Dangerous Movements And Beliefs
William Handschumacher
A Special Rock of Offence Commentary
The desire of this ministry is for
all Christians to live in the unity
of the Spirit. That makes these
profiles difficult to write.
Scripture admonishes us....
"If it be possible, as much as
lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men."
(Rom 12:18)
We never seek to start an argument or a doctrinal fight just for the sake of being controversial. Yet, when the truth of the Gospel is being threatened the Bible instructs us to "prove all things" and warn others of the danger. It's known as; "Contending earnestly for the faith" (Jude 1:3-4), which is the duty and responsibility of all faithful ministers of the Gospel. Some of our warnings are given against Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Charismatic groups. However, readers should not think that we are singling them out for special attention. The Rock of Offence ministry is not "anti-Charismatic or anti-Pentecostal" ... and we resist engaging in the popular Protestant practice of "Catholic bashing". The first 25 years of my Christian life was spent relating to and learning about these movements. My wife and I were active in a 'Youth for Christ' ministry loosely tied to Ecumenicalism. Yet, during those early years we were too inexperienced in spiritual matters to recognize the danger. Clearly, authentic Christians exist in all these groups. Yet, many engage in erroneous methods of Bible interpretation - making it appear that God says things in the Bible that He does not say. This popular, yet dangerous kind of deception is always the result of using and quoting the Holy Scriptures out-of-context. The problem is now more intense - and more subtle. Inexperienced Christians today have little hope of avoiding these spiritual traps.
The Bible tells us that "perilous times" will come in the last days. We're living in those days right now. Some might say, "It sounds like you oppose nearly everything in the church". However, this viewpoint demonstrates a lack of understanding involving the current attack against the Christian Church. According to the words of Christ, this attack generally comes from within our own ranks. Our enemy, the devil, is using every tool at his disposal to defeat God's plan of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
He doesn't defeat us by
direct face-to-face
opposition.
The devil defeats us by looking
like us - and by masquarading as
representatives of Christ.
(Jesus is speaking) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-16)
There's an all out assault taking place against the Gospel of Christ. It's coming from counterfeit brands of Christianity operating within the Church ... as well as from the government, educational institutions and the entertainment industry.
Today, many groups (but thankfully not all) that claim to be "Christian" ... are actually spiritual counterfeits. Basic Bible teaching is considered "hate speech" ... even in some churches. The "Ten Commandments" are deemed offensive and removed from public view. Some churches are removing crosses from their buildings and tossing them in garbage dumpsters because they're an offensive symbol. In the final hours of the Church Age, the truth is getting harder to find and a "church organization" can be a serious unrealized threat to your eternal destiny.
Yet, good churches that follow
the truth of Scripture still
exist!
In the following section, brief
explanations of some of the most
problematic groups are provided.
We hope the reader finds this
information helpful.
Ecumenicalism: A very popular worldwide effort started within the Roman Catholic Church that elevates unity among the world's religions as Christianity's highest goal. Yet, ecumenicalism isn't labeled as a "Catholic movement". It tends to be "religiously neutral"; by design. Anyone who truly knows the Jesus of the Bible recognizes that this "ecumenical unity" can't happen unless the Holy Scriptures are rewritten and redefined. Some modern evangelistic efforts within the Church, especially among Christian youth groups, practice various forms of ecumenicalism. It subtly labels certain Biblical principles of the Gospel of Christ as "divisive and offensive" in order to replace it with a more tolerant "universal" doctrine that most religions can agree on. More importantly, It misleads its followers into believing that there's actually little difference between Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity. This is not only dangerous, but it's untrue. This ideology is designed to break down all the barriers between these two theological positions. Simply put, it undermines (and redefines) the basic tenants of the Gospel of Christ in order to unify all religions. We believe it's the doctrine of the upcoming "one world church" the Bible says will exist in the last days.
Major participants in this dangerous movement are the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. These two global organizations control or influence nearly all mainline Protestant denominations. If there is such a thing as a "national" religion in America - it is Ecumenicalism, which often masquarades as authentic Christianity. When you hear government officials and spiritual leaders suggest that the Islamic god, Allah and the God of the Bible are the same - you're hearing a demonic ideology connected to ecumenicalism. It is a major threat to the truth of the Gospel.
