The Walvoord Legacy

Dr. Thomas Ice

Thecomprehensive sweep of the Bible, as it looks at history from God's point ofview and then presents the glorious future that is awaiting the child of God,gives the Christian a life of meaningful activity, a system of values thattranscends the materialism of our day, and a glorious hope in a world wherethere is much happiness.[1]

-JohnF. Walvoord

OnDecember 20, 2002 one of the giants of the church went home to be with theLord. John F. Walvoord, theologian, writer, and teacher, seminary president,and defender of dispensational pretribulational premillennialism passed fromour midst. He was 92 years old. It would not be an overstatement to say thatDr. Walvoord was the foremost proponent of pretribulationism and one of theworld's leading interpreters of Bible prophecy. We will miss him! However, asgiants are prone to do, he has left behind a great legacy.

Dr.Walvoord came to Dallas Seminary in 1931 as a student and remained there untilhis death in 2002. Over 70 years at a single institution must be some kind ofa record! Virtually every one who has ever gone through Dallas Seminary hasbrushed shoulders with John Walvoord. I was privileged to have learnedeschatology in the late 1970s under his tutelage while a student at theSeminary.

Inthe eschatology (study of last things) class that I took from Dr. Walvoord, hegave us a handout the first day of about 278 questions on the subject. (I madethe mistake of lending my copy out and never saw it again.) He told us that ifwe could answer all of those questions, then we would know something abouteschatology. The class consisted of him lecturing through all of thosequestions, without using any notes other than his Bible. Dr. Walvoord was sucha clear and straightforward professor. He knew what all the views on any issuewere and presented them fairly before he would turn his attention towardproviding a biblically accurate and incisive critique. He handled the mostpressing questions with ease and biblical clarity, which produced convincingresults. Students in my class often competed with one another in an effort toask a question that Dr. Walvoord was unfamiliar with or would make him lookbad. They never succeeded.

Ialways sat on the front row of his class, right in front of his lectern,because I liked being close to Dr. Walvoord, and, more importantly, because Itape recorded his classes. I have listened to his lectures many times over theyears and am always amazed at his grasp of the theology of God's Word. As atheologian he could correlate all the facts, synthesize them into theology, andshow anyone the implications of his own views and where others went astray. Asa student, I never dreamed that later I would have the privilege of speaking atabout a dozen conferences with Dr. Walvoord. Usually there would be a time ofquestions and answers from the audience at these conferences. I would oftendefer to my former teacher in these situations because I would be just asinterested in his answer as the questioner.

Ionce heard Dr. Walvoord say that earlier in his career he focused upon broaderprophetic concerns, like premillennialism, postmillennialism andamillennialism. However, over time and after much thought and discussion herealized that the same hermeneutical, exegetical and theological issues wereinvolved in the rapture question. He came to believe that when one made aconsistent application of interpretative methods, exegesis of Scripture andtheological thought, there were only two consistent positions: amillennialismand pretibulational premillennialism. This is why, by the 1950s, Dr. Walvoordstarted focusing his attention upon the rapture question.

Ofcourse, he believed the New Testament taught pretribulationism, but he also sawthat the pre-trib rapture doctrine formed the first line of defense forpremillennialism as well. He believed that when one abandonedpretribulationism, that individual was on a slippery slop toward theeschatological valley of allegoricalism known as amillennialism. He believedthat consistent literal interpretation led to pretribulationism. Any departurefrom pretribulationism (for example mid-trib or post-trib) must involve somedegree of allegorical interpretation. I heard him say that if you are going toallegorize at all then you might as well allegorize everything and become aconsistent allegorizer by adopting amillennialism and be done with it. Dr.Walvoord's keen theological mind saw where things led.

Dr.Walvoord was asked a few years ago "what do you predict will be the mostsignificant theological issues over the next ten years?" His answer includedthe following: "the hermeneutical problem of not interpreting the Bibleliterally, especially the prophetic areas. The church today is engulfed in theidea that one cannot interpret prophecy literally."[2] Suchis the trend almost ten years later. Today too many evangelicals want to blendliteral and non-literal hermeneutics. According to Dr. Walvoord, it cannot belegitimately done, without producing a confused and contradictory mix ofeschatology.

Anotherof Dr. Walvoord's insights includes the observation that there is a single kindof approach to developing and defending pretribulationism. What does he mean? When it comes to pre-trib rationale, there are not multiple systems that havereached the same conclusion-pretribulationism. In other words, allpretribulationists use the same hermeneutic, generally the same exegesis andtheologically the same thought process in arriving at pretribulationism. Dr.Walvoord believed that this detail hints at the fact that pretribulationism islikely what the Bible teaches.

Onthe other hand, posttribulationism has four distinct ways in which they arguefor their belief. Dr. Walvoord use to say that if any single one of these fourapproaches were true, then it would mean that the other three systems werewrong and would contradict the form of posttribulationism that was posited astrue. In other words, there could be incorrect views of posttribulationism,even if the view was posited as being correct. While there is only a singleform of pretribulationism, which if true, would make sense since the Bibleteaches a single view on any issue.

