Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 92:365 (Jan 1935)
Article: Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation? Part 1
Author: Henry Clarence Thiessen

BSac 92:365 (Jan 35) p. 39

Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation?
Part 1

Henry Clarence Thiessen

Anyone who endeavors on the basis of the Scriptures to set forth God’s plan for the future in some of its details lays himself open to the charge of being “unscholarly” and “fanatical.” To assume that one can, by a careful relating of various prophecies, indicate God’s purposes at least in their broad outline is, by a certain type of expositors, regarded as “programming” the future for God and as being pure speculation. This attitude toward the interpretation of prophecy is due to one of two things: To the conception that Scripture is fallible and so cannot be depended upon in matters of detail, or to the want of a key to the interpretation of predictive prophecy.

The writer of these pages must accept the criticism of those who reject the inerrancy of the Bible. To him this Book is the very Word of God free from all errors and omissions in the original manuscripts. This conviction he cannot surrender, no matter what his opponents may label him. He would suggest a line of study to those who regard the Scriptures as fully inspired but do not know how to relate Scripture to Scripture in the study of prophecy. He would emphasize the reasonableness of supposing that the Spirit Who inspired the Bible does not contradict Himself and that He Himself would have us seek to relate the various details to each other in an attempt to discover the plan God has revealed.

But immediately he can hear someone say: There are so many different schemes of prophetic interpretation: how can I know which is the right one? How can I believe that there is such a plan when there is disagreement among the interpreters as to what it is? This is a fair question, and

BSac 92:365 (Jan 35) p. 40

in reply we need only say that the differences among premillennialists are slight as compared with the agreements; and, further, that the differences are due, as is the case with differences in any other field of inquiry, to false premises at the outset and an unequal induction of the facts on the part of the inquirers. Truth is one, and when we have a correct conception of God and His Word, and take all the facts into consideration, our conclusions must agree.

The writer does not claim superior insight into the Scriptures; but he does claim to have a high opinion of the grace of God and of the Word of God, and to bring to his study a sincere desire to consider all the facts that bear on the case. It is in this spirit that he approaches the subject: Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation? However, before he can take up the discussion of this question he will need to set forth briefly the teaching of the Scriptures as to the Tribulation Pe...