For nearly 2000 years Christians have attempted to read and interpret Scripture through the lens of current events without paying close attention to audience relevance, specific time indicators, the literal translation and comparison of specific words found in prophetic texts, and the transition between the Old and New Testaments.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0220/1508/products/bgtibp_Page_1_large.png?v=1435069262" alt="A Beginner&#39;s Guide to Interpreting Bible Prophecy"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>A Beginner&#39;s Guide to Interpreting Bible Prophecy</h3> <p>With so much prophetic material in the Bible—somewhere around 25% of the total makeup of Scripture—it seems difficult to argue that an expert is needed to understand such a large portion of God’s Word and so many ‘experts’ could be wrong generation after generation. A Beginner’s Guide to Interpreting Bible Prophecy has been designed to help Christians of all ages and levels of experience to study Bible prophecy with confidence.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/beginners-guide-interpreting-bible-prophecy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Hermeneutics is the art and practice of interpretation. We use hermeneutics every day whether we realize it or not. We interpret not only the words people say, but how they say them and in what context. Understanding the Bible requires the same carefulness and deliberateness that we apply to the words and actions we encounter and interpret in our everyday lives.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/an-introduction-to-biblical-hermeneutics-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-108-in-synch-matthew-24-1-thess-4-and-2-thess-2/Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:30:28 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-108-in-synch-matthew-24-1-thess-4-and-2-thess-2/<p><strong>Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 108</strong></p> <p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/in-synch-matthew-24-1-thess-4-and-2-thess-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">concludes</a> his response to Ayo, who had questions about preterism and decided to return to dispensationalism.</em></p> <p>God’s presence was a sign of blessing because of Israel’s special covenantal status (Isa. 55:3; Jer. 1:19) and His departure was a sign of judgment, neither of which were physical. For the nations, God’s presence was a sign of judgment because of their wickedness. Because of Israel’s abominations, God’s presence left the temple (Ezek. 5-11). Israel was then treated like the nations and would hide from and lament His presence in the future.</p> <p>In similar fashion, because of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah and the persecution of His church, Christ’s bride, God would make His presence known to Israel in the form of judgment. God rejected His once-covenanted people and their temple of stone because of the nation’s rejection of the promised Son of Man (Matt. 23:38; 24:1). Like Ezekiel (Ezek. 8), Jesus inspected the temple, found it filled with abominations (Matt. 21:12-13), and left it desolate (23:38). He returned in A.D. 70 to inspect the temple for a final time and found it full of abominations. His presence now abides with a new people of God constructed as a “spiritual house,” the true temple of God (1 Peter 2:4-10; cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-18).</p> <p>In effect, Christ’s <em>parousia</em> in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 is the fulfillment of the promise that the presence of Christ will reside with the true Israel forever (Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6; 10:12; Gal. 6:15-16; Phil. 3:3; Col. 3:11; Heb. 8:8, 10). Remember, during His earthly ministry Jesus “came out from the temple” (Matt. 24:1), foretold its destruction (24:15-34), and returned in A.D. 70 to destroy it (22:7). A new covenant nation arose from the ashes of the temple: “Therefore I say to you [speaking to the chief priests and the elders], the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust” (21:43-44).</p> <p>There is no doubt that Jesus’ “coming” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 should be attributed to the first century since the time indicators (“has come,” “now,” “already”) leave no room in this passage for a coming in the distant future (e.g., Matt. 16:27-28; 24:29-31; 26:64; Heb. 10:37; James 5:7-8; Rev. 2:5, 16; 3:11). Jesus’ coming in A.D. 70 was a coming in judgment upon an apostate nation.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/LDM-front_large.png?v=1572279906" alt="Last Days Madness"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Last Days Madness</h3> <p>In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of "end-times" fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and clearly explaining a host of other controversial topics.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/last-days-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary concludes his response to Ayo, who had questions about preterism and decided to return to dispensationalism. Gary shows how various passages in the New Testament, both in the Gospels and the Epistles, refer to the same first-century events. Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John were all speaking about what was happening, or about to happen, to them and their countrymen, not people thousands of years in their future.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/in-synch-matthew-24-1-thess-4-and-2-thess-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://americanvision.org/categories/microscope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for all episodes of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/the-french-revolution-is-being-revived-in-the-usa/Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:12:56 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/the-french-revolution-is-being-revived-in-the-usa/<p>Our Declaration of Independence states in unequivocal terms that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights”; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The logic of the Declaration is clear: No God—no rights.</p> <p>This premise is no longer foundational in the United States or in once-Christian Europe. We are following in the footsteps of the radical revolutionaries who gave us the French Revolution. Like those with the guillotine, we have a sizable number of the population who claim it’s OK to kill people for whatever supposed ‘just’ cause. The barbarism in comments about the murder of Charlie Kirk has been shocking, as is the support for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who pleaded guilty to the 2024 killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare. Eleven jurors wept after the Lindsay Clancy murder case ended in a mistrial. She murdered her three children. A lone juror held out for a guilty verdict. (<a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/crime-news/news/woman-who-was-invested-in-lindsay-clancy-charged-with-sons-murder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Source</a>) The French Revolution has become our revolution.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/RFC-front_large.png?v=1603236877" alt="Restoring the Foundation of Civilization"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Restoring the Foundation of Civilization</h3> <p>There are many Christians who will not participate in civilization-building efforts that include economics, journalism, politics, education, and science because they believe (or have been taught to believe) these areas of thought are outside the realm of what constitutes a Christian worldview. