Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Making sense of nonsense, November 7, 2001
Richard Abanes, a former cult member himself, takes on apocolyptic ideoligies in his book, "End Time Visions."This is a remarkable work, one that had a great influence on my outlook on several aspects of my own religion. I am a Christian, but I was greatly impressed by Mr. Abanes unmasking of some of the more extreme Doomsday prophets of our times. It is refreshing to see someone throw a proverbial wet blanket on the armegeddon fires raging in several Christian circles today without ridiculing Christianity itself. This is a fascinating, wonderful book that I would highly reccomend to anyone that is suffering from "end of the world tension", or anyone that is interested in making informed decisions for themelves. This book was one of the most delightful finds I ever encountered in my search of non-fiction material.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A well researched review of end time date setters., January 17, 1999
By A Customer
I thoroughly enjoyed reading End-Time Visions - The Road to Armageddon? The author relates many fascinating stories about end time date setters who have consistently failed to foretell "the end of the world" (i.e. second coming of Christ). Especially interesting were the accounts of Nostradamus, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Heaven's Gate cult. However, the author never presented his own views regarding the end times. In addition, based on the author's own conclusions regarding biblical prophecy, it is evident that he does not have a good understanding of the prophetic scriptures.For example, in discussing the subject of the coming False Messiah or Antichrist, the author states that "there are a few biblical passages which suggest that biblical writers did indeed have a specific individual in mind..." and then goes on to say: "But this does not mean that a future one world government leader is destined to rise to power. Many historians and theologians theorize that these may be references to Nero..." (page 120). After which the author quotes a lengthy passage from "Doomsday Delusions" by C. Marvin Pate and Calvin B. Haines regarding their theory that Nero may have been the Antichrist predicted in the book of Revelation. The author believes this to be a viable scenario and concludes his argument by stating that "placing the concept of Antichrist in the historical and cultural context of the first century makes a great deal of sense." (page 122) The Bible declares that the Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8). However, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68, near Rome. As the author repeatedly points out, the second coming of Christ has not occurred yet, so Nero could not have been the Antichrist. He does not fulfill the prophetic scriptures. What is even more revealing about the author's view of biblical prophecy is his position on the infamous "mark of the beast" passage (Revelation 13:16-18) in the book of Revelation. Regarding this passage of scripture the author states: "When we allow the Bible to interpret itself, it becomes clear that the mark in Revelation 13:16-18 is a symbolic representation of people who have turned their minds and actions over to beliefs that are against Christ (i.e. anti-Christ). The Revelation passage is addressing where a person's heartfelt allegiance lies. It has nothing to do with a literal mark, but rather a rejection of the Christian concept of God." (page 127) But that isn't what the Bible says! It explicitly states that a person cannot buy or sell unless they possess the mark. An attitude of the heart does not prevent anyone from buying or selling. Whereas, a lack of the proper currency or credit does. Despite the apparent misinterpretations of scripture, this book still provides a valuable balanced look at end time date setters.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Thinly Disguised Attack on Premillennialism, August 9, 2008
Wow, where do I start? I wrote a 14-page review on this book that I posted on my personal site, but obviously, I'm truncating it here...
I read with interest a number of reviews by other customers who seem to think that Abanes does not include details of his own particular theology regarding the End Times. This is really not true. While on one hand, he does not come out and directly say that he believes this, that or the other thing, what he DOES do is attempt to slide his theological persuasion in under the radar.
It becomes obvious after reading this book that Abanes is at least sympathetic, if not a full endorser of the Preterist position, which is to say that like most Preterists, the belief is that pretty much all prophecy has been fulfilled, with the exception of possibly the last few chapters in Revelation.
Certainly, I could be wrong about Abanes' views, however one has to asks why the outright attacks on those who find the Premillennial Dispensationalist view viable? Shining the light of discernment on people like Jim Jones, David Koresh and others is certainly admirable, but when he starts to group people like Tim LaHaye and a few others in the mix who, to my knowledge, have never set a date for Christ's return nor have ever referred to themselves as GOD, I have to wonder. He condemns them by accusing them of making a "lucrative career out of doomsday" yet, it apparently does not bother him that he is selling books based on them and their beliefs. This is a tragic jump that Mr. Abanes has taken here. In one swell swoop, whether he likes it or not, or meant it or not, he is lumping all of those who see a real importance in studying the End Times as people who are not really interested in loving God, or loving others. This is truly a terrible statement to have made and by someone who calls himself a Christian too.
The other thing that stands out like a sore thumb is the information he presents to disprove the signs of war, famine, earthquakes, etc. The sad part is that he has left very important information out of the charts that he has created, which if included, would have actually negated his point that these are not real signs after all. Where he indicates that WWI was not actually the first true world war, and quotes one histortian to bolster his argument, it becomes a bit laughable. While the War of Spanish Succession was in a sense a "world" war, it did not include ALL continents, as WWI and WWII did.
Abanes doesn't really try to hide his disdain for anyone who has studied Scripture and that study has led them to a Premillennial viewpoint. In fact, he's quick to refer to the folks who believe in a literal interpretation of Scripture related to the End Times - obsessed. I guess if studying all of God's Words means I'm obsessed, so be it. I take His Word literally and by that I mean I take the text in its most natural sense, unless and until the context forces me to see it as allegory, hyperbole, parable or whatever. For the Preterist, there is only one way to arrive at the conclusions they arrive at and that is through the use of allegory. Spiritualizing or allegorizing Scripture only when it deals with Eschatology is not a viable option.
I think it would have been far better if Richard Abanes had written a book that simply critiqued Premillennial Dispensationalism, instead of attempting to lump all individuals in one camp, irrespective of their integrity and diligent study of His Word. Certainly, no sane person would place Tim LaHaye and Jim Jones in the same camp, yet this is what it appears as though Abanes has attempted to do. His axe to grind is apparent.
Frankly, I'm not sure what qualifies Abanes as a theologian. Nothing he's said in his book so far impresses me as coming from someone who has thoroughly done his homework. On a related note, this is certainly the biggest problem with the Gentile church (and I'm a Gentile). We Gentiles have this propensity to attempt to understand Scripture apart from any Jewish context at all, as if the Bible was written by Gentiles and for Gentiles. It was not.
This one particular statement from Abanes I think likely says it all, as far as I'm concerned, "Given the prevalence of doomsday beliefs in antiquity, it is understandable that today's religions (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) all provide their own versions of how history will conclude." Did you catch what he did here? His claim is that all the supposed doomsday beliefs from antiquity have even AFFECTED Christianity and the Bible upon which it those views are based. Sounds to me like he's saying that the Bible is not really authoritative.
Richard Abanes obviously feels that all End Times scenarios (unless its his particular viewpoint) do not merit any real attention. So much for unbiased journalism.
If you are really and truly interested in a very well put together book on the End Times, I would suggest Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum's "Footsteps of the Messiah" published by Ariel Ministries. It's available through Amazon or Ariel Ministries. Dr. Fruchtenbaum was trained as a Jewish rabbi, converted to Christianity and has spent many years offering commentary on God's Word from a Jewish perspective - the only perspective that is applicable to the Bible; both Old and New Testaments.
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