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The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Liberty University
University
Article Archives Pre-Trib Research Center
5-7-2009
Self-Fullling Prophecy?
omas D. Ice
Liberty University, [email protected]
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SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY?
Tom’s Perspectives
by Thomas Ice
Apparently our belief and proclamation of dispensational, pretribulationism has
made a great impact upon, not just the religious community, but society in general.
There have been a rash of articles and some books that propagate the idea that people
who believe in the rapture, a coming tribulation and the modern state of Israel are
dangerous people. The alleged danger, according to some, lies in the supposed fact that
our simple belief in such views could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. How could this
be brought about?
DANGEROUS DISPENSATIONALISTS?
There is a wide-ranging group of people in society who are voicing their opinion
that we are a dangerous group of people. Many from liberal leftist to right wing
conservatives warn their constituency about the supposed real dangers that our
message posses. Frankly, such scare tactics are nothing more than an attempt to
demonize those within our camp as a tactic to smear us in the eyes of the public in
general. Other than some political power that we are capable of exerting at the polls,
dispensationalists in no way pose a threat to anyone.
The late Grace Halsell, a secular, non-Christian wrote in 1986 concerning a feared
“Israeli-U. S. fundamentalist alliance,” and concluded the following:
. . . it can last long enough to cause a catastrophe of far-reaching
consequences. If we do not recognize the danger they pose, the extremists
will have time enough in their unsacred alliance to trigger a war that would
not end until we have destroyed Planet Earth through self-fulfilling
prophecy.1
We are dangerous because we are said to pursue a self-fulfilling prophecy. That our
prophecy views could be the cattalos for nuclear war is such an extreme stretch that
even rapture-hater Gary DeMar cannot buy it and says of Halsell: “This is not an
accurate picture of the Armageddon scenario.”2 Halsell came out with another book,
entitled Forcing God’s Hand: Why Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture—-And Destruction of
Planet Earth.3
Recently Jane Lampman of the Christian Science Monitor has written an article on
the supposed dangers of dispensationalism in an article entitled “Mixing prophecy and
politics.”4 She says that some Christians and Jews are speaking out against the
prophetic view of dispensationalism, “which they see as a dangerous mix of religion
and politics that is harmful to Israel and endangers prospects for peace with the
Palestinians.”5 Lampman quotes Timothy Weber saying, “The danger is that, when
people believe they ‘know’ how things are going to turn out and then act on those
convictions, they can make these prophecies self-fulfilling, and bring on some of the
things they predict.”6 Preterists, especially full-preterists,7 often teach that
dispensationalism is such a dangerous viewpoint that they fear it will lead to a self-
fulfilling prophecy of World War III.8
A number of anti-dispensationalists are painting the following scenario concerning
the implications of dispensationalism: The United States is the only significant country
that regularly supports Israel, thus enabling the Jewish state to be a strong military
force in the Middle East. If it were not for American support it is likely that Israel
would not be the supposed bully that they are to the poor, oppressed Arabs in Israel.
The U. S. is Israel’s enabler. Within the United States it is because of the influence of
dispensational, Christian Zionists that are a swing influence politically. If American
foreign policy were left to the normal geo-political factors and not the result of religious
influence, then we would have a more balance policy toward the Middle East; one that
would be more cordial to the Arab world. Since, so many American Evangelicals are
pro-Israel, this has provoked the Arab and Muslim world to attack us. If it were not for
dispensationalism, they say, we would not have had the first Gulf War, the current war
in Iraq or Afghanistan, 911 would have never happened, oil would not be at $45.00 a
barrel, and the economy would be much better. It almost sounds as if there would be
no real problems in the world if it were not for Israel and their prime enablers,
dispensationalists, to hear them talk. Further, those on the program regularly speak of
how afraid they are of where dispensationalism is leading this country and they often
say that this will lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy9
Pro-Palestinian evangelicals like Don Wagner imply the same kind of criticism in
Anxious for Armageddon and Dying in the Land of Promise.10 He says, “the Christian Right
pose[es] a risk for the future of a peace settlement.”11 British anti-dispensationalist
Stephen Sizer makes the self-fulfilling prophecy claim in a series of video lectures
against Christian Zionism.12 The liberal Presbyterian Church, USA, passed a resolution
in the Summer of 2004 in which they “officially disavow Christian Zionism as a
legitimate theological stance.”13 Dispensationalism is increasingly being declared a
dangerous theology by various voices from all walks of society. These people are out to
demonize us through distorting our views and declaring us to be more extreme than we
really are. This is an unethical approach.
A PUBLIC IMPACT?
Gary North and many of the Christian Reconstructionist, anti-dispensationalists of
the 1980s and 90s were critical of the supposed lack of social and political impact that
dispensationalists were said to not have.14 He has complained that dispensationalists
have not been engaged socially and politically because of their pessimistic view of Bible
prophecy. We were said to be so heavenly minded that we were of no earthly good.
Now many of the same critics are complaining about “the political support by
fundamentalists.”15 Which is it? Are dispensationalists not involved politically, or are
they too involved?
Timothy Weber says that dispensationalists have been for the most part observers of
history and not social or political activists. “Most dispensationalists were satisfied to be
mere observers of the Zionist movement,” notes Weber. “They watched and analyzed
it.” Weber points out that American William Blackstone “was one exception to the
general pattern.”16 Even though Weber appears to believe that dispensationalists will
create a self-fulfilling prophecy throughout his book, he does come to a final conclusion
that is exactly the opposite. Note Weber’s final conclusion at the end of his book as
follows:
Since the end of the Six-Day War, then, dispensationalists have
increasingly moved from observers to participant-observers. They have acted
consistently with their convictions about the coming last days in ways that
make their prophecies appear to be self-fulfilling. It would be too easy—and
… In fact, it would neither be feasible nor desirable to ban the use of this kind of self-help tools, as some of these materials may actually be based on relevant and valid psychological concepts and theories. For example, the idea of ‘law of attraction’ common in those non-EB self-help (Byrne, 2006), to some extent, resembles the classic selffulfilling prophecy in social psychology (Eccleston, 2007). As in the many other attempts of applying scientific knowledge to solve real-life problems, we should be aware of the limits under which certain theories or concepts would work or not. …
… An example of such is the objective and public evaluation from non-family members that children experience in the school environment. It is essential for teachers to provide welcoming child-centred environments that are conducive to children’s learning, as a major issue that pervades classrooms is that of the self-fulfilling prophecy; or, an expectation that elicits certain behaviours, therefore confirming that expectation (Encyclopedia, 2012 ). These expectations are often born from preconceived stereotypes, for example, the silent period of ELLs which as described by Krashen (1992), is often misinterpreted by teachers as an unwillingness to participate; yet, this period plays a crucial role in language acquisition and cultural adaptation (Ernst-Slavit, Moore, & Maloney, 2002; Youngs & Youngs, 2001). …
… It has been linked historically with philosophical, methodological, and epistemological considerations: the debate between individualism and holism (collectivism), reductionism and antireductionism as well as emergence based on diverse assumptions of the relations between individuals and society. These debates were followed by sociological discussion of free will and predestination, independency and dependency of individuals (on the social system), social prediction and planning, self-fulfilled prophecy, unanticipated consequences of purposive social action [3] [4]. …
… It has been linked historically with philosophical, methodological, and epistemological considerations: the debate between individualism and holism (collectivism), reductionism and antireductionism as well as emergence based on diverse assumptions of the relations between individuals and society. These debates were followed by sociological discussion of free will and predestination, independency and dependency of individuals (on the social system), social prediction and planning, self-fulfilled prophecy, unanticipated consequences of purposive social action [3] [4]. …