Galatianism or Galatian religion: Traveling under various and countless expressions, it operates as a dangerously seductive counterfeit of true Christianity. It is often given various Biblical-sounding names, but the core tenants remain the same. Highly educated theologians of the first century designed this theology, which now exists as a major anti-grace system of faith that operates from within the Christian Church. Many of its ministers are good people with noble intentions who love God - but are unaware of the true nature of their teachings. For the inexperienced Christian, the danger is being tricked into accepting the counterfeit as the real thing. This is one reason Paul and the apostolic council of Acts chapter 15 (led by James our Lord's brother) strongly condemned this theology – because of its ability to masquarade as authentic Christianity.
As a result, what many modern-day church
church leaders and their followers think
is authentic Bible-based Christianity...
is actually a variant of Galatian religion
that God does not honor.
Using simple terminology, Galatian religion essentially exists as an “Old Testament brand of Christianity” - that seeks to replace authentic “New Covenant-based Christianity” as taught in the Epistles of Saint Paul. Its chief characteristic is illegally mixing or combining the program of Old Testament Law with Christ’s program of New Covenant Grace. The practice is justified by claiming that the Church is now 'Spiritual Israel' - which is not true. As a result, it tends to suggest that the way God deals with sin and the sinner before the cross (under the previous Old Testament program of the Law) – remains essentially the same after the cross. This doctrine appears to come from the pages of the Bible, yet subtly denies (and redefines) the redemptive work of Christ that permanently takes away our sin.
Readers should understand that this discussion is about an officially rejected first century theology that has now been adopted by various major denominations within the world-wide institutional Christian Church ... on both the Catholic and Protestant sides of the isle. The name 'Galatian religion or Galatianism' was chosen by some theologians because it represents the same (or similar) teaching that nearly destroyed the faith of an entire fellowship ... and motivated Saint Paul to write his “Epistle to the Galatians”. Paul condemned this doctrine using the most offensive terms possible - and warned its followers that they were separated from Christ and had "fallen from Grace" (Galatians 5:4).
Replacement Theology or 'Supersessionism': A dangerous, yet common belief system (theology) that has been in existence since the days of Saint Augustine around 400 AD. It teaches that God has eternally removed Israel from his plans and replaced her with the current New Testament Church. Those who adhere to the teachings of Replacement theology believe that God took this action in response to the Jew's rejection (and execution) of Jesus Christ ... their Messiah. As in the past, Replacement theology is used within some sectors of the church as the foundation for the unprecedented and ungodly resurgence of anti-Semitism.
The spiritual consequences
of this error are disastrous for
the following reasons:
The Bible consists of two major administrations: Israel (known as the circumcision under the Mosaic Law) - and the New Testament Church (known as the uncircumcision under the New Covenant of Christ). The Bible translators wisely placed special title pages in the text that separates (Saint Paul uses the term - "rightly divides" in 2 Timothy 2:15) these two administrations, which are also referred to as covenants'. These special title pages, the Old Testament and New Testament, are designed to warn readers that the two major programs they separate are governed by vastly different rules and laws, which must never be mixed together (Read Saint Paul's explanation in Galatians 4:21-31).
However, Replacement theology ignores this Biblical mandate and mixes these programs together - anyway. As a result, it takes the principles and covenant rules (from the Law of Moses) designed only for Israel (the Jews) ... and makes them binding upon the New Testament Church.
This practice creates a heretical
and misleading salvation doctrine
that illegally mixes the principles
of Old Testament Law and New
Testament Grace.
Replacement theology also denies the fulfillment of a majority of Bible prophecy concerning the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948. Replacement theology (or Supersessionism) now dominates the modern church and is found in nearly all (but thankfully not all) mainline Protestant denominations - and in Roman Catholicism. You may never hear it referred to by its correct name. It operates by stealth and is deeply embedded in various historical doctrines and fundamental teachings of the church ... but does not originate from God. A growning number of Bible scholars are now considering it to be a demonically-based theology; regardless of its wide-spread acceptance within Christendom.
Additional information is available
in the following commentary:
Avoiding the Error of Replacement
Theology
What is Replacement Theology?
By Thomas Ice (PDF Format)
The Controversy Concerning Christian
Zionism
Nicolaitan Theology: A dominant authoritarian system of faith that operates in many sections of the Christian church. It divides God's family into two parts: the clergy and the laity. The clergy is the upper class that possess the calling and knowledge of God. The laity is the lower class consisting of the common people who must submit to the clergy and their knowledge. This belief destroys the oneness of Christ's body, undermines the Holy Spirit as the primary teacher of the church - and overrides the government of the indwelling Spirit of Christ in all believers that started at Pentecost (Acts chapter 2, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 8:11, 1 John 4:4).
