End-Time Visions by Richard Abanes (1998, Hardcover)

Even though some folks don't "get" what Abanes seems to really be trying to say (as evidenced by the customer reviews at Amazon), it's very clear that Abanes is attempting to slide his own particular theological bias in under the radar.

Abanes discusses all the known crackpots of the Apocalyptic world like Jim Jones, David Koresh, and others. However, into the mix he also tosses people like Tim LaHaye, who as far as I know, has never set a date for the return of Christ.

His own attempts at biblical exegesis at several points are severely lacking and it shows. Abanes seems to more than imply that any Christian who has any real interest in the End Times while claiming to be a Christian is questionable at best.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with studying the End Times. It's part of the Bible, Jesus discussed it and provided a number of warnings about it, and in one very real sense, studying the End Times purifies the believer. This is not to say that people should become obsessed with it and for Abanes, it seems that anyone who is even interested in that area of revelation is obsessed.

This is the difficulty between Preterism and Dispensationalism. Preterists believe that for the most part, all prophecy has been fulfilled except the last few chapters of Revelation. For most Preterists, the "end" came in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was attacked, sacked and destroyed by the Romans. There you go; end of story.

Of course you can only get to that point by allegorizing Scripture, instead of understanding the text in its most normal sense, unless the context demands that you go beyond the basic meaning and into allegory.

Sadly, though Abanes is clearly bright and is given credit by many reviewers as being someone who has strong journalistic integrity, this book does not seem to show that. On at least two occasions, during his attempts to prove that some of the "signs" people have been talking about are really not signs at all. He does this by presenting information that is actually inaccurate, while at the same time, calling those who study the End Times (like LaHaye, etc.) "deceitful" because of the means they use to promote the End Times.

If one looks carefully at the information Abanes compiled for the earthquakes, wars and famines, it comes up woefully short. At first glance, it certainly appears to prove his point that these are not really signs at all. However, searching a bit allows one to discover that he has not painted the full picture. Was that deliberate, or simply an accidental omission?

I also find it interesting that he claims that the first world war was not really the first actual world war, but it was the War of the Spanish Succession and he quotes ONE historian. That's news to me (not to mention many other historians I'm sure).

With broad brush stokes such as these, he attempts to negate Premillennial Dispensationalism and it only works for those not in the know.

This book really has nothing new to offer anyone and I'm surprised it was published at all. I imagine though that since the title is highly suggestive, that alone would sell books. Abanes would have done better to have written a book against the Premillennial viewpoint, instead of trying to hide that fact within the text of this book. It certainly would have been more honest.