CHUCK MISSLER - COPYIST!

by Dave MacPherson

     Many these days are abandoning the pretribulation rapture view, and the June, 1995 article by Chuck Missler (”Byzantine Text Discovery: Ephraem the Syrian”) reveals why there is such a mutiny!
     First of all, the authoritative scholar that Missler cited, Dr. Paul Alexander, referred only to “Pseudo-Ephraem” and not to Ephraem the Syrian. (If an unsigned ancient manuscript resembles the real Ephraem but there is a question of authorship, they assign it to “Pseudo-Ephraem” - the word “pseudo” meaning “possibly.”
     For some groundless reason, Grant Jeffrey, the one who reportedly found the “discovery,” changed Dr. Alexander’s terminology and wrongfully referred only to "Ephraem the Syrian"! For more info on Jeffrey, Google “Wily Jeffrey.”)
     And Missler’s scholarship is also questionable. According to the Los Angeles Times (July 30, 1992), about one-fourth of Missler’s 1992 book “The Magog Factor” (which he co-authored with Hal Lindsey) was a daring plagiarism of Dr. Edwin Yamauchi’s 1982 book “Foes from the Northern Frontier”!
     Four months later Yamauchi’s publisher revealed that both Lindsey and Missler had promised to stop all publishing of their book. But in 1995 they were found publishing “The Magog Invasion” (which was either a revision or a replacement of “The Magog Factor”) - which had a substantial amount of the same plagiarism! (My 1998 book “The Three R’s” has complete documentation on this and other pretrib scandals.)
     After listing “1820″ as the reported date of the birth of pretrib (he should have said “1830″), Missler sees a pretrib rapture in that Medieval writer’s phrase “taken to the Lord” and, since he evidently favors rewriting others instead of researching, is unaware that Dr. Alexander explained that this phrase really means “participate at least in some measure in beatitude” - which has reference only to doing acts of virtue on earth and not being raptured away from earth!
     Alexander included two summaries of Pseudo-Ephraem's end-time events in chronological order - both showing only one final second coming taught by him (and not any prior coming) which would follow the time of Antichrist! (Readers can Google my article “Deceiving and Being Deceived” to see how groundless the Pseudo-Ephraem claim is and to learn how desperate pretribs are to find any pre-1830 evidence for their escapist view. Dr. Robert Gundry of Westmont College has also demolished the Pseudo-Ephraem claim in his 1997 book “First the Antichrist.”)
     Since Missler also leans on Thomas Ice, readers can evaluate Ice’s qualifications by Googling "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Pretrib Rapture Pride," “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Be Careful in Polemics - Peripatetic Learning," and (since Ice says he's working on a UOW doctorate) "Bogus degree scandal prompts calls to wind up University of Wales." For further light on the 187-year-old pretribulation theory, Google or Yahoo “Pretrib Rapture Stealth” and "Evangelicals Use Occult Deception."
     Since some pretrib rapture money-changers (including those who are Misslerized) are now drooling and even foaming over the "huge possibility" of a pretrib rapture blast-off this coming September, readers entrapped by such dispensational drivel can easily become hugely enlightened by reading "Ready for Rapture Astrology?" which can be found on the pace-setting blog "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" hosted by Biblical authority Treena Gisborn.
     Finally - why on earth would Chuck Missler, who reportedly has the brains of a rocket scientist, want to be taken up with the concept of an any-moment pretrib rapture? The answer may well be that there’s more money in elevating a rapture than in launching a rocket!