Abstract
Pentecostals regard the doctrine of the second coming of Christ as very important. All passages in the Bible deemed to be “prophetical” are interpreted in premillennialist terms. Bennie Kleynhans’ interpretation of the dream in Daniel 2 is used to demonstrate how an endeavour to find relevance through a contemporary interpretation of a Biblical passage, easily be- comes outdated. He was of the opinion that communism, the Council on Foreign Relations and the European Economic Community with its ten members would introduce the Antichrist as the leader of a one-world government, eventually leading to the second coming of Christ. Daniel 2 is read as “prophecy”, describing the global situation at the latter half of the twentieth century. This demonstrates that the differences in interpreting the dream in Daniel 2 reflect different ways of viewing and treating the Bible. A fundamentalist perspective sees the Bible as a blueprint of what God is going to do in future and how he is going to do this. The “future” – the “last days” just before the second coming of Christ – is inevitably linked to the present day.
Highlights
Dayton (1987:21) offers a theological analysis of Pentecostalism which is widely accepted within the Pentecostal movement itself
This analysis is based on the so-called Foursquare Gospel of Aimee Semple McPherson whose message is: Jesus saves us according to John 3:16
Kleynhans (s.a.a:9) acknowledges the problem of dating posed by Daniel 2:1, which is that the king dreamed in the second year of his reign, opposed to the information given in the first chapter that Daniel and his three friends were initially trained for three years before they gained their position among the king’s wise men
Summary
Dayton (1987:21) offers a theological analysis of Pentecostalism which is widely accepted within the Pentecostal movement itself This analysis is based on the so-called Foursquare Gospel of Aimee Semple McPherson (controversial founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) whose message is: Jesus saves us according to John 3:16. He baptises us with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4. 30 years he preached and published exclusively about eschatological themes, including the Book of Daniel.1 He died in a car accident in January 2002. Hal Lindsey’s The late great planet earth is dated.3 In this best-selling work of non-fiction the author argues that it is possible to know when the second coming of Christ will occur. Lindsey “proves” his “speculations” with proof texts from the Book of Daniel (e.g. from Dan. 12 in Lindsey, 1972:166-167)
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