Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church [Paperback]

Gary Demar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

Gary DeMar sheds light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and many more. DeMar identifies the Beast, the Antichrist, and the Man of Lawlessness and clears the haze regarding Armageddon, the abomination of desolation, the rebuilding of the temple, and the meaning of 666. This is the most thoroughly documented and comprehensive study of Bible prophecy ever written! LDM will be your survival guide and spiritual compass to insure you escape the paralysis of last days madness.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gary DeMar grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. He has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife Carol. They have two grown sons. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).

A prolific writer, Gary has authored over twenty books covering a full range of topics: The three-volume God and Government series (1982-86), Ruler of the Nations (1987, 2002), The Reduction of Christianity (1988), Surviving College Successfully (1988), Something Greater Is Here (1988), You’ve Heard It Said (1991), America’s Christian History: The Untold Story (1993), War of the Worldviews (1994), Last Days Madness (4th ed., 1999), Is Jesus Coming Soon? (1999), Thinking Straight in a Crooked World (2001), End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology (2001), The Changing Face of Islam in History and Prophecy (2002), and America’s Heritage (2002). He is also the general editor and co-author of A New World in View (1996) and Reformation to Colonization (1997), the first two volumes in the To Pledge Allegiance history textbook series.

Gary has been interviewed by Time magazine, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, the BBC, and Sean Hannity. He has done numerous radio and television interviews, including the "Bible Answer Man," hosted by Hank Hanegraaff. Newspaper interviews with Gary have also appeared in the Washington Times, Toledo (Ohio) Blade, the Sacramento Bee, the Atlanta Journal/Constitution, and the Chicago Tribune.

American Vision also publishes The Biblical Worldview, a monthly magazine edited by Gary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 455 pages
• Publisher: Wolgemuth & Hyatt Pub; 4 edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915815354
• ISBN-13: 978-0915815357
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. In 2007, he earned his Ph.D. in Christian Intellectual History from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 30 book titles, and president of American Vision, Gary also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped--both pod and vodcasted. You can locate them on AmericanVision.org and on Youtube. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandson. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Scriptural Response to "Rapture" Fever!!! January 16, 2002

By David R. Bess VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In his work "End Times Fiction", Gary DeMar responds to the specific beliefs promoted in the "Left Behind" series. In this book, DeMar responds more extensively to the general beliefs of dispensational premillennialism. Before going any further I must add that a good understanding of dispensational eschatology is a pre-requisite for reading this book. If one needs a primer on eschatology, this work ISN'T it. If a person, however, needs a good Scriptural assessment of the amazingly popular dispensational eschatology, then this book is the absolute best!

DeMar's volume is annotated enough to be respectable to the average scholar, yet straightforward enough to be readable to the average student. He is thorough, yet concise. Even for persons who may not hold a preterist viewpoint, this book is a classic critique that no theological bookshelf should be lacking.

DeMar explores all the hot end-times themes, including the rapture, the great tribulation, the nation of Israel, the "seventy weeks" of Daniel, the antichrist, the dragon, the beast, the mark of the beast, the man of lawlessness, mystery babylon, the battle of Armageddon, and the "day of the Lord."

I have a very high regard for the Bible, believing it is God's inerrant word and MUST be allowed to speak for itself. I am very pleased with the way DeMar has simply sought to interpret what the Scriptures say, rather than trying to fit them into a preconceived system as so many other persons have done.

Get it! Read it! It will be money well-spent.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling case for partial preterism August 31, 2007

By The Actor

Format:Paperback

If you're like most evangelicals, most of what you've been taught about Bible prophecy is wrong. If you're anything like me, you were taught dispensational eschatology as a Biblical "fact" and it never occurred to you to question it. If you've ever been bothered by any of the following:
- Why "date setters" have been wrong so many times
- The hopeless sensationalism of many Bible prophecy "experts"
- Why Jesus claims that the events described in Matthew 24 would occur during "this generation"
- Why the Book of Revelation claims to be describing things that would happen "shortly" and that the time was "near"
- Or anything else about eschatology
He shows that dispensational eschatology is neither the most straightforward reading of the Bible nor the historic position of the church. He points out that much of what is taught hangs on an exegetical thread and that dispensationalism imports a lot of ideas into the text that aren't there. For example:
- The New Testament NEVER teaches that the Temple will be rebuilt.
- There is no evidence for the Rapture. This was a doctrine that was made up in the 1830's and is the result of a pre-conceived grid being forced on the text, NOT an exposition of the Bible.
- Russia was often identified as an eschatological "bad guy" because the Bible refers to "Rosh," which "obviously" refers to "Russia." If you don't see the connection, you're not alone; the main "reason" that Rosh is supposed to refer to Russia is that they sound similar. Talk about reading ideas into the Bible.