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/restoring-the-foundation-of-civilization" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>The American Founders made no attempt to disestablish a biblical moral order by endorsing a moral revolution. The colonial governments, with their laws, many of which were founded on the Bible, and institutions, including churches and their courts, remained intact. Contrary to some historians, the United States Constitution did not disestablish Christianity. It recognized Sunday as the Christian Sabbath by designating it as a non-workday for conducting official government business (art. 1, sec. 7) and kept the Christian Calendar intact: “DONE in the Year of our Lord….”</p> <p><img src="https://americanvision.org/images/uploads/doneuscons.png" alt="US Constitution" title="US Constitution"></p> <p>None of the State constitutions, with their many references to religion in general and Christianity in particular, were nullified by the adoption of the Federal Constitution. The Constitution, like the Declaration, assumes an existing moral order that was generally held to be based on “revealed law or divine law” (1:42) and “the law of nature,” which William Blackstone taught was “coeval with mankind and dictated by God Himself” (1:41). The Constitution did not attempt to set forth a new civil casuistry. This is why there is no legal code found in the Constitution.</p> <p>The French Declaration of the Rights of Man did not recognize a theistic view of rights. Article 3 of the Declaration stated: “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.” Corrupting the logic of the Declaration of Independence: No nation—no rights.</p> <p>The French revolutionaries were self-conscious about their efforts to turn France into a secular state. Throughout the nation, a “campaign to dechristianize France spread like wildfire.”<strong>[1]</strong> Dechristianizing the French Republic required a substitute religion. There is no neutrality. The leaders of the Paris Commune demanded that the former metropolitan church of Notre Dame be reconsecrated as a “Temple of Reason.”<strong>[2]</strong> Blackstone’s comments on reason are appropriate on this point: “And if our reason were always, as in our first ancestor before the transgression, clear and perfect, unruffled by passions, unclouded by prejudice, unimpaired by disease or intemperance, the task would be pleasant and easy; we should need no other guide but this. But every man now finds the contrary in his own experience; that his reason is corrupt, and his understanding full of ignorance and error” (1:42).</p> <p>On November 10, 1793, a civic festival was held in the new temple, its facade bearing the words “To Philosophy.” In Paris, the goddess Reason “was personified by an actress [who was] carried shoulder‑high into the cathedral by men dressed in Roman costumes.”<strong>[3]</strong></p> <p>The Commune ordered that all churches be closed and converted into poor houses and schools. “Church bells were melted down and used to cast cannons.”<strong>[4]</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>Blatant infidelity precipitated that storm of pitiless fury. The National Assembly passed a resolution deliberately declaring ‘There is no God;’ vacated the throne of Deity by simple resolution, abolished the Sabbath, unfrocked her ministers of religion, turned temples of spiritual worship into places of secular business, and enthroned a vile woman as the Goddess of Reason.”<strong>[5]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>The French Revolution replaced the God of Revelation with the Goddess of Reason, with disastrous results. Day after day “enemies of the republic” met their death under the sharp blade of Madam Guillotine. “France, in its terrific revolution, saw the violent culmination of theoretical and practical infidelity.”<strong>[6]</strong></p> <p>The French calendar was also changed. “At the suggestion of the deputy Romme, the Convention voted on 5 October 1793 to abolish the Christian calendar and introduce a republican calendar.”<strong>[7]</strong></p> <p>The founding of the Republic on September 22, 1792, was the beginning of the new era. Although the year still had twelve months, each was made thirty days long. “Weeks were replaced with periods of ten days (decades) so that the Christian Sunday would disappear….”<strong>[8]</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>As part of their <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3163003" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">de-Christianization campaign</a>, the French revolutionaries over 230 years ago rebuffed this divine commandment. Instead, they determined that anyone who managed to survive their historic bloodletting would have to rest on the final day of a 10-day cycle marked on a new calendar no longer commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.</p> </blockquote> <p>The New Republic went beyond this by changing place names that had “reference to a Christian past…. Children were named after republican heroes such as Brutus and Cato, and observance of the new Revolutionary calendar, which abolished Sunday and Christian Feast days, was enforced.”<strong>[9]</strong> The revisionist calendar was abandoned after twelve years, but not before blood literally ran in the streets.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/godandgovt_large.png?v=1608039906" alt="God and Government"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>God and Government</h3> <p>With a fresh new look, more images, an extensive subject and scripture index, and an updated bibliography, God and Government is ready to prepare a whole new generation to take on the political and religious battles confronting Christians today. May it be used in a new awakening of Christians in America—not just to inform minds, but to stimulate action and secure a better tomorrow for our posterity.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/god-and-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <hr> <p>[1] Walter Grab, <em>The French Revolution: The Beginning of Modern Democracy</em> (London: Bracken Books, 1989), 165.</p> <p>[2] Keith Feiling observed: “Human reason set up a cross on Calvary, human reason set up the cup of hemlock, human reason was canonized in Notre Dame.” Keith Feiling, <em>Toryism: A Political Dialogue</em> (London, 1913), 37-38. Quoted in Russell Kirk, <em>The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot</em>, 5th ed. (Chicago: Regnery, 1972), 7-8</p> <p>[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, <em>How Should We Then Live?</em> (1976) in <em>The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview</em>, 5 vols. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1984), 5:122.</p> <p>[4] Grab, <em>The French Revolution</em>, 166. Robespierre considered the anti-Christianization campaign to be a political miscalculation. “At the beginning of December [1793], at Robespierre’s suggestion, the Convention withdrew its anti-religious measures and restored the principle of religious freedom” (166-67). Robespierre later met up with Madame Guillotine.</p> <p>[5] Charles B. Galloway, <em><a href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/christianity-and-the-american-commonwealth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Christianity and the American Commonwealth; or, The Influence of Christianity in making This Nation</a></em> (Nashville, TN: Publishing House Methodist Episcopal Church, 1898), 25.</p> <p>[6] Jesse T. Peck, <em>The History of the Great Republic, Considered from a Christian Stand-Point</em> (New York: Broughton and Wyman, 1868), 321.</p> <p>[7] Grab, <em>The French Revolution</em>, 165. Also see “Marking Time: Different Ways to Count the Changing Seasons,” <em>Did You Know? New Insight into the World that is Full of Astonishing Stories and Astounding Facts</em> (London: Reader’s Digest, 1990), 267.</p> <p>[8] Grab, <em>The French Revolution</em>, 165.</p> <p>[9] Richard Cobb, gen. ed., <em>Voices of the French Revolution</em> (Topsfield, MA: Salem House Publishers, 1988), 202. Also see Simon Schama, <em>Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution</em> (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), 771-80.