Welcome to Historicism.com!
This website is all about Bible prophecy. Most people who read that sentence will have one of three reactions:
- You go back to Facebook or whatever you were doing because you believe everything will "pan out in the end."
- You leave without reading anything because you are pretty sure that websites like this are for people who believe in aliens and flying saucers.
- You get excited about contacting us to share your unique insights about the end of the world since nobody else will listen to you. (In which case, please don't bother. We're not interested either.)
Speaking of making predictions, you might like to know that, since this website began in 1999, I have never had to retract any prediction from the pages of this website. There has been no need to retract predictions because I have never made any predictions! This way of interpreting Bible prophecy, called "Historicism", is not about guessing the future. It's about comparing history to the prophecies in the Bible. Historicism is an approach to interpreting biblical prophecy that has been around for over 500 years. At times Historicism has been very popular among Protestant interpreters; at other times, not so much. But my point is, having been around for such a long time, with dozens of major scholars having written historicist commentaries and books, the basic features of this interpretation haven't changed all that much over the past few centuries. That kind of consistency isn't very exciting to conspiracy theorists and prophecy-nuts. But if you're seriously interested in the Bible, in the prophecies it contains, and how those prophecies have been understood by many of Christianity's best scholars over hundreds of years, you've come to the right place. Don't, however, expect to figure it all out in a few hours. Many of the Bible's great treasures are only discovered with prayer, time and hard work.
In 2005, after having grown up attending a good, Baptist church every Sunday as a kid; having faithfully attended church every week as an adult, and having completed 3 years of seminary, a startling thing happened to me. I finally understood what the Gospel of Jesus Christ had to do with how I live my life. (This epiphany took place while listening to a podcast series on the book of Romans by the Whitehorse Inn.) Sometimes insights into biblical truth don't come quickly or easily. That's just as true with prophecy as it is with the Gospel. Sometimes understanding only comes after a lot of time in prayer and a lot of time invested in patient study of the Scriptures.
That's why Historicism.com exists. To help people like you make progress and gain insight as you study the prophecies in God's Word. So that your faith in Jesus Christ will grow stronger, and so that what you learn will make a positive difference to how you live your life as a Christian. (If you're not a Christian yet, and you take the time to read through this website, you might just have your mind blown.) Jesus once said, "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He" (John 13:9). And again, in John 14:29, He said, "Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe." I believe prophecy in the Bible is meant to be read, studied, and then compared to events that happen later to see if the things predicted have happened yet. God intended that our faith in Christ would grow, in part as we see learn about prophecy being fulfilled. I agree with Dr. Robertson McQuilken who wrote,
"...There are two purposes for predictive prophecy. The chief purpose is to affect the conduct of those who hear the prophecy. Another purpose is met only when the prophecy is fulfilled. That purpose is to build faith, to establish confidence in the God who miraculously foretold events (John 13:19; 14:29; 16:4)." [J.Robertson McQuilken, Understanding and Applying the Bible, Moody Press: Chicago, 1983. p215.]
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS SITE:
When the Covid-19 Pandemic led to governments around the world restricting the ability of churches to gather for Sunday worship, the church where I serve was also affected. Being forced by necessity to provide online worship services on Sundays led me to realize that it might be helpful to offer regular devotional videos with Bible teaching to encourage our congregation during this unusual time. Since then, I have been recording videos in which I explain and apply a passage of Scripture--usually at least two videos per week. Because so many people have found the events of 2020 alarming, most of the devotional videos I've recorded have focused on Bible prophecy--what the Bible teaches about the "end times." I've added those videos, originally intended for the people of Beacon Church, to this page here. I've also added a list of the sermons preached in our church on Bible prophecy.
The above mentioned videos now provide some of the most thorough and accessible explanations of Bible prophecy on this site. They also reflect a more mature understanding of Bible prophecy that has grown with me as I've continued to grow in Christ and gained further eduction in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Originally however, Historicism.com was designed around a series of pages called our "Tour", giving visitors an introduction to the Historicist understanding of Bible prophecy. In the right column of each page of the Tour you will see a menu labelled "Take the Tour". When you are ready to begin, click the first item in the menu and work your way through the Tour at your own pace. The 5th page in the Tour is the central hub of the whole Historicism.com website: The Bookshelf. On that page you will find a collection of books, essays, articles and more related to the Historicist interpretation of Bible prophecy.
Maybe you need a different kind of commentary on the Book of Revelation?
The Final Prophecy of Jesus, by the late Dr. Oral Collins, is that commentary. An outstanding scholarly but readable study on the book of Revelation. The Final Prophecy of Jesus, by Dr. Oral E. CollinsWORRIED ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD?
Is Covid-19 a sign of the end-times? What about governments around the world shutting down churches? What about the chaos and confusion surrounding President Trump's defeat? Let's take a breath, and a big step back, to get some perspective on all this from the Bible and from history. Check out this article I wrote in March of 2020, and follow along in my sermons and devotionals on Bible prophecy--including verse by verse expositions of the Book of Revelation.
Is Israel on a path to Armageddon? Read a short article by Joe Haynes titled, "Armageddon...In the Last Days, the Nations Turn Against Israel," study the relevant passages of Scripture, and decide for yourself: CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!
Check out this Historicism.com Feature Section: Matthew 24 and the Prophecies of Jesus
Or choose from the menus below to jump directly to selections from our Bookshelf on the following subjects...
About Me
Historicism.com is owned and operated by me, Joe Haynes, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I serve as a pastor in a church plant in Victoria since 2013. My wife, Heather, and I have five kids. In 2011, I completed a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Northwest Baptist Seminary at the Associated Canadian Theological Seminaries of Trinity Western University. Feel free to visit my blog at Keruxai.com.If you would like to make a donation, for which we would be most grateful, please click here. We are unable to issue tax-receipts for funds received.
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