Dr.Walvoord has classified the four kinds of posttribulationism as classical,semi-classical, futuristic and dispensational.[3] "In the last century anumber of varieties of posttribulationism have emerged, some of them quiterecent in their major tenets," declares Dr. Walvoord. "In general, they coverthe gamut of the possibilities."[4] Note the following breakout by Dr.Walvoord:

1) Classic Posttribulationism-"J. BartonPayne, in his The Imminent Appearing of Christ,[5] advocates a return to what he says wasthe position of the early church, that is, a premillennial andposttribulational point of view which spiritualizes the tribulation andidentifies it with the contemporary problems of Christianity. Comparatively fewhave followed Payne, however, though a tendency to spiritualize the period oftribulation is a general characteristic of posttribulationism."[6]

2) Semi-Classic Posttribulationism-"Alexander Reese, in his TheApproaching Advent of Christ,[7]presents the most comprehensive defense of posttribulationism."[8] "Heoffers evidence that the resurrection of the church occurs at the same time asthe resurrection of Revelation 20. Major emphasis is placed on terms like'appearing,' 'the day,' 'the end,' and 'revelation' as technical terms thatrelate the rapture to the second coming as the terminus of the present age. Reese's arguments have not been surpassed by other posttribulationists, butlater writers offer other approaches."[9]

"Allthe views previously mentioned consider the church already in the tribulationand identify the trials of the church through the centuries as the fulfillmentof prophecies of a time of trouble preceding the second advent of Christ."[10]

3) Futuristic Posttribulationism-"George Ladd whose work, The BlessedHope,[11]promotes the view that the great tribulation is still future. While otherviews of posttribulationism could conceivably be harmonized with the idea thatChrist could return any moment, Ladd considers it inevitable that at least aseven-year period (described in Dan. 9:27) separates the church today from therapture and the second advent of Christ which are aspects of the same event. Although Ladd's argument builds largely on the fact of the history of thedoctrine and extols posttribulationism as the norm for orthodoxy through thecenturies, he introduces a new realism into the picture in adopting a literalfuture tribulation. His views have somewhat been qualified by his laterwritings, but in general he seems to retain a futuristic view of the greattribulation with its corresponding doctrine that Christ's return could not beany day, but that it can only follow the years required to fulfill propheciesrelating to the tribulation."[12]

4 Dispensational Posttribulationism-"RobertGundry in his work, The Church and the Tribulation.[13] Gundry, following the lead of manypremillenarians, distinguishes Israel and the church as separate entities andattempts a literal interpretation of many of the prophecies that deal with theendtimes. In advancing his theory he refutes most of the posttribulationistswho have preceded him. Working with these premises, he endeavors to establisha new doctrine of posttribulationism which he tries to harmonize with a literalinterpretation of prophecy."[14]

"Gundry'swork poses a number of theological problems both for other posttribulationistsand for contemporary pretribulationists. Because his arguments, in the main,are new and establish a new form of posttribulationism never advanced before,his work is a milestone in the variety of interpretations which havecharacterized posttribulationism through the centuries and creates further needfor study of posttribulationism in the history of the church."[15]

Itis interesting to take note of Dr. Walvoord's classification of differing typesof posttribulationism in light of the often made claims that pretribulationismis of recent vintage (around 1830). With the death of Payne in the 1970s, noone of significance even holds his classical view of posttribulationism. Thesemi-classical view of Reese is rarely held as well. Both of the views requirethe historicist view of prophecy, which almost no one holds to apart fromSeventh-Day Adventist and Mormon influence. This means that the last two formsof posttribulationism, which are views that almost all premillennialposttribulationists advocate today, were developed after pretribulationalfuturism came on the scene. This means that the systematic approach ofvirtually all premillennial posttribulationism is newer than pretribulationism.This is a fact little understood in premillennial posttribulational circles. This should be a cause for pause and reflection on their part before suggestingthat there is a problem with the history of pretribulationism.

TheWalvoord legacy is one of hope-Blessed Hope![16] He used hisconsiderable skills and long life to help believers better understand God'splan for history and for the individual Christian. Over the years as I havespoken at Bible prophecy conferences across America, I have had a number ofpeople come up to me and tell me that Dr. Walvoord had been their pastor atRosen Heights Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas. They have all saidthat Dr. Walvoord use to tell them (this was in the 1930s and 40s) that hewould live to see the rapture. Obviously he did not make it. But John F.Walvoord will certainly be a recipient of the crown of righteousness that willbe handed out at the judgment seat of Christ. "Inthe future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me onthat day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."(2 Tim. 4:8) I can't wait to see him at that awards ceremony. Maranatha!

[1] Statement taken from the back panel of thebulletin obtained at the memorial service for John F. Walvoord, "The Bible: Cornerstone of John F. Walvoord's Life," final paragraph.

[2] "An Interview: Dr. John F. Walvoord Looks atDallas Seminary," Dallas Connection (Winter 1994, Vol. 1, No. 3), p. 4.

[3] John F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and theTribulation (Grand Rapids,Zondervan, 1976), pp. 16-19.

[4] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, p. 17.

[5] J. Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing ofChrist (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1962).

[6] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, p. 17.

[7] Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ(London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1937).

[8] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, p. 17.

[9] John F. Walvoord, "Posttribulationism Today, PartI: The Rise of Posttribulational Interpretation, Bibliotheca Sacra (January-March 1975; Vol. 132, No. 525), p. 22.

[10] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, p. 18.

[11] George E. Ladd, The Blessed Hope (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956).

[12] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, pp. 18-19.

[13] Robert H. Gundry, The Church and theTribulation (Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 1973).

[14] Walvoord, Blessed Hope, p. 19.

[15] Walvoord, "Posttribulationism Today," p. 24.

[16] For anyone interested in reading about the lifeof Dr. Walvoord, his auto biography came out about a year before his death. John F. Walvoord with Mal Couch, Blessed Hope: The Autobiography of John F.Walvoord (Chattanooga, TN: AMGPublishers, 2001).