It's a doctrine that Jesus
specifically said that
He hates (Rev. 2:6).
It opens the door for all kinds of authority abuse and exists as a foundation for legalism in the modern church. It is subtly implied in various traditions and church teachings. It is seldom referred to by its proper name and operates by stealth behind the mask of a spiritual office representing "God's authority".
The Way International: Its founder, Victor Paul Wierwille, started the organization in 1967 in Knoxville, OH. The movement taught that the Divinity of Jesus Christ was an invention of the apostate church during the decline of Christianity. They believe that Jesus Christ did not exist in a preincarnate state (the way Saint John taught) ... and they deny the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. The organization's doctrine is called "Dynamic Monarchianism" which says that only the Father is God, but Jesus Christ (the Son) and the Holy Spirit are not. Among their various doctrines are what's called "Immutable Laws" like the law of "Tithing and Abundant Sharing" where failing to tithe to the organization can trigger "the law of prosperity" to work in reverse bringing poverty upon the one who violates its principles. Also, the "law of believing" can bring disaster on a family member for allowing fear to exist in one's heart. The "law of believing" was Wierwille's own version (actually a perversion) of positive and negative confession principles taught in various parts of the church today. This group is clearly classified as a cult with a Christian name. Like other cult-like groups that have been exposed, 'The Way International' now travels under different names, yet continues to embrace many of its original teachings.
New Order Latter Rain Theology: Originated in Saskatoon, Canada and entered the United States during the mid 1900's. Some of its beliefs strongly influence Charismatic, Pentecostal, Church of God and Assembly of God circles. Generally, we do not oppose these denominations since their commitment to Latter Rain theology greatly varies - and with some, may not exist at all. Popular ministries that are evangelizing the world have historic roots in the Latter Rain movement. Because some good fruit comes from this group, we want to avoid painting it with a wide brush. However, several dangerous doctrinal errors exist in its foundational teachings.
While the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues are still valid in the Church today - the Latter Rain movement elevates its leaders who moves in these gifts above the scrutiny of God's Word. A leader's prophecy (message from God) does not necessarily have to agree with Scripture. When a prophet is "in the spirit" and delivers a "word from the Lord" you are expected to receive it as such - and be totally obedient even if it disagrees with Scripture.
This last characteristic reveals a strong association to the error of Nicolaitian Theology previously discussed. We should remember that this doctrine or 'ministry mindset' is one that Jesus specifically said that He hated. It allows all kinds of unbiblical authority abuse and harmful teachings that are still with us today. It commits the sin of dividing Christ's Body by establishing a "class system" ... which consists of the leaders or "chosen ones" who "moved in the Spirit" vs. the lower order nominal believer. However, the Bible strongly disagrees with this teaching and warns that all prophetic messages must be subject, not only to the Holy Scriptures, but also to the evaluation and discernment of others who operate in the prophetic ministry.
Latter Rain theology falsely teaches that "sonship" (a status given to all believers ... purchased by the blood of Christ - Galatians 3:26-29, John 1:11-13, Galatians 4:4-5, 1 John 3:1-2, Hebrews 2:9-10) is something attained through being "perfected" by holy and committed living. It involves a progression through a series of 5 spiritual stages where the believer achieves (through a fervent devotion to Christ) the position of "the chosen of God".
The movement is Calvinistic in its beliefs with a strong commitment to Nicolaitan and Replacement theology. A popular teaching among Latter Rain adherents is that the "Bride of Christ" is made up of only these special "chosen ones" that are few in number - and does not include all true believers in the Body of Christ. This is a false teaching that borderlines on heresy - because it subtly undermines the Grace Gospel and denies the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus Christ to freely make, through faith only, all believers perfectly righteous (Romans 4:4-8, Romans 5:15-21, 2 Corinthians 5:21). It teaches a form of "salvation through works" ... and according to the writings of Saint Paul, is subject to a curse (Galatians 1:6-8).
Kingdom Now Theology: A popular movement that teaches Jesus Christ cannot return until the Church occupies and rules the earth. It opposes Biblical prophecy concerning the world's condition that precedes Christ's return and strongly denies the pretribulation position concerning the rapture of the Church. It attempts to restore the rule of the Mosaic Law on all earthly governments and societies. This movement is dangerously legalistic and opposes God's agenda for the Church under Grace. It's related to other movements such as: Christian Reconstructionism, Latter Rain, Dominion Theology, Manifested Sons of God and the Kansas City Prophets.
The Restoration Movement: Also called the "Discipleship and Shepherding Movement". It was started by what's known as "The Fort Lauderdale Four" consisting of Bob Mumford, Derek Price, Ern Baxter and Charles Simpson. After being discredited as an aberrant movement in the 1980's - it now travels under different names - but continues practicing the same theology. This group is a branch of the Latter Rain Movement that believes God is restoring the practice of discipleship under the direction of the five-fold ministry spoken of in Ephesians 4:8-13. They teach that God is restoring the spiritual offices of the pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophet and apostle to the Church.
While these offices are Scriptural
and valid today - the movement
(similar to Latter Rain movement
of the 1950's) illegally elevates
them to a position that is not
accountable to God's Word, or any
other authority for that matter.
It teaches that God 'delegates his authority' (a form of dominant "Lordship" authority that Jesus clearly forbid his leaders to use - Matthew 10:42-45, Matthew 20: 25-28, 1 Peter 5: 2-4) to these offices. It requires the believer under their "care" to submit themselves as they would 'to the Lord' in order to be 'Biblically covered'. If someone failed to properly submit to this authority they were considered "out of Divine order" and in rebellion against God.
Women who failed to submit (according to a church leader's personal definition) were accused of having a "Jezebel spirit". If a fellow Christian from outside the group helped a member to see the unbiblical practices - that member was labeled "defiled by an evil report". As a result, others in the congregation (including those in your own family) were ordered to avoid them (often called 'shunning'). If the member failed to properly 'repent' of the defilement they would often be excommunicated. Authority used by leaders in this movement included: the choice of vocations, who you could marry, the allocation of your money and the discipline of your children. Some groups go much further. The movement continues to be very active and popular today, and has now adopted different "family friendly" names and labels. Its practices are unbiblical and dangerous because the leaders (who are self-appointed) usurp the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer, while claiming that this is God's accepted way to live under "Divine authority". True to Latter Rain theology - this movement is strongly Calvinistic in its doctrine.
Messianic Jewish Movement: This exciting movement is divided into two primary groups. The first group consists of Jewish believers who recognize Jesus Christ as both Messiah and Lord. Few Gentiles (non-Jewish believers) have seen the enthusiasm that occurs when a Jewish person discovers this truth. These precious believers embrace the principles of the Gospel of Grace and enjoy their salvation purchased freely by the blood of Christ, who is their true Messiah. Their excitement is the result of believing what the Scriptures say ... that salvation (eternal life) no longer depends on obedience to Old Testament (Torah) Law - because Christ fulfilled it, nailed it to the cross ... and took it out of the way. (Colossians 2:13-14, Romans 3:23-26, Romans 6:14, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 5:4)
The second group is the problem.
These are Jewish believers in Jesus
Christ similar to those discussed in
Acts 15 and the Judaizers that
opposed Saint Paul in his Epistle
to the Galatians.
This group believes that salvation continues to be dependent upon obedience to the Torah and principles of the Mosaic Law. As a result, they reject Christ's work of fulfilling the law, which is a major provision of the cross. They believe that obeying the Jewish Sabbath and the observance of the feasts and holy days within Judaism are requirements to obtain Christ's salvation. The second group is a problem because they preach a distorted law-based gospel (Saint Paul called it "a different gospel"), yet insist that it's the real one. The second group is becoming more mainstream and misleading many of God's people. There's nothing wrong with learning about the Jewish roots of Christianity as long as we stay focused on the truth of the Gospel based on the Epistles of Saint Paul.
Calvinism: A theology created by John Calvin during the 1500's called "The Institutes of Christian Religion". They are based on 5 principles commonly referred to as "TULIP". These principles are the foundation for Presbyterian and Reformed theology.
