Dave Hunt: The Last Effective Apologists

Reblogged from www.raptureready.com
 
The Christian world lost a true giant of the faith with the passing of Dave Hunt. He was the founder of Berean Call, a ministry that was formed for the simple purpose of encouraging spiritual discernment among Christians. Dave exhorted believers to get back into the Word of God instead of being “carried about by every wind of doctrine.” 

Dave wrote a host of books that sold over 4 million copies. They include: The Cult Explosion, The God Makers, The New Spirituality, The Seduction of Christianity, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist, Occult Invasion, A Cup of Trembling, In Defense of the Faith, An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith , and, Countdown to the Second Coming. 
 
As an apologist, he specialized in warning the church against Eastern religion, psychological and selfish philosophies, ecumenism, and other unbiblical teachings. He is best known for The Seduction of Christianity, which exposes false teachings in the church and dares to identify the names of the ones behind the deception. 

What I remember the most about the 1985 release of Seduction of Christianity was how it scared all the groups it targeted. The Word of Faith folks acted like cockroaches when someone shines a bright light on them. People like Kenneth Copeland, Frederick Price, Charles Capps, and Robert Tilton were all put on the defensive by Hunt exposing the details of their financial schemes and the "we are a god" teaching that dominated the prosperity movement.

Most of these men went into the damage-control mode because they feared that Hunt's book could destroy their ministries. They said Dave misquoted them or took their words out of context. A group of them even came to meet with Hunt to explain their views.

Another example of the one-time power that apologists had came after Benny Hinn published the book, Good Morning, Holy Spirit. After the book became a huge hit in 1990, men like Dave Hunt pointed out numerous examples where Hinn's writers conflicted with the Bible. Nowhere in Scripture does it teach the possibility of Jesus Christ sinning, but this is what Hinn taught. 

After Hinn was exposed, he totally recanted the book, removing all references to it from his ministry catalog. He also went on several Christian programs to ask forgiveness. Hinn's repentant heart didn't last long. A few years later, he did a 180 and reinstated his book on his resume. In 2004, Good Morning, Holy Spirit was expanded and republished. 

Dave Hunt was not the last of the apologists. We still have men like John MacