Hal Lindsey

{{Short description|American evangelist and Christian writer (1929–2024)}}

{{Infobox person

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Harold Lee Lindsey

| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|11|23}}

| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|11|25|1929|11|23}}

| death_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.

| occupation = Writer, evangelist

| spouse = {{ubl|Rose (first wife, divorced)|Jan Houghton (second wife, divorced)|Kim (third wife, divorced)|JoLyn (fourth wife)}}

| alma_mater = Dallas Theological Seminary

| children = 3

| parents =

| website = {{URL|hallindsey.com}}

}}

Harold Lee Lindsey (November 23, 1929 – November 25, 2024) was an American evangelical writer and television host. He wrote a series of popular apocalyptic books – beginning with The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) – asserting that the Apocalypse or end time (including the rapture) was imminent because current events were fulfilling Bible prophecy. He was a Christian Zionist and dispensationalist.

Biography

Lindsey was born in Houston on November 23, 1929.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/books/hal-lindsey-dead.html|title = Hal Lindsey, Author of 'The Late, Great Planet Earth,' Dies at 95|last = Stout|first = David|date = November 30, 2024|accessdate = November 30, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}} He enrolled at the University of Houston and served in the United States Coast Guard during the Korean War.{{cite news|url = https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/11/died-late-great-planet-earth-end-times-hal-lindsey/|title = Died: 'Late Great Planet Earth' Author Hal Lindsey|last = Hummel|first = Daniel G.|date = November 27, 2024|accessdate = November 30, 2024|work = Christianity Today}} He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Master of Theology degree, majoring in the New Testament and early Greek literature.{{cite book|last=Lindsey|first=Hal|title=The Liberation of Planet Earth|year=1974|publisher=Zondervan Publishing House|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=0-553-11545-6|pages=17; last page "About the Author "}}

With his second wife, Jan, he worked with Campus Crusade for Christ and continued with them until 1969. He then helped a mission in Southern California which continued until 1976. He was also a frequent speaker and Sunday School teacher at Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim, California. During 1969, he wrote his first, and best-known book, The Late Great Planet Earth. Published during 1970 by Zondervan, this book became a bestseller. Coming on the heels of the Six-Day War, the book fueled the popularity of dispensationalism and its support of ethnic Jews as the "chosen people of God". Many of Lindsey's later writings are sequels or revisions and extensions of his first book. In 1994, he earned his Doctorate of Theology from the California Graduate School of Theology.{{cite web|title=Antipas Foundation|url=http://antipas.net/cool_hal.htm|access-date=April 18, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523012838/http://antipas.net/cool_hal.htm|archive-date=May 23, 2012}}

Lindsey hosted International Intelligence Briefing on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and served on the executive board of Christian Voice.{{cite news | url=http://www.theocracywatch.org/station_cjr_may_05.htm | title=Stations of the Cross|publisher=Columbia Journalism Review |date=May–June 2005 | first=Mariah | last=Blake | access-date = August 18, 2006}} International Intelligence Briefing was eliminated from broadcasting by TBN for the entire month of December 2005. Lindsey claimed that this was because "some at the network apparently feel that [his] message is too pro-Israel and too anti-Muslim."{{Cite web|url=http://www.hallindseyoracle.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=12130|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051212131839/http://www.hallindseyoracle.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=12130|url-status=dead|title=Urgent Personal Message from Hal TBN Suspends IIB|archivedate=December 12, 2005|website=www.hallindseyoracle.com}} TBN owner Paul Crouch, however, contended that "TBN has never been and is not now against Israel and the Jewish people."{{Cite web |url=http://www.tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=87 |title=TBN – Trinity Broadcasting Network |access-date=January 25, 2006 |archive-date=June 15, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615162413/http://www.tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=87 |url-status=dead }} Crouch said that Lindsey's show was pre-empted for Christmas programming.

Lindsey resigned from TBN on January 1, 2006, and indicated that he would pursue another television ministry. His next program, The Hal Lindsey Report, emphasized biblical prophecy and current events, and is broadcast by the Angel One and DayStar networks. During January 2007, Lindsey announced that he would be returning to the TBN network.[http://tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=192 TBN – Trinity Broadcasting Network] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125091758/http://www.tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=192 |date=January 25, 2007 }}

Lindsey was married four times and had three children from his second marriage. His second wife was Jan Houghton, and his fourth wife, to whom he was married at the time of his death, was named JoLyn. He lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and died at home on November 25, 2024, two days after his 95th birthday.{{cite web |title=The Late Great Hal Lindsey |url=https://stephenmcalpine.com/the-late-great-hal-lindsey/ |website=Stephen McAlpine |date=November 27, 2024 |access-date=November 27, 2024}}{{cite news|url = https://www.news-leader.com/story/life/faith/2024/11/22/norris-burkes-end-of-the-world-sounds-fishy/76430314007/|title = Norris Burkes: End of the world? We've heard that before|newspaper = Springfield News-Leader|last = Burkes|first = Norris|date = November 22, 2024|accessdate = November 30, 2024}}

Biblical interpretations

Lindsey's claims were based on a dispensationalist interpretation of the Old and New Testament.{{cite book|last=Lindsey|first=Hal|title=The Liberation of Planet Earth|year=1974|publisher=Zondervan Publishing House|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=0-553-11545-6|pages=71–81}} Lindsey claimed from the Bible that Jesus Christ will return from heaven to earth someday and establish eternal peace and harmony among all people.{{cite book|last=Lindsey|first=Hal|title=The Late Great Planet Earth|year=1970|publisher=Zondervan Publishing House|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=0-553-20272-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lategreatplanete00lind/page/17 17–19]|url=https://archive.org/details/lategreatplanete00lind/page/17}}