The author exposes dispensational eschatology as a crock. He shows that most of their doctrines, such as the Rapture, the alleged gap in Daniel's 70 weeks, and the rebuilt Temple to name a few are not supported by the Bible.... At the same time, he makes many compelling arguments for the partial preterist position (the idea that most of the prophecies in the Bible were already fulfilled). Among the many important concepts he addresses are:
- How to interpret Biblical time texts (which dispensationalists mostly ignore)
- The identity of the Beast, the Antichrist, and the Man of Lawlessness (which he argues aren't necessarily the same; most people try to combine them into a conglomerate figure, which Demar argues isn't really Biblical).
- Why we're not living in the end times. Also why attempting to set a date for the Second Coming or trying to guess when it will be never has worked and never will.
- What the Mark of the Beast is - in particular, is it a microchip or some other form of technology as so many people seem to believe? What is the number of the Beast?
- A very detailed exposition of Matthew 24, which is often interpreted to be referring to a future Tribulation culminating in the Second Coming.
- And many more important topics.

There were a few omissions though:
- Dating of Revelation - if partial preterist eschatology is true, then Revelation MUST have been written before A.D. 70 (rather than the later date in the 90's). I don't think that Demar covered this topic adequately though, and that's a potential Achilles heel in his argument.
- I suppose he was dealing with this throughout the book, I wish the author had dealt more explicitly with the "two-people" idea (the idea that ethnic Israel is still God's chosen people).
- Maybe have spent more time explicitly defining and explaining his hermeneutics.
Hank Hanegraaff deals with these three topics in more detail in his book "The Apocalypse Code," especially the last two topics. (Actually, the hermeneutics is the main point of the book, and he spends a lot of time dealing with the second point). Although there is a lot of overlap between these two books, I'd definitely recommend reading both books together. I think they really complement each other well and you'll get a more complete picture of eschatology if you do. If I had to pick one of the two, I'd say that Gary Demar's book is better written and more complete, but as I said, if you read both they will reinforce each other and you will get a more complete picture of eschatology. Another book that compliments this book is "Thine is the Kingdom", edited by Kenneth Gentry.

I definitely recommend this book. A lot of people try to avoid the topic of eschatology, either because they don't understand it very well, it's "too divisive", or they say "I'll find out when it happens", but the Bible talks a lot about the topic so God clearly intended us to understand it. If God spoke, it's our responsibility to find out what He said. This book will help clear the haze and bring common sense, sanity, and solid Biblical exegesis back into eschatology. Read more ›

49 of 59 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Can't share the excitement August 19, 2005

By Will Riddle TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I recently did an extensive research project on the subject of Eschatology. As part of this project, I looked at a number of books including this one, as it was recommended to me. Although I'm generally receptive to DeMar's writings and vision, I did not find this book particularly useful for a serious investigation of the issue.

This is really more of a collection of articles dealing with specific dispensational claims than a book on eschatology. Although it has lots of information, it does not build up a connected case or argument which makes it hard to read. Although DeMar clearly is a partial preterist, it's very hard to get an overall sense of what he is advocating, because his purpose seems to be to attack specific dispensational ideas rather than build a postmillennial or preterist alternative. I found myself frequently asking "What is the context for this?" and "What's the big picture?" If you are looking for an article attacking dispensational views on one of issues listed in the table of contents, this book may be good for you, otherwise, look at one of the other of numerous books which do this as well a build a cogent case. Might I also add that it would have strengthened the book had DeMar used a more charitable tone towards proponents of views other than his own.

Personally, I liked Jack Davis' Victory of Christ's Kingdom, as the best short introduction to postmillennialism available, and although I do not agree with David Chilton, I would recommend his "Paradise Restored" as an excellent introduction to the kind of approach that DeMar is advocating. Very readable, thoughts are presented clearly.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing alternative to modern newspaper exegesis December 1, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Heed the simple time statements. This is the heart of DeMar's book. If you assume that the wide variety of eschatological timing indicators found in the New Testament should all be understood to be REALLY referring to "the next event on the prophetic calendar, which can happen at any moment (ever since the mid 1st century), although it may not actually happen for a very, very long time (even when relative to us in the 20th century), but once the next event does finally happen, then the rest of the prophetic chain of events will all subsequently come to pass in rapid succession," then this book is not for you. DeMar insists that the timing indicators are just ordinary and plain words found throughout the New Testament, not only in apocalyptic portions, and thus they should be dealt with consistently. While many people do, in fact, spiritualize and redefine the meaning of the timing indicators in order to literalize the New Testament's apocalyptic imagery, others, like DeMar, take these common timing statements literally, and thus spiritualize the vivid apocalyptic imagery. Which seems more reasonable? DeMar points out several Old Testament passages that employ similar imagery and are interpreted in a spiritual manner by nearly everyone. Why not in the New Testament?

A truncated synopsis of the timing indicators communicated by 1st century NT authors to their originally relevant 1st century audiences:

- "this generation will not pass away til all these things take place,"

- "things which must shortly take place,"

- "the time is near,"

- "the coming of the Lord is at hand,"

- "the end of all things is at hand,"

- "and when they persecute you in this city flee to the next.... Truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes,"

- "I am coming quickly,"

- "If therefore you will not repent, I will come to you quickly,"

- "The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and will then render to every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here today who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom,"

- "and escape all of these things that are about to take place,"

- "I will keep you from the hour of testing which is about to come,"

- "as you see the day approaching,"

- "five have fallen, one is [thereby establishing the time frame of the angelic interpretation as being relative to the 1st century, and thus the angel later continues by speaking of...] ...the beast that is about to come,"

- "Christ, who is about to judge the living and the dead,"

and etc. Read more ›