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/the-sufficiency-of-christs-sacrifice/Wed, 09 Sep 2026 06:33:55 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/the-sufficiency-of-christs-sacrifice/<p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-sufficiency-of-christs-sacrifice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">concludes</a> his interview with Pastor Greg Chacon by dealing with questions about prophetic systems that have to add to the finished work of Christ.</em></p> <p>People who get caught up in the latest end-time speculative prophecy story either have short memories of past predictions or no knowledge at all. Without having all the facts or a worksheet of past failed prophetic claims, it’s not hard to convince the uninformed, who are easily persuaded by some silver-tongued orator who claims to have some clear eye into the future based on special knowledge, that something in the heavens is a clear sign from God that the end is near.</p> <p>If you talk to many Christians about Bible prophecy, most likely you will hear them claim that all the signs for some impending prophetic event are unfolding right before our eyes. When popular prophecy writers bring up anything that might appear in the heavens, people pay attention. You don’t have to spend a lot of time watching the History Channel and a show like “7 Signs of the Apocalypse” to be sensitive to events like an asteroid strike, a pole shift like the one depicted in the film <em>2012</em>, and the Yellowstone National Park super volcano that some scientists claim has the potential to erupt with a force 2,000 times greater than the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens that occurred on May 18, 1980.</p> <p>The Jewish feast days and festivals no longer have any relevance since Jesus has come and fulfilled them, as He did with all the Old Covenant types and shadows (Luke 21:22; 24:27, 44). This is carried over into the New Testament. James B. Jordan offers some helpful commentary on this type of language:</p> <blockquote> <p>Anyone familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures would recognize immediately that what Jesus says about the sun, moon, and stars [in Matt. 24:29] is not to be taken to refer to the physical cosmos but to the political cosmos&hellip;. The prophets often see the “sun, moon, and stars” falling to the earth. One of the most frequently encountered mistakes in the interpretation of Biblical prophecy today is the notion that this always refers to the end of the world at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Actually, though, this expression always refers to the collapse of some particular nation.</p> </blockquote> <p>When the sun, moon, and stars are high in the heavens giving off their light, God is pleased with the nations. When the sun and moon go dark and the stars fall, this is a sign of God’s displeasure and judgment. So-called blood moons are not in the picture in any of these predictive events. We see a similar motif in the New Testament. God describes Israel’s coming calamity in AD 70 when the Roman army razed the temple (Matt. 24:2) and destroyed the city using examples of national judgment borrowed from the Old Testament, which Jesus applied to first-century Israel.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/pwfr_large.png?v=1736370066" alt="Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times</h3> <p>If you’re willing to take the Bible at its word, the study of prophecy can strengthen your faith, but if your trust is in man’s speculations, you will be disappointed every time. And that is why Bible prophecy is such a crucial area for apologetics. Skeptics of all stripes have condemned the Bible as inaccurate merely because various well-meaning Christians have been in error about the End Times.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/prophecy-wars-the-biblical-battle-over-the-end-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary concludes his interview with Pastor Greg Chacon by dealing with questions about prophetic systems that have to add to the finished work of Christ. Dispensationalism has given most Christians an unhealthy allegiance to Israel and the belief that they must support whatever it decides politically. Modern prophecy advocates are trying to rebuild the first century with a new &ldquo;Roman empire&rdquo; and a third temple in Jerusalem. Eschatology has consequences, and good intentions can be used to promote evil agendas.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-sufficiency-of-christs-sacrifice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/how-could-the-atoms-of-lindsay-clancy-be-put-on-trial-for-killing-other-atoms/Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:31:30 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/how-could-the-atoms-of-lindsay-clancy-be-put-on-trial-for-killing-other-atoms/<p>The judge in Lindsay Clancy&rsquo;s murder trial declared a mistrial. Why? Because one juror believed she was guilty of murder, while the other 11 jurors believed she should not be convicted of murder. A mother who <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/mom-who-drowned-her-3-children-in-1954-killed-again-after-being-shown-leniency/ar-AA2blZts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">drowned her 3 children</a> in 1954 killed again after being shown leniency. An Illinois mother had become “very invested” in the high-profile Lindsay Clancy murder trial before prosecutors say she killed her 2-year-old son, according to witnesses cited in court documents. A Michigan man killed his wife and their 6 Kids, then set the house on fire in an apparent murder-suicide. Life is cheap because life is insignificant. Massachusetts became the 10th state to allow abortion up to birth. What about one second after birth?</p> <p>The pagan world could never resolve the philosophical problem of the ultimate foundation of truth. This is why Pilate could seriously ask Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), given his culture’s operating assumptions about ultimate reality. No one knew, except maybe the Emperor, who was considered a god. The Greeks knew they needed an ultimate standard, a personal ultimate standard to make reality work. To cover their bases, they set up an altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23).</p> <p>Today is no different. Materialists and skeptics tell us that (1) they know truthful things and (2) they can’t verify that anything they claim is true in an ultimate sense. Their initial claim of truth rests on another claim of truth, which rests on another. What they can’t come up with is an ultimate authoritative claim. What they have is a series of leaky buckets.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/IOTC-front_large.png?v=1628715930" alt="The Impossibility of the Contrary"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Impossibility of the Contrary</h3> <p>If religious skeptics have forsaken biblical presuppositions, why is it they can think rationally, apply the scientific method, and require some semblance of morality? The answer is simple. Unbelievers are philosophically schizophrenic. They don’t often live consistently with the governing principles of their materialistic worldview. For example, “The success of modern science has been due to its ‘borrowed capital,’ because modern science is like the prodigal son. He left his father’s house and is rich, but the substance he expends is his father’s wealth.”</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-impossibility-of-the-contrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>I want to know which bucket is the last one that holds all the dripping water from the previous leaking buckets. This was the point that Greg Bahnsen made in his <a href="https://www.bahnseninstitute.com/bahnsen-sproul-debate-over-apologetic-method/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">debate on apologetic methodology</a> with R.C. Sproul at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1977, when I was a student there. “And as Antony Flew says, what good is it going to do [for] you to take one leaky bucket and add it to another leaky bucket? You’re just going to have a twofold leaky bucket now.” As Flew put it, “If one leaky bucket will not hold water, there is no reason to think that ten can.”