Lindsey claimed the Bible contains numerous prophecies that foretell of certain conditions and events that will occur in the world prior to Christ's return and that as these things occur, they are to serve as signs and reminders that we are in the era that the Bible calls the end times or last days.The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 17 Lindsey believed a prophetic event that officially begins the end times is the regathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland to form an independent nation after a prolonged worldwide dispersion.The Late Great Planet Earth, Chapter 4, "Israel, O Israel". He claimed that the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948 is the fulfillment of this major prophecy.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

In The Late Great Planet Earth, Lindsey wrote that the biblical prophets identified certain nations that would ally with other countries to form "four major spheres of political power" during the same era that Israel would be reestablished as a nation.The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 32 Lindsey wrote that these nations and their allies can be identified as: (1) Russia with its allies, (2) China with other nations of the Orient, (3) Egypt with other Middle East countries, and (4) an alliance of Western European nations.The Late Great Planet Earth, chapters 5–8

According to Lindsey, the alliance of Western European nations is a revived form of the ancient Roman Empire, predicted in the books of Daniel and Revelation symbolically as ten horns and ten kings.The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 82 In The Late Great Planet Earth, Lindsey quotes from a 1969 Time magazine article that the goal of the European Economic Community, which preceded the European Union, was to establish a ten-nation economic community.The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 85; p. 180 in his Reference Notes for Chapter 8, Lindsey cites Time Magazine, July 4, 1969 Lindsey concludes, based on this and other sources, that this alliance will help cause the fulfillment of this prophecy and will ultimately be ruled by the Antichrist.

Lindsey noted that the prophets did not refer to the United States directly or indirectly. He concluded that this is an indication that the U.S. will no longer be a great geo-political power by the time the Tribulation of the end times arrives.pp. 84, 173

In a later book, titled The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon,{{cite book|last=Lindsey|first=Hal|title=The 1980s Countdown To Armageddon|year=1981|publisher=Bantam Books|location=New York City |isbn=0-553-01303-3|url=https://archive.org/details/1980scountdownto00lind}} he indicated that he believed it was possible that the battle of Armageddon could occur in the not too distant future, stating, "the decade of the 1980s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it."The 1980s Countdown To Armageddon; p.8 He noted again that there is no reference to the U.S. in Bible prophecy. He listed a few scenarios that seemed plausible to him at the time: (1) A takeover by communists, (2) destruction by a surprise Soviet nuclear attack, or (3) becoming a dependent of the 10-nation European community.p. 132 The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for 20 weeks.

Works

=Books=

The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) w/ C.C. Carlson
Homo Sapiens: Extinction or Evacuation (1971)
Reprint as World's Final Hour: Evacuation or Extinction (1976)
Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth (1972) w/ Carole C. Carlson
The Late Great Planet Earth Song Book (1972), w/ Fred Bock
The Guilt Trip: How to Realize God's Forgiving Love (1972)
How to Prepare for Armageddon (1972, multiple authors)
The Liberation of Planet Earth (1974)
The Promise (1974)
Hal Lindsey's There's a New World Coming (1974, comic book)
When is Jesus Coming Again (1974, multiple authors)
There's a New World Coming: An In-Depth Analysis of the Book of Revelation (1975, 1984)
Hope for the Terminal Generation (1976)
The Events That Changed My Life (1977)
The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon (1980)
The Rapture: Truth or Consequences (1983)
Prophetical Walk Through the Holy Land (1983)
Combat Faith (1986)
The Road to Holocaust (1990)
Israel and the Last Days (1991)
The Rise of Babylon and the Persian Gulf Crisis: A Special Report (1991) w/ Chuck Missler
Planet Earth 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive? (1994)
The Final Battle (1995)
Amazing Grace (1995)
Steeling the Mind of America (1995, multiple authors)
Blood Moon (1996)
The Messiah (1996)
Apocalypse Code (1997)
Planet Earth: The Final Chapter (1999)
Vanished into Thin Air: The Hope of Every Believer (1999)
Combat Faith: Unshakable Faith for Every Day (1999)
The Greatest Gift: God's Amazing Grace (1999)
Facing Millennium Midnight (1999) w/ Cliff Ford
The Promise of Bible Prophecy (2000)
Why Do We Have Trials? (2001)
The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad (2002)
Faith for Earth's Final Hour (2003)

=Foreword by Hal Lindsey=

Birth of the Body: Acts 1-12 (1974) by Ray C. Stedman
The Coming Russian Invasion of Israel (1974) by Thomas McCall and Zola Levitt
The Beautiful Side of Evil (1982) by Johanna Michaelsen
Like Lambs to the Slaughter (1989) by Johanna Michaelsen
The Magog Invasion (1995) by Chuck Missler
Happy Days and Dark Nights (1996) by Jerry and Susanne McClain with Marsha Gallardo
The Shadow of the Apocalypse: When All Hell Breaks Loose (2004) by Paul Crouch
Personal Revival: Come Near, Come Now, Come Alive (2007) by Gary Galbraith
America's Coming Judgment: Where is Our Hope? (2017) by Thomas J. Hughes