Harold Lee Lindsey (born November 23, 1929) – known as Hal Lindsey – is a best-selling American

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

writer. He is a Christian Zionist, a

dispensationalist Dispensationalism is a system that was formalized in its entirety by John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with humanity in different ways. Dispensationali ...

and a television host. He wrote a series of popular apocalyptic books – beginning with the record-breaking ''

The Late Great Planet Earth ''The Late Great Planet Earth'' is a best-selling 1970 book by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson, and first published by Zondervan. ''The New York Times'' declared it to be the bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970s. The book was first feature ...

'' (1971) – asserting that the Apocalypse or

end time The end time (also called end times, end of time, end of days, last days, final days, doomsday, or eschaton) refers to: * Eschatology in various religions—beliefs concerning the final events of history or the destiny of humanity End Time, En ...

(including the rapture) was imminent because current events were fulfilling Bible prophecy.

Biography

Lindsey graduated from

Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is an evangelical theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as extension ca ...

with a Master of Theology degree, majoring in the New Testament and early Greek literature. With his second wife, Jan, he worked with

Campus Crusade for Christ Cru (until 2011 known as Campus Crusade for Christ—informally "Campus Crusade" or simply "crusade"—or CCC) is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by ...

and continued with them until 1969. He then helped a mission in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

which continued until 1976. He was also a frequent speaker and Sunday School teacher at Melodyland Christian Center in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. During 1969, he wrote his first, and best-known book, ''

''. Published during 1970 by

Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...

, this book became a bestseller. Coming on the heels of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, the book fueled the popularity of

dispensationalism Dispensationalism is a system that was formalized in its entirety by John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with humanity in different ways. Dispensationali ...

and its support of ethnic

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s 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 The California Graduate School of Theology is an institution of higher learning in Garden Grove, California. History The California Graduate School of Theology was founded and chartered in the state of California in 1969 by William S. McBirnie, ...

. Lindsey hosted '' International Intelligence Briefing'' on the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

and serves on the executive board of Christian Voice. ''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 ismessage is too pro-

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and too anti- Muslim." TBN owner

Paul Crouch Paul Franklin Crouch /kraʊtʃ/ (March 30, 1934 – November 30, 2013) was an American television evangelist. Crouch and his wife, Jan, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1973; the company has been described as "the world’s l ...

, however, contended that "TBN has never been and is not now against Israel and the Jewish people." 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 new program, ''

The Hal Lindsey Report Harold Lee Lindsey (born November 23, 1929) – known as Hal Lindsey – is a best-selling American evangelical writer. He is a Christian Zionist, a dispensationalist and a television host. He wrote a series of popular apocalyptic books – be ...

'', emphasizes

biblical prophecy Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from G ...

and current events, and is broadcast by the

Angel One "Angel One" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. It was first broadcast on January 25, 1988, in the United States in broadcast syndication. It was w ...

and DayStar networks. During January 2007, Lindsey announced that he would be returning to the TBN network. ''The Hal Lindsey Report'' is broadcast by TBN with his own financing.

Biblical interpretations

Lindsey's claims are based on a

interpretation of the Old and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

. Lindsey claims from the Bible that

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

will return from heaven to earth someday and establish eternal peace and harmony among all people. The Bible contains numerous prophecies that foretell of certain conditions and events that will occur in the world prior to Christ's return. He continues, saying 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''. Lindsey believes 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. He states that the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948 is the fulfillment of this major prophecy. The Bible states that the last seven years of the ''end times'' is a period known as the

Tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation ( grc, θλῖψις μεγάλη, thlîpsis megálē) is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the Eschatology, time of the end. At Book of Revelation, ...

, which is described in the gospel of Matthew and the book of Revelation. 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. 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. 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''. In ''The Late Great Planet Earth'', Lindsey quotes from a 1969 ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine article that the goal of the European Economic Community, which preceded the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, was to establish a ten-nation economic community. 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 In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...

. Lindsey noted that the prophets did not refer to the United States of America 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

of the

end times Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...

arrives. In a later book, titled, ''The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon'', he indicated that he believed it was possible that the battle of

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

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." 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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller list for more than 20 weeks.

Works

Books

* ''

'' (1971) 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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsey, Hal 1929 births 20th-century apocalypticists 21st-century apocalypticists Living people American Christian writers American Christian Zionists American critics of Islam American evangelicals Christian conspiracy theorists Christian critics of Islam Dallas Theological Seminary alumni Trinity Broadcasting Network University of Houston alumni Writers from Houston