A Brief History of the Apocalypse
How a lunatic and a grifter changed the world
Our profound thanks to JVC for buying us enough coffee to keep us on rapture watch!
If you like the articles here, and apparently about 2,000 folks do, then you’ll love the comments. If you’re not reading the entire page, you are missing some great stuff. I mention this, because today’s screed is inspired by Brother Stephen, who experienced an epiphany in our last outing.
The question arose as to why the US is obsessed with Israel, as clearly enunciated by Ted Cruz to Tucker Carlson. If you haven’t seen this interview, it gave me the willies listening to a US Senator declare that the interests of Israel are superior to all other concerns in the US CONgress.
This cult-like obsession with Israel is a distinctly American phenomenon, and only appears in the American political landscape in the early 1900s. There is a single, identifiable source for this bizarre geopolitical worship cult, and perhaps getting it out in the open can help begin the healing process.
It all begins in England (of course) with a rather unhinged fellow by the name of John Nelson Darby. This unbalanced preacher type developed the concept of “dispensationalism,” in which God’s Plan was divided into three parts, and the third and final act was upon us. He said that devout Christians would be “raptured” off the planet just before the beginning of the Seven-Year Tribulation, which would lead to the Final Judgement and the End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI).
At some point in the 1870s, this Darby fellow came to the US and spread his insanity to American Evangelical churches. Apparently, buried in all of Darby’s nonsense was the idea that Christians could manipulate world events to force God’s Hand and bring on TEOTWAWKI, and they had a ticket out before the real suffering happened (rapture).
Enter an American ne’er-do-well, convicted felon, and well-known flim-flam man Cyrus Ingerson Scofield. Scofield (1843–1921) was a Confederate soldier turned lawyer, politician, and eventually Christian minister. Scofield was also accused of fraud, forgery, embezzlement, and abandoning his wife and two daughters. His claimed Doctor of Divinity degree has never been found, and it appears that he “found Jayzuz” as a means of rehabilitating his blighted reputation.
His Scofield Reference Bible (1909, revised 1917—note the year) popularized dispensationalism, a theological framework that underpins much of modern evangelical and Zionist Christian thought. This Bible included commentary notes printed alongside Scripture, which gave his interpretations an air of biblical authority. For millions of American Protestants, Scofield’s footnotes became Scripture by proxy.
Scofield had significant financial backing from mysterious individuals. His Reference Bible was published by the Oxford University Press, for no apparent reason, and promoted heavily by Dallas Theological Seminary (founded 1924, deeply Scofieldian, giving his Bible significant gravitas. Note that a lot of televangelists and megachurches have Texas roots.
His bizarre theology was later popularized by Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth, 1970s) and Tim LaHaye (Left Behind series, 1990s). Today, it shapes the worldview of millions of American evangelicals and influences U.S. foreign policy, particularly Republican support for Israel, as described by Ted Cruz.
The Scofield Reference Bible promotes what I call the “Israel cult” by embedding a Zionist theological framework directly into its footnotes—effectively rewriting how millions interpret the Bible, especially in the United States. It redefines biblical prophecy in a way that places modern political Israel at the center of God's Plan, elevating it to near-divine status in the eyes of believers.
Scofield’s notes insist on a strict division between the Church (Christian believers, mostly Gentile), and Israel (ethnic Jews and the nation-state). This is a Darbyist dispensational idea, and it’s the bedrock of Scofield’s theology. It teaches that God has two plans, not one: one for the Church, one for Israel. That means Israel must continue to exist as a nation in order to fulfil prophecy.
Scofield claims that God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—especially the land promises—are literal (not symbolic), unconditional, and still awaiting fulfilment. That means the ancient promise of land from the Nile to the Euphrates is seen as an eternal divine deed, not a historical relic. Modern political Israel, therefore, becomes not just a country, but a fulfilment of God’s eternal covenant—never mind that Christ was supposed to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant and replace it with a broader, more inclusive Covenant, which is the foundation of Christianity.
Scofield teaches that Jesus cannot return until Jews return to the Holy Land (tick, 1948), the Temple is rebuilt (still pending), the Antichrist rises and deceives Israel, then Jesus comes back at Armageddon. This eschatology makes Israel the stage and trigger for the entire end-times drama.
One wonders if Israel’s eternal warring is an effort to get someone—anyone—to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque on Temple Mount, so the Third Temple can be built with plausible deniability. Christian Zionists may oppose destroying it publicly, for political or moral optics, but theologically, they want it gone. They await or welcome a future moment when it will be removed—by diplomacy, war, earthquake, or divine act.
No one seems to realize that the Temple was on Mount Zion, a kilometer away from the so-called Temple Mount (Solomon’s Palace).
By making the return of Jews to Palestine a prophetic necessity, Scofield’s Bible turned Zionism into a sacred duty for American Protestants, and not just spiritual support—political, financial, and military support too. This laid the theological groundwork for Christian Zionist lobbying groups, unshakable U.S. support for Israel (especially among Republicans), and viewing criticism of Israel as anti-God or anti-biblical, much less anti-Semitic (which is a complete fraud in itself).
Perhaps Scofield truly believed Darby’s framework. But given his shady background and lack of formal theological training, some speculate (and I agree) that he was groomed or promoted by interests aligned with political Zionism.
Scofield’s rise was sudden and well-funded. Some researchers (notably Joseph M. Canfield) argue he was supported by Zionist financiers and Oxford University Press to insert pro-Zionist theology into American Protestantism—effectively weaponizing the Bible for geopolitical ends.
It’s interesting that Scofield published his bible in 1909, based on the insane teachings of a British preacher (Darby), Oxford University Press published the Scofield Bible, and Britain took possession of Palestine in 1917 (the year Scofield revised his Bible), during WW1. The overwhelming presence of British entities and the synchronicity of timing is too coincidental. Just sayin’.
In any case, the bizarre Israel cult is a distinctly American phenomenon, based on the fevered musings of a shyster and forger, who was backed by deep and dark pockets, while being supported by British interests who took possession of Palestine all at roughly the same time. And it’s all just over 100 years ago, not ancient history, but almost living memory. None of these concepts existed in the centuries of Christian theology that preceded Darby and Scofield.
The Israel cult needs to be expunged from US politics before it literally destroys the entire planet to fulfill their version of prophesy.
As Paul Harvey used to say, “And now you know the rest of the story.”
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Today’s cinematic selection goes straight to the horse’s mouth, or close enough. I was sucked into seeing this one in the cinema because Orson Wells narrated it. I’m talking about Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (1978). This is a dramatization of what millions of American Zionists are trying to make happen to the rest of us (they get to check out in the rapture).
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The entirety of what I don't know "could stun a team of oxen" (a line from one of my fav shows) lol
So yesterday, I heard a clip of Candace Owens spouting off against what Ted Cruz said in the Carlson interview and she kept mentioning this S word. She talks so fast I couldn't figure it out right then, but I searched online until I found what she was talking about: the Scofield Bible. Had I only waited a day....
Thank you so much for this information, Mr. Far Side. At my advanced age, one would think I have some wisdom. I checked my pockets and nothing but lint...
Jayzus fookin' Christ! First the damn Puritans come from England and infect New England and New York with their know-it-all elitist bullshit. And then dispensationalism (Rapture Madness) come into America from the UK. We get Prohibition, the drug war, regulations, and the bureaucracy, and now this Rapture-Israel crap.
There is a church just up the street from our house that teaches this Rapture Crap (in Spanish).
It's getting to the point that I don't trust anyone from New York, New England, or who is Jewish.