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Age clairvoyant.’ 1021 Ironically, the last chapter of The Late Great Planet Earth
is entitled, ‘Polishing the Crystal Ball,’ 1022 while a paragraph heading in
There’s a New World Coming, describing the Book of Revelation, is entitled,
‘John’s Chain of ESP.’ 1023 In taking a comparative as well as cavalier
approach to prophecy, Lindsey has been criticised for blurring the distinction
between biblical and occult sources. 1024 This is further exacerbated by
Lindsey’s claim that prophecy is also veiled and needs decoding.
7.1.3 Prophecy: In Bible Code
Hal Lindsey claims to have unlocked prophetic puzzles throughout the Bible.
Hidden away within these enigmas are specific predictions concerning the
present and imminent future. In the wake of the ‘Bible Code’ debate, Lindsey
rewrote There’s a New World Coming (1973) and renamed it Apocalypse
Code (1997) claiming to have deciphered, ‘long-hidden messages about
man’s future and the fate of the earth.’ 1025 ‘You couldn’t get a better picture of
what World War III will be like without being bodily transported into the future.
Hal Lindsey has done it again!’ 1026 Allowing for an element of media hype,
Van der Waal nevertheless claims, ‘In his books, Hal Lindsey uses biblical
prophecy to open a supermarket in which he sells the curious inside
information about the near future, especially World War III.’ 1027 To do so,
Lindsey has to perform ‘acrobatic stunts’, 1028 twisting biblical texts to fit his
future scenario, propounding what some critics regard as a modern form of
Christian Gnosticism, 1029 since only those who read his books will be able to
understand prophecy. Responding to criticism that he did not foresee the
collapse of Soviet Communism, Lindsey carefully denies that he himself ever
claimed to be a prophet. 1030 He does, however, confess to making ‘a series of
1021 Lindsey, Planet, op.cit., p4.
1022 Lindsey, Late, op.cit., p180. See also Demar, Last., op.cit., p197.
1023 Lindsey, There’s, op.cit., p12.
1024 Van der Waal, op.cit., p51.
1025 Lindsey, Apocalypse, op.cit., back cover.
1026 Lindsey, Final, op.cit., back cover.
1027 van der Waal, op.cit., p53.
1028 Ibid., p54.
1029 Ibid., p55.
1030 Lindsey, Planet, op.cit., p191.
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