<strong>[1]</strong> Flew was a committed atheist most of his life. In 2007, he wrote <em>There Is a God: How the World&rsquo;s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind</em>.</p> <p>This argument about finding an ultimate foundational starting point has a long history, as this story demonstrates.</p> <blockquote> <p>An often told story has a modern philosopher lecturing on the solar system. An [elderly] lady in the audience [declares]: Earth rests upon a large turtle. “What does this turtle stand on?” the speaker [asks, thinking he’s got her cornered]. “A far larger turtle.” As the scholar persists, his challenger retorts: “You are very clever but it is no use, young man. It’s turtles all the way down.”<strong>[2]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>There must be an ultimate reference point for everything: matter, humanness, morality, truth, meaning, etc. Consider the following from the 2019 film <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicas_%28film%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Replicas</a></em> starring Keanu Reeves and Alice Eve.</p> <blockquote> <p>Reeves: Something’s preventing the synthetic from achieving watershed consciousness.</p> <p>Eve: Maybe there’s more that makes us human … like the soul.</p> <p>Reeves: We’re the sum total of what has happened to us and how we processed it. That’s what makes us. It’s all neurochemistry.</p> <p>Eve: Do you really believe that? That’s all I am? Your children? Just pathways of electrical signals and chemistry?</p> </blockquote> <p>The pagan world tried in vain to find an ultimate place to stand but could not. Their pagan idols, while many (Acts 17:16-23), were mute (1 Cor. 12:2; Ps. 115:5; Isa. 46:7; Jer. 10:5; Hab. 2:18-20), so their philosophers spoke for them, but they were no better at finding what Francis Schaeffer called “true truth.”<strong>[3]</strong> All they could offer was probability and philosophical guessing. We don’t proclaim a god of probability. The only true starting point is with the God of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Heaven and earth are not the ultimate authority (matter), but the sovereign God.</p> <p>Modern secular philosophers are worse than Pilate. At least he admitted he did not know what was true. Today’s materialists claim to know what’s true even though they admit that they are children of the atom, or I should say, of atoms. A conglomeration of cosmic dust has the audacity to speak wisdom and certitude. Consider the Roman poem <em>De rerum natura</em> (“On the Nature of Things”), a first-century BC work by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius, who hoped to explain Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience, in which nothing is “fixed.”</p> <blockquote> <p>When atoms move straight down through the void by their own weight, they deflect a bit in space at a quite uncertain time and in uncertain places, just enough that you could say that their motion has changed. But if they were not in the habit of swerving, they would all fall straight down through the depths of the void, like drops of rain, and no collision would occur, nor would any blow be produced among the atoms. In that case, nature would never have produced anything.<strong>[4]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Stephen Greenblatt writes the following in his 2011 book <em>The Swerve: How the World Became Modern</em>: “[Lucretius’] <em>On the Nature of Things</em> struck me as an astonishingly convincing account of the way things are.”<strong>[5]</strong> Greenblatt adopted the epistemological fundamentals of Lucretius’s worldview.</p> <blockquote> <p>The stuff of the universe &hellip; is an infinite number of atoms moving randomly through space, like dust motes [particles] in a sunbeam, colliding, hooking together, forming complex structures, breaking apart again, in a ceaseless process of creation and destruction. There is no escape from this process. When you look up at the night sky and, feeling unaccountably moved, marvel at the numberless stars, you are not seeing the handiwork of the gods or a crystalline sphere detached from our transient world. You are seeing the same material world of which you are a part and from whose elements you are made. There is no master plan, no divine architect, no intelligent design. All things, including the species to which you belong, evolved over vast stretches of time.”<strong>[6]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>There is no moral “should” or “ought” in Lucretius’ worldview. This is equally true for Greenblatt, although he would most likely argue otherwise.</p> <p>How can atoms, no matter how complex, be put on trial for killing other atomic structures, given the physicalist presuppositions that “the world of the <em>mind</em> is increasingly reduced to the goings on of chemistry alone”?<strong>[7]</strong></p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/neighfr_large.png?v=1695172157" alt="Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor</h3> <p>The most damning assessment of a matter-only cosmos devoid of a Creator is that we got to this place in our evolutionary history by acts of violence whereby the strong conquered the weak with no one to support or condemn them. Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor repeatedly raises the issue of accounting for the conscience, good and evil, and loving our neighbor. It’s shocking to read what atheists say about a cosmos devoid of meaning and morality.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/why-it-might-be-ok-to-eat-your-neighbor-book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <hr> <p>[1] Antony G. N. Flew, <em>God and Philosophy</em> (London: Hutchinson &amp; Co., 1966), 63.</p> <p>[2] Charles W. Petit, “Life and Culture: Cosmology,” <em>U.S. News &amp; World Report</em> (August 16/23, 1999), 74.</p> <p>[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, <em>A Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: Three Essential Books in One Volume</em> (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 104, 143, 163, 174, 218, 311, 325.</p> <p>[4] Lucretius, <em>De rerum natura</em>, 2.216–224.</p> <p>[5] Greenblatt, <em>The Swerve: How the World Became Modern</em> (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2011), 5.</p> <p>[6] Greenblatt, <em>The Swerve</em>, 6-7.</p> <p>[7]Joseph Minich, <em>Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age</em> (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2023), 12.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/the-context-of-the-new-testament/Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:28:08 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/the-context-of-the-new-testament/<p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-context-of-the-new-testament" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">continues</a> his interview with Pastor Greg Chacon about biblical interpretation and application.</em></p> <p>I would like to know why it’s “boasting against the branches” (Rom. 11:18), as my letter-writing critic maintained, to question the basic assumptions of dispensationalism. Such a specious argument is typical of some dispensationalists who find it difficult to represent non-dispensational views accurately and have trouble offering a coherent biblical defense of their own dispensational paradigm without numerous interpretive caveats (e.g., gaps between stated years, dismissing time indicators, adding and removing words to a verse, etc.) when challenged on basic claims (e.g., that dispensationalists are the only ones who interpret the Bible in a consistently “literal” way). Dispensationalists fail to note what else Paul writes just a few verses later in Romans 11: “And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (v. 23). Israelites will be grafted in when (and everyone else) give up their unbelief. I don’t know anyone who believes Jews are excluded from the gospel now that non-Jews are included. That would be “boasting against the branches.”