Ben Witherington talked about a few things he’d like to see go away, and I have to give a hearty Amen! Of the things he talked about, the one I’d most like to see disappear is “Left Behind” theology. I’m glad to see more and more people seeing this for what it is, myself included. I particularly liked what he said here:
“We were told that the rapture is surely coming within the next 25-50
years. Of course we were told this by Scofield a hundred years ago, and
Chafer 75 years ago , and Lindsey over 50 years ago, and they were all
dead wrong. In fact, in all of church history whenever anyone has
predicted the timing of the return of Christ they have all shared one
thing in common— they’ve all been dead wrong! There’s been a 100%
failure rate of such false prophecies. There is no reason to think
these aren’t just more false prophecies. They don’t even pause to ask–
Has the the Gospel been preached yet to all the language groups in the
world? Well no, there are still about 500 such languages and dialects
to go before we get there, and Mark told us that had to happen first in
Mk. 13.”
Later, he adds:
“When the expectation of the return of Christ, which is shared by all
denominations, degenerates into prognostication and calculation,
[despite Mk. 13.32 which tells us that the time and timing of this
event is completely unknown, and was even unknown to Jesus himself
whilst on earth (and no it does not mean "we can know the general year
or decade, just not the day or hour")], then we have ceased to move on
faith, and are engaging in human manipulation.”
More voices are speaking up on this. The Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff, has a new book out: “The Apocalypse Code”
Here’s a 2001 NT Wright article: “Farewell to the Rapture“