* Total depravity of man
* Unconditional election by God
* Limited atonement by Christ
* Irresistible grace of the Holy Spirit
* Perseverance of the believers in salvation
One problem with Calvinism is that many call themselves Calvinists ... yet fail to adhere to many of his teachings. Some simply call themselves Calvinist because they don't want to be identified with Arminianism (Note: Most Christians are falsely taught that there are only two doctrinal positions in the church - Calvinism and Arminianism). Also, there are those that follow the teachings of someone (a minister or denomination) who claims to be a Calvinist, but fails to teach Calvin's doctrine (in other words they are 'Calvinist in name only'). Regardless of the group, these folks are often deeply offended when their "theology" is labeled as; "unbiblical". There's plenty of confusion that surrounds Calvinism. We cannot possibly cover all the issues. Books have been written on the subject for more than 500 years. The most damaging teachings are: Unconditional election, Limited atonement and Irresistible grace. These doctrines remove the "free will" of the sinner to accept Christ or reject him. They are not only unbiblical, but in their pure form can neutralize a Christian's commitment to evangelism. Through its various beliefs involving 'predestination', Calvinism downplays (or eliminates) the responsibility of the sinner for their sinful condition. Some Calvinists are not motivated to reach the world for Christ because God's grace is irresistible (and pre-determined) toward those who are 'chosen' ... so why bother?
These teachings also cause a multitude of other problems. It is no accident that many dangerous movements within the Church like Latter Rain theology, the Boston Movement and the Discipleship/Restoration Movement are strongly Calvinistic. John Calvin and his teachings are dogmatic and legalistic ... allowing those who adhere to his doctrine to have a tendency to accuse anyone who disagrees with them as being "an enemy of God". Church history shows that Calvin was notorious for persecuting his opponents in this manner. In one situation, he had several people beheaded for disagreeing with him about the principles of the Lord's Table. This is why we see the same abusive attitude in the leadership of many authoritarian Christian sects that embrace Calvinism. That's enough reason to stay away from this theology. Yet, millions of sincere Christians live under its authority. Additional information is provided at the following links:
Why I Disagree With All Five Points
of Calvinism
By Curtis Hutson
Calvinism's Surprising Catholic
Connection
By Dave Hunt
Boston Movement: Also known as the International Churches of Christ (ICC) started by Kip McKean. Though not connected with the Latter Rain movement, they practice the same form of radical discipleship and abusive authority, which is cultic in nature. They teach submission to those higher in authority without question. Those who dare question the authority of leadership are threatened with eternal damnation. Leadership rules through threats, scare tactics and fear. They engage in deceptive recruitment practices where they approach young college students with an invitation to be involved in God's "cutting edge". Prospective members are put through a process called "counting the cost" before being a baptized member, which in their theology means "a Christian". The Boston movement teaches "baptismal regeneration" ... which is 'salvation through water baptism', making it another dangerous group that attacks the sufficiency of Christ's blood. Many college and universities in North America have banned the ICC from their campuses because of their abusive practices.
Oneness Pentecostalism: This is a theology that is "Armenian" in its salvation doctrine and teaches there is only one person in the Godhead. It supports the Divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, yet it denies the Trinity. This is another sect that wrongly teaches you must be baptized in order to be saved and that speaking in tongues is a necessary sign for salvation. Proponents believe that only an ordained minister of a church that believes in "oneness" doctrine can practice water baptism--otherwise the baptism is invalid and so is your salvation. They teach and believe that it's possible for a Christian to lose his or her salvation. It is strongly legalistic in its practices and beliefs.
The Popular Cults: Time and space does not allow us to cover groups such as the Jehova Witnesses and the Church of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church). Various materials are available on these and other groups from links to other counter-cult websites on our Reading Room page.
The Reading Room
Endtime Theology
Endtime theology tends to fall into two major camps. The first view is called "futurism" and is widely accepted in the church. Futurism correctly teaches that Bible prophecy is in the process of being fulfilled, or will be fulfilled in the future. If you're not confused enough by all the teminology, the futurist camp is subdivided into 7 other beliefs: Pre-tribulation, Mid-tribultion, Pre-wrath, Post-tribulation, Pre-millennial, Amillennial and Post-millennial. Although futurism as a general belief is correct, the same cannot be said of all its different parts.
The second view is called "historicism" and is growing in popularity. Historicism teaches that all Bible prophecy is already fulfilled. Any honest examination of the Scriptures reveal that historicism is another false theology. Why should a Christian spend time learning about these things? Because counterfeit forms of Christianity takes full advantage of our ignorance. The more we know the better prepared we are to discern and avoid the dangers. Because of the massive amount of information that exist on these topics we will only cover the most controversial of these ideologies.