</p> <p>Paul is not dealing with a Church-Israel distinction in Romans 11. There is nothing in the entire book that indicates that there is a Church-Israel distinction. The word “church” doesn’t appear until chapter 16 where it refers in two places to local assemblies of believers (16:1, 5). Nothing is said about a “rapture” of the Church, Israel becoming a nation again, the need for a rebuilt temple, or the return of any Jews to their land as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. There is a single olive tree, and believing Jews and Gentiles become a part of the same tree in the same way: belief in Jesus as the Christ. “For there is no partiality with God&hellip;. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:11, 28-29).</p> <p>In Galatians we read something similar: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:28-29). It’s not flesh and blood Israelites who are the heirs of the promises first made to Abraham. If a person belongs to Christ, then he or she is an heir of Abraham. The Bible couldn’t be any clearer on this point.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/10PMfr_large.png?v=1726012494" alt="Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered</h3> <p>Millions of books have been sold proclaiming countless false prophecies. Many Christians are beginning to take a second look at the biblical prophetic record. A seismic shift in biblical eschatology is taking place around the world because Christians, some for the first time, are willing to challenge what they have been taught based on what the Bible actually says. In this book, Gary DeMar has taken on the task of exposing some of the popular myths foisted upon the public by prophetic speculators.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/ten-popular-prophecy-myths-exposed-and-answered" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary continues his interview with Pastor Greg Chacon about biblical interpretation and application. The Bible must be read in the context of what was happening historically at the time of the writings. This isn&rsquo;t to say that the Bible isn&rsquo;t about current events, because it is. The Bible is for every generation because it is God&rsquo;s eternal truth, but it is not giving us &ldquo;secret knowledge&rdquo; about prophecy.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/the-context-of-the-new-testament" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-107-leaving-preterism-for-dispensationalism-part-two/Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:07:07 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/episode-107-leaving-preterism-for-dispensationalism-part-two/<p><strong>Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 107</strong></p> <p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/leaving-preterism-for-dispensationalism-part-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">concludes</a> his initial response to Ayo, who claims to have left preterism for dispensationalism.</em></p> <p>John was a “fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus” (Rev. 1:9; see 2 Thess. 1:4). The church at Smyrna was experiencing a “tribulation” that Jesus knew about (Rev. 2:9). This tribulation period is in our past. The time words “near,” “shortly,” and “quickly” apply to that period of biblical history.</p> <p>Does this mean that all tribulation is over for Christians? Not at all. Paul tells Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus said something similar: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you’” (John 15:20) and “In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world” (16:33). We also read something similar in Acts, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22; cp. 2 Cor. 4:9-12).</p> <p>Second, Paul makes the point that Israel’s past behavior (1 Cor. 10:1–10) was a lesson for believers in his day: “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (10:11). The events described by Paul were in the past for him and the Corinthian church, but they had application for them hundreds of years later and to us. Stephen, in his defense before the Council, recounted something similar. He recounted Israel’s history and applied its lessons to that generation (Acts 7). Peter refers to the suffering of Jesus (a past event) as “an example for” them and us “to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).</p> <p>In a comparable way, the writer of Hebrews briefly describes the “earthly sanctuary” (Heb. 9:1) and shows that “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (9:11).</p> <p>What was past (preterist) is “a symbol for the present time” (9:9) and applies to Christians throughout history. Jesus “does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (7:27). What Jesus did “once for all” has eternal significance even though that sacrifice is in the distant past.</p> <p>Third, there are hundreds of prophecies about the first coming of Jesus that were fulfilled two millennia ago, and yet they have great relevance for us today. Everything has relevance no matter when it happened. The judgment that took place in AD 70 against Israel is past. The tribulation that took place in the years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem is in the past. The warnings to the seven churches in Revelation are in the past. The crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus are in the past. There are hundreds of biblical events that are in the past that remain applicable for the church throughout history.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/Jerusalem_large.png?v=1597064578" alt="Debunking a Debunker of Preterism"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Debunking a Debunker of Preterism</h3> <p>Gary's response is an excellent introduction to the biblical theology of eschatology. Bible prophecy cannot be divorced from the rest of Scripture--it is a package deal. Localized and impending judgment language is all over the Bible--in both the Old and New Testaments--and an eschatology that seeks to interpret the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation in a different way is being dishonest with the biblical text.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/debunking-a-debunker-of-preterism" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary concludes his initial response to Ayo, who claims to have left preterism for dispensationalism. Gary discusses the biblical use of the term &ldquo;antichrist&rdquo; and defines what it actually means in the New Testament. Like Ayo, most people today assume it refers to a single person—the Antichrist—but in reality, antichrists were legion in the first century.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/leaving-preterism-for-dispensationalism-part-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://americanvision.org/categories/microscope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for all episodes of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/the-spreading-cancer-of-moral-relativism/Thu, 03 Sep 2026 07:42:31 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/the-spreading-cancer-of-moral-relativism/<p>Three years ago, I discovered a bulge in my left calf. I checked online to determine what it might be. Not much help. I went to the local Doc-in-the Box. From there, I made an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor. After several tries, he was stumped. He could have speculated, but he did not want to scare me. He got me an appointment with an Orthopedic Oncologist. A lot of “could be this or that.” At first, he thought it might be a hematoma after taking a biopsy. Within a few days, the results came back: a high-grade soft tissue sarcoma. Mine was an Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. The cells appear highly abnormal under a microscope, grow rapidly, and have a high risk of spreading (metastasizing) to distant sites, such as the lungs.