I read recently a few paragraphs from Hal Lindsey’s landmark 1970 book, The Late Great Planet Earth. In the years since its publication, Lindsey has had his critics. Hindsight has given many a license to pick the book apart.

Yet, I believe Lindsey was largely correct in many of his assessments, namely that we are living in the last days. The last seconds, as one wrote on Facebook today.

Among the things Lindsey had right was the prediction that the American church would, in general, slide into apostasy. He astutely noted that the “downgrade” had been going on for decades, but many had not noticed.

One of the insidious attacks on biblical faith has centered-on the Old Testament. It has been popular in seminaries and in pulpits for a long time to deny the historical nature of various biblical accounts. Many years ago, researcher Herman Otten noted one important factor in this reality:

“Christ accepted the book of Jonah as a factual account of something that actually happened. If the book of Jonah is not factual, why should we expect anyone to believe that Christ really rose from the dead? He compares his own burial with Jonah’s experience.”

Decades ago, churchgoers realized the Church by and large did not really believe the Bible. Many left. Today, even the largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, is losing members at an alarming rate. SBC heads would deny strenuously that they’ve abandoned serious Bible teaching, but the fact is, when they tolerate (and even promote) a “pastor” like Steven Furtick, the leadership is not serious about relying solely on the sufficiency of Scripture.

I contend this is primarily because the mega-church model has been adopted. “Church growth” is all the rage, and yet ironically, it is also responsible for many leaving churches in droves. The SBC is not adopting a return to real, serious Bible study and preaching, by and large, and so no doubt the exodus will continue. They aren’t the only ones, by a long shot.

(Denominational heads would, of course, seriously object to my view.)

Lindsey, 45 years ago, predicted that, based on New Testament prophecies, the Church would slide into irrelevancy one day. Apostasy is not on the horizon; it is here.

That day is here.

Hal Lindsey was right.