Preterism: A false eschatological theology that teaches all Bible prophecy was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Preterism falls under the general category of "Historicism". Preterists believe that Old Testament prophecies were "physically" fulfilled and can be understood literally from how the prophecies were written. They also believe that the prophecies of the New Testament are "spiritually" fulfilled, and anyone who interprets these Scriptures literally are not only in error, but also in heresy. Preterists practice a radical form of replacement theology by spiritualizing the New Testament Scriptures. They take Scriptures that pertain only to the Israel of the Bible and claim that they now apply to the church, which they call "the New Israel". This theology not only distorts the prophetic Scriptures, but redefines major parts of God's Word. The effects of this dangerous practice ripples all the way through the fundamental doctrines of salvation.
Some beliefs of the preterist/historicist position are:
* Daniel's 70 week prophecy is fulfilled
* The events of Jesus' "olivett discourse" (from Matt. chapter 24) has been fulfilled
* The anti-christ (as a man) will not appear in the future
* The anti-christ is not a single person
* The anti-christ is a group consisting of all the Pope's of the Catholic Church
* There is no Tribulation period before Christ's Second Coming
* The Tribulation lasted 1260 years--but is now over
* There is no "Second Coming of Christ" (not all preterists agree about this)
Post-Millennialism: A false eschatological theology that teaches Jesus Christ will not return until the end of the 1000 year millennium, which is a period of peace and prosperity created by the preaching of the gospel to the world by the church. This millennium (also understood as the kingdom of God) is man-made--and Jesus returns to receive this kingdom that the church presents to him. Today, this is not a popular position because the Church is recognizing that the world is getting worse, not better. This was a popular belief among some of the leaders of the Protestant reformation period. It is also the predominant view of the "Kingdom Now" movement.
Amillennialism: A false eschatological theology that teaches there will not be a literal fulfillment of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. All Scripture that teach about the millennium (the 1000 year reign of Christ) are considered "figurative" and not to be believed as "literal". Several mainline denominations hold to the amillennial position.
For a more detailed look at this teaching visit the link below.
The Assault on the 1000 Year
Reign of Christ
Post-tribulationalism: A false eschatological theology that teaches Jesus Christ will not return for his Church until the very end of the 7 year Tribulation period and just before his 1000 year Millennial reign on earth. This is a popular endtime belief held by many well-meaning Christians. Some Post-trib teachers boldly declare that there is no rapture. Yet, Saint Paul clearly disagrees and calls the rapture (or the departure of the Church), "Our Blessed Hope". It's impossible to discuss the various problems with this theology in the limited space here. The debate (actually a doctrinal war) has been going on for hundreds of years.
The other side of the argument is
"Pre-tribulationalism", which we
believe is correct. Some war-weary
saints are now saying that we should
drop the debate and focus on the
things we agree on. Yet, this
action should never be taken because
the truth of the gospel is being
threatened.
Briefly, the problem with Post-tribulationalism is that it undermines some of the tenants of the Grace Gospel that says, "For God hath not appointed us (the Church) to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1Thes 5:9 KJV). We're not appointed to this judgment because Jesus bore all of the believer's judgment at the cross ... something Post-tribulationalism subtly contradicts. The doctrine also doesn't agree with the total body of the prophetic Scriptures. In his epistles to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul reveals the events that occur before the revealing of the anti-christ, which starts the Tribulation period. Paul teaches that the departure of the Church (also known as the rapture or the "falling away") occurs before the man of sin (anti-christ) is revealed. The Tribulation period is when the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. Saint Paul taught that the New Testament Church is not appointed to endure this period of God's judgment - because Jesus bore all of the believer's judgment at the cross. If the Church were to experience this punishment, which is reserved for only the wicked of the world, it would violate the salvation principles established by the cross of Christ. As a result, Post-tribulationalism subtly denies that the blood of Christ paid the entire price for sin that "saves us from the wrath to come". The Bible pattern for the people of God is to be removed (or to be rescued) before judgment falls. Post-tribulationalism teaches that God will "keep his people from harm" as two-thirds of mankind dies from unprecedented Divine judgment. As a result, Post-tribulationalism fails to agree with the Biblical patterns, such as Enoch (who was raptured before the flood of Noah), Noah and his family (floating in the ark above the destructive flood) and Lot removed by angels before the city of Sodom was destroyed.
For a more detailed look at this belief visit the link below.
Posttribulationism--Ron Rhodes
Other Views: Two other eschatological theologies are popular: The Mid-tribulational and the Pre-wrath views. Because of space we will not cover these beliefs except to offer a link that gives some general information. It would be worth your while to read this material.
Four Views Of Endtime Prophecy
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