</p> <p>I had it removed. The next year, a CT scan revealed a cancerous nodule on my lung. I had it removed in a lung resection. I get an MRI of my left calf and a CT scan of my lungs every six months.</p> <p>Who knows how long the Sarcoma grew in my calf? One day it wasn’t there, and the next day it was. But that’s not what happened. A few cancerous cells doubled: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, etc. What wasn’t initially visible became visible because the cancer cells had replicated using my healthy muscle tissue as a base of operations for the takeover of my body. Survival outcomes vary significantly by stage: the five-year relative survival rate is approximately 81% for localized disease, 56% for regional spread, and 15-16% for distant metastatic sarcoma. Thus, the 6-month scans.</p> <p>What’s true of cancer is also true of the spread of ideas, both good and bad.</p> <p>Peter Guillquist asked: “Can the world be changed? Are the people of God even to expect such a thing? Isn’t the world utterly and hopelessly lost?” He answered:</p> <blockquote> <p>The world can be changed. The Church has changed the world before, and it can do it again. The impact of the ancient Church altered the character of the massive Roman Empire. It didn’t make it perfect, mind you. But it did make the world more bearable—a better place for both believer and unbeliever to live. Consider the issues of just treatment for slaves, care of unwanted children, the poor, widows, and the sick and lame, as a few examples of areas where the historic Church has made a visible and powerful difference.<strong>[1]</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>This can’t happen if: (1) Christians believe there is no solution to fix anything except us and our families, (2) God’s law as revealed in Scripture is of no obligation for Christians (we’re under grace, not law), (3) God will rescue His church via something called the ‘rapture,’ a supernatural rescue mission from this world, and (4) Christians are unable to argue their case presuppositionally, from first principles.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/products/PTA-front_large.png?v=1628716122" alt="Pushing the Antithesis"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Pushing the Antithesis</h3> <p>Prior to his untimely death in 1995, Dr. Greg Bahnsen delivered a series of lectures on apologetics at American Vision's Life Preparation Conference. The week-long sessions, presented before high school and college students, set forth the basics of the Christian worldview and the biblical approach to defending the faith. These lessons have been distilled and turned into a one-of-a kind handbook on apologetics. Pushing the Antithesis consists of twelve chapters that include study questions, an answer key, a glossary of terms, and a comprehensive bibliography. If you want to be equipped to present the truth of the gospel in a compelling way, then Pushing the Antithesis is required reading.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/pushing-the-antithesis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>How did we get here? Like the spread of cancer, it took time. Harvard University was founded in 1636 by Puritan colonists with the explicit Christian mission to train clergy and promote the Christian faith. The institution’s original 1646 “Rules and Precepts” mandated that students “<strong>lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning</strong>,” citing John 17:3 to declare that the main end of life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ. This theological foundation was further solidified in 1692, when Harvard adopted the motto <em>Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae</em> (Truth for Christ and the Church), which appeared on the university seal until the mid-19th century, when the institution secularized and shortened the motto to simply <em>Veritas</em>.</p> <p><img src="https://americanvision.org/images/uploads/harvardseal.png" alt="Harvard seal" title="Harvard seal"></p> <p>The process of secularization began in the late 18th century, when Unitarianism and Emersonian ideals began to influence the college, putting reason on an equal par with revelation and separating the school of Christian ministry from the ‘secular’ curriculum that emphasized reason and humanism. By the early 1800s, the Unitarians had gained control, institutionalizing a greater emphasis on intellectual freedom and reducing the proportion of graduates entering the ministry.</p> <p>“As George M. Marsden writes in <em>The Soul of the American University</em>, “the shift was not occurring ‘in the name of an attack on Christianity but under the banner of its expansion.’” Harvard was still ‘Christian,’ but it became just one acceptable religion among many, and it redefined Christianity. For example, Peter J. Gomes (1942-2011) was the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and Pusey Minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church. Gomes was a homosexual. He devoted his life to “addressing the ‘religious case’ against gays.”</p> <p>He maintained that “one can read into the Bible almost any interpretation of morality &hellip; for its passages had been used to defend slavery and the liberation of slaves, to support racism, anti-Semitism and patriotism, to enshrine a dominance of men over women, and to condemn homosexuality as immoral.” You see, “truth” is whatever suits you and how you determine what’s moral.</p> <p>If moral relativism happened to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, it could happen everywhere, and it has. A jury is struggling to decide whether a mother who strangled her three children should be found guilty of murder.</p> <blockquote> <p>A father who strangled his FIVE children during ‘Schizophrenic Psychosis’ got the death penalty after a jury deliberated just TWO HOURS — Lindsay Clancy’s Massachusetts jury is deadlocked after days as feminists turn a child killer into a martyr.</p> </blockquote> <p>German-Palestinian-American filmmaker Lexi Alexander pushed an X post appearing to cheer the death of Bank of America executive Erin Piacenti Tuesday, referencing accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione. (<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/filmmaker-cheers-death-bank-america-executive-luigi-mangione-meme" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Source</a>) Mangione, the suspect in the December 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has garnered a significant online following, particularly among young women, who have romanticized him as a “hot assassin” or a “Robin Hood” figure.</p> <p>Do you remember this phrase? “It will never happen here.” It is happening here.</p> <p>Comedian Cristina Mariani told this joke about atheist Neil deGrasse Tyson: “He has a sign in his yard that says, ‘Black Lives are matter.’” He doesn’t really have a sign that says this, but his worldview leads to it. If we’re all matter, then why does anyone or anything matter? In fact, that’s true of everything and everyone if atheism is true. You will hear atheists say that they don’t need God to be moral or have purpose.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/neighfr_large.png?v=1695172157" alt="Why It Might be OK to Eat Your Neighbor"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Why It Might be OK to Eat Your Neighbor</h3> <p>Love your neighbor, or Eat your neighbor? Atoms don’t have a conscience. They don’t love. They don’t regard anything as being their neighbor. The same is true of DNA. It’s been said that you can’t get blood out of a stone. Similarly, no matter how atheists try, they can’t account for moral standards that must be obeyed when there is no accounting for good or evil. Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor repeatedly raises the issue of accounting for the conscience, good and evil, and loving our neighbor. It’s shocking to read what atheists say about a cosmos devoid of meaning and morality.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/why-it-might-be-ok-to-eat-your-neighbor-book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Atheists are worldview thieves. Greg Bahnsen pointed out the following in his <a href="http://www.anthonyflood.com/bahnsendebatesgeorgesmith.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">debate with George Smith</a> sometime in 1991 on the Los Angeles radio station KKLA:</p> <blockquote> <p>And that’s where we get back to the whole question of the atheist worldview and the Christian worldview. In terms of the atheist worldview, I would challenge George that he cannot give an account of the reasoning that he’s doing. An example that a seminary professor once used stuck with me for many years. Dr. [Cornelius] Van Til once said, “There’s no question that atheists count. Sometimes they count better than Christians. They can do their math very well. They do count, but they cannot account for their counting!” That is, in terms of their outlook on the world, what they profess to be true about knowledge and about reality—you know, the universals and absolutes of mathematics—would not make any sense whatsoever. And so, I do agree that George does reason, but I would suggest that he cannot, in terms of his worldview, make sense of the reasoning that he engages in.</p> </blockquote> <hr> <p>[1] Peter E. Guillquist, <em>Why We Haven’t Changed the World</em> (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1982), 21.</p>https://americanvision.org/posts/reading-the-bible-through-the-bible/Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:01:17 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/reading-the-bible-through-the-bible/<p><em>Gary <a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/reading-the-bible-through-the-bible" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">continues</a> his discussion with Pastor Greg Chacon about biblical interpretation.</em></p> <p>God’s promises to Israel are not in doubt, but to maintain that they have been postponed for nearly 2,000 years only to be realized when Israel encounters another holocaust when two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel will be slaughtered and only a remnant saved, is not an answer to the claim “that God is finished with the Jewish people as a nation.”</p> <p>It’s obvious from the Bible that God is not going to restore every “physical seed of Abraham.” If God were going to do that, then why bother with the gospel? Paul does not mean by “in this way all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26) that every Jew without exception throughout history (the diachronic [through time] view) will one day be saved. Paul is writing about a “remnant” of his countrymen (11:5). Even so, Paul states unequivocally that God has not rejected His people (11:1). What evidence does He give?</p> <blockquote> <p>For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the Elijah section—how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life! But what was God’s reply to him? I have left 7,000 men for Myself who have not bowed down to Baal (11:1-4).</p> </blockquote> <p>Paul’s own salvation is <em>prima facie</em> evidence that God had not rejected Israel even though not every Israelite was or will be saved. The way that God saved a remnant in Elijah’s day, God was saving a remnant in Paul’s day: “In the <strong>same way</strong>, then, there is also at the <strong>present time</strong> a remnant chosen by grace.”</p> <p>Paul wasn’t projecting an event in the distant future. He was describing God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises “at the present time,” that is, in Paul’s own day. As we’ll see, God was demonstrating this fact beginning with Pentecost when “Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5-11) embraced Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises made to Abraham long ago. Jesus said to “the Jews” of His day, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:57).</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/pwfr_large.png?v=1736370066" alt="Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times</h3> <p>There is a long history of skeptics turning to Bible prophecy to claim that Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3) and the signs associated with it. Noted atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is one of them and Bart Ehrman is a modern example. It’s obvious that neither Russell or Ehrman are aware of or are ignoring the mountain of scholarship that was available to them that showed that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in great detail just as He said it would be before the generation of His day passed away.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/prophecy-wars-the-biblical-battle-over-the-end-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>Gary continues his discussion with Pastor Greg Chacon about biblical interpretation. After showing how dispensationalism is flawed, Gary further explains how Bible translations sometimes hide important information by omitting certain words or translating the same word differently in different places.</p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/reading-the-bible-through-the-bible" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here for today’s episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://garydemar.libsyn.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Click here to browse all episodes of The Gary DeMar Podcast</a></p>https://americanvision.org/posts/holy-cow-hermeneutics/Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:46:45 -0400https://americanvision.org/posts/holy-cow-hermeneutics/<p>Red heifer stories are in the news. “The delivery of five red heifers to Israel has sparked a worldwide debate about its significance in biblical prophecy, particularly among Christians who believe a third temple will be built during the End Times,”<strong>[1]</strong> of which the New Testament says nothing. You will search the New Testament with a fine-tooth comb, and you won’t find any mention of another temple being built or the necessity for animal sacrifices to be performed.</p> <p>The red heifer claim isn’t new. Here’s a story from 2018:</p> <blockquote> <p>Last week in Jerusalem a baby cow was born. Watch the adorable infant scamper around her mother in a short video released on YouTube by the Temple of Israel, below. Why is this worth your attention? Because—according to some Jewish and Christian scholars—this tiny red calf may be ushering in the end of the world.</p> <p>The reddish-colored female calf was reportedly born in Israel on August 28 [2018] and is being raised in accordance with the Jewish laws of the Torah, according to the Temple Institute. (CBN)</p> </blockquote> <p>This is more about Jewish mythology than biblical theology. Even CBN News, a network that is heavily invested in end-time speculation, ended its article on the topic with this comment: “Meanwhile, there’s a verse about that heifer and purification in the New Testament of the Bible, and it’s all about salvation.” The author then quotes Hebrews 9:13-14. The sacrifice of the red heifer is about Jesus, and Jesus is the endpoint of its fulfillment. Christian interest in the red heifer sacrifice is an affront to the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ.</p> <p>The Bible details the red heifer in Numbers 19. An “unblemished” red heifer, that is, a cow of a reddish color, with “no defect” that had never worn a yoke, was to be taken outside the camp and sacrificed. Water was added to the ashes and applied to anyone who had contact with a dead body. This sacrifice required a cow, a female, to highlight its life-giving element.