Hal Lindsey

Harold Lee "Hal" Lindsey (born November 23 1929) is an American evangelist and Christian writer. He is a Christian Zionist and dispensationalist author. He currently resides in the Palm Springs area of Southern California.

Biography

Lindsey, the son of Percy Lacy Lindsey and Daisy Lee Freeman Lindsey, was born in Houston, Texas. Lindsey dropped out of the University of Houston to serve in the Korean War, then worked as a Mississippi River tugboat captain. His personal web site [ [http://www.hallindseyoracle.com/ The Hal Lindsey Report - Home ] ] describes that when "his first marriage broke up, he contemplated suicide, but instead found a Gideon New Testament and was converted. Lindsey became an avid reader of Scripture, particularly prophetic sections, which convinced him that the Bible was truly the Word of God."

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

Published in 1970 by Zondervan, "The Late, Great Planet Earth" became a bestseller. Coming on the heels of the Six-Day War, the book fueled the popularity of Dispensationalism and its support of ethnic Jews as the "chosen people of God". It has since been published in 54 languages, has reported sales of over 35 million copies, and is still in print. Many of Lindsey's later writings are sequels or revisions and extensions of his first book.

infobox television
show_name = International Intelligence Briefing


caption =
format = News
runtime = 30 minutes
creator =
starring = Hal Lindsey
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = USA
network = Trinity Broadcasting Network
first_aired = 1994
last_aired = 2005
num_episodes =
imdb_id = 0242204
tv_com_id = Lindsey hosted "International Intelligence Briefing" on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and serves on the executive board of Christian Voice. Lindsey also promotes theories regarding either the USSR or the European Union being the home of the Antichrist and describes liberals as an "enemy that hides in the shadows, doesn't play by any of the rules, and is determined to use any means to bring about our literal annihilation." [http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41148] cite news | url=http://www.theocracywatch.org/station_cjr_may_05.htm | title=Stations Of The Cross|publisher=Columbia Journalism Review |date=May/June 2005 | first=Mariah | last=Blake | accessdate = 2006-08-18]

"International Intelligence Briefing" was removed from the air on TBN for the entire month of December 2005. Lindsey claimed that this was because "some at the network apparently feel that [his] message is too pro-Israel and too anti-Muslim." [ [http://www.hallindseyoracle.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=12130] Dead link|date=July 2008] TBN owner Paul Crouch, however, contended that "TBN has never been and is not now against Israel and the Jewish people." [ [http://www.tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=87 TBN - Trinity Broadcasting Network ] ] Crouch said that Lindsey's show was pre-empted for Christmas programming. Lindsey countered that this was the first time his show had been preempted for the entire month of December. TBN later admitted that a secondary reason for pre-empting the show was that it "placed Arabs in a negative light." [ [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47691 TBN admits concern about offending Muslims ] ]

Lindsey resigned from TBN on January 1, 2006, and indicated that he would pursue another television ministry. His new program, "The Hal Lindsey Report", is focused on Biblical prophecy and current events, and is carried on the Angel One and DayStar networks. In January 2007, Lindsey announced that he would be returning to the TBN network. "The Hal Lindsey Report" airs on TBN under his own financing. [ [http://tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=192 TBN - Trinity Broadcasting Network ] ]

On September, 11 2008, Hal Lindsey started feeling chest pains. However, he has now recovered and is out of the hospital.Fact|date=October 2008

He wrote in an essay on WorldNetDaily that Barack Obama was the antichrist, "Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him — a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib ... The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance." [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad? |url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830590,00.html |quote=Conservative Christian author Hal Lindsey declared in an essay on WorldNetDaily, "Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him — a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib ... The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance." |work=Time magazine |date=August 8, 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-10 ]

Predictions

In "The Late, Great Planet Earth", Lindsey wrote that he had concluded, since there was no apparent mention of the United States of America in the books of Daniel or Revelation, that the USA would no longer be a major player on the geo-political stage by the time the tribulations of the end times arrived. Lindsey also interpreted from Revelation and prophetic texts that the European Economic Community, which preceded the European Union, was destined (according to Biblical prophecy) to become a "United States of Europe", with ten members, which in turn he says is destined to become a "Revived Roman Empire" ruled by the Antichrist. The European Union currently has 27 members and the Western European Union (a military alliance) has 10 primary members.

A later book, bearing the title "The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon", implied that the battle of Armageddon would take place in the not too distant future. Lindsey's earlier predictions all assumed that the Cold War would continue indefinitely, and had eschatological significance; he explicitly identified the former Soviet Union with the apocalyptic figure of Gog. He also assumed that the 1960s counterculture would eventually become the dominant culture, and become the source of prophesied "immorality" that would lead to the establishment of a false religion.

Hal Lindsey stated that the end days would be before the generation that sees the establishment of Israel in 1948 would pass away, as shown in Matthew 24:34: "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." A 'Generation' is sometimes interpreted as 30 or 40 years, but "shall not pass" can refer to the deaths of the last members of the generation of 1948, which would be in the mid 21st century.

Bibliography

*"The Late, Great Planet Earth"
*"Satan is Alive and Well On Planet Earth"
*"There's a New World Coming"
*"The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon"
*"The Final Battle"
*"The Terminal Generation"
*"Planet Earth: The Final Chapter"
*"Rapture"
*"Planet Earth - 2000 A.D.
*"Apocalypse Code"
*"Blood Moon"
*"Vanished into Thin Air: the Hope of Every Believer"
*"The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad"

References

ee also

*Christian eschatology
*Unfulfilled religious prophecies
*Christian evangelist scandals
*Summary of Christian eschatological differences
*Christian Voice (USA)

External links

* [http://hallindsey.org Hal Lindsey's web site]
* [http://wnd.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=12 Hal Lindsey commentaries] on WorldNetDaily
* [http://ww2.daystar.com/Daystar/Whats+Showing/Hal+Lindsey.htm The Hal Lindsey Report] at Daystar Television Network
* [http://tbn.org/index.php/2/4/p/822.html The Hal Lindsey Report] at Trinity Broadcasting Network
* [http://raptureready.com/who/Hal_Lindsey.html Hal Lindsey] at Rapture Ready
*imdb name|id=0512361