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/HOIAN1_large.png?v=1752935538" alt="The Hope of Israel and the Nations"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Hope of Israel and the Nations</h3> <p>The reader and student of the Bible must first understand the content of the New Testament writings in terms of how those in the first century would have understood it. The New Testament is written against the background of the Old Testament. The shadows of the Old were fulfilled in the reality of the New. All the rituals and ceremonies were fulfilled in Jesus. The same is true of the temple, land, blood sacrifices, the nature of redemption, the resurrection of the dead, the breaking down of the dividing wall dividing Jews and Gentiles, and so much more. The New Testament's emphasis is on the finished work of Jesus and its application, not only to that Apostolic generation but to the world today.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-hope-of-israel-and-the-nations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <p>These laws point to Jesus and His redemptive work and the end of the Old Covenant that was in full display when Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in AD 70 and the temple system destroyed. Christian Zionists, mostly of the dispensational type, have teamed up with the Temple Institute in Jerusalem to breed red heifers.</p> <blockquote> <p>The key American figure in all this is Byron Stinson, a small-scale rancher, trucking company owner and Christian Zionist from Glen Rose, Texas. Beginning in the 2000s, he developed a relationship with Temple Institute members during regular visits to Israel, and eagerly offered up his network of evangelical ranchers, who possessed mighty herds of red-haired Angus cattle that are unknown in the Middle East due to the climate. (<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/holy-cow-the-red-haired-heifer-uniting-christian-zionists-and-israels-religious-right/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">Source</a>)</p> </blockquote> <p>There are other elements involved in the sacrifice, but nothing is said about the red heifer being a prophecy of the return of the Messiah. The sacrifice of the red heifer, like all the animal sacrifices, pointed to Jesus as their fulfillment. It’s not a prophecy; it’s a “type of Christ” with Jesus as the “antitype,” the fulfillment. As Jesus said during his crucifixion—hanging on a tree (Deut. 21:22-23; Acts 5:30; Gal. 3:13)—“It is finished” (John 19:28-30).</p> <p>Here’s the important part of how the sacrifice of the red heifer points to Jesus: It is the only sacrifice that took place “outside the camp” (Num. 19:3, 9). Like the red heifer, Jesus was slain “outside the gate” (Heb. 13:12), that is, “outside the camp” (13:13).</p> <blockquote> <p>They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha (John 19:17).</p> </blockquote> <p>Consider how the book of Hebrews relates all animal sacrifices, including that of the red heifer, to the finished work of Jesus as the Messiah:</p> <blockquote> <p>For if the blood of goats and bulls and the <strong>ashes of a heifer</strong> sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, <strong>how much more will the blood of Christ</strong>, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself <strong>without blemish</strong> to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason, <strong>He is the mediator of a new covenant</strong>, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were <em>committed</em> under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:13-15).</p> </blockquote> <p>The Bible couldn’t be clearer. Jesus is the fulfillment of the red heifer sacrifice. In fact, all the Old Covenant was in anticipation of Jesus as He Himself stated:</p> <p>• Then <strong>beginning with Moses</strong> and with all the prophets, [Jesus] explained to them <strong>the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures</strong>” (Luke 24:27).</p> <p>• Now Jesus said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things <strong>which are written about Me</strong> in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44; cp. 21:22).</p> <p>Notice that <strong>all</strong> sacrificial animals were to be “unblemished” and “without defect.” This requirement is not unique to the red heifer sacrifice:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Whatever has a defect</strong>, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, <strong>it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it</strong> (Lev. 22:20-21; also, Deut. 15:21; 17:1; Mal. 1:8, 14; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19).</p> </blockquote> <p>Like so much of rabbinic oral tradition (Mark 7:1-13), several additional requirements have been added to the red heifer biblical inspection:</p> <p>• The heifer must be three years old and perfect in its redness. Even its hooves must be red.</p> <p>• The presence of even two hairs of any other color will render it invalid.</p> <p>These requirements are not found in Numbers 19. They have been passed down via <a href="https://templeinstitute.org/red-heifer-numbers-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="external">oral tradition</a>.</p> <p>There’s a legend that only “nine red heifers had been slain between the time of Moses and the destruction of the Temple” in AD 70.<strong>[2]</strong> It’s a legend. What many people don’t know is that today’s red heifer breeding is artificial, “using imported frozen embryos of <em>red Angus cows</em> implanted into &hellip; domestic cows.” This artificial procedure negates the entire sacrificial history of Israel before the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. The red heifer sacrifice was common in Israel, as were other sacrifices that required the same level of scrutiny.</p> <p>Given the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the sacrifices required under the Old Covenant, there is no need for a red heifer sacrifice today. For any Christian to suggest that there is significance to a red heifer today is to deny the “it is finished” (John 19:30) sacrifice of Jesus and the purpose of the book of Hebrews. Jews who want to revive the red heifer ordinance are no different from Jews who rejected Jesus as the once-for-all sacrifice fulfillment of all the types under the Old Covenant.</p> <p>What about the argument that the red heifer sacrifice is to be “a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them” and “a perpetual statute”? (Num. 19:10, 21). It’s obvious that it hasn’t been for nearly 2000 years. That’s because the perpetuity of the red heifer sacrifice (like all the sacrifices) was fulfilled in Jesus, as the book of Hebrews states.</p> <div class="product_card"> <div class="product_image"> <img src="https://store.americanvision.org/cdn/shop/files/jtbfr_large.png?v=1763827352" alt="The Greatest and the Least"> </div> <div class="product_info"> <h3>The Greatest and the Least</h3> <p>Without John the Baptist, there is no Jesus. Without the voice in the wilderness, there is no voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17). John was the transitional figure providing a clear path and a smooth road from the covenant with Adam to the new covenant with the Second Adam. As the final and greatest prophet of the Old Testament, John embodied and fulfilled the very purpose of the Law: revealing Jesus as the Bringer of God’s Kingdom.</p> <a class="button" href="https://store.americanvision.org/products/the-greatest-and-the-least-a-biblical-theology-of-john-the-baptist" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a> </div> </div> <hr> <p>[1] Michael Foust, “Red Heifers Arrive in Israel: Is it a Signal of the 3rd Temple, End Times?,” <em>Christian Headlines</em> (September 19, 2022).</p> <p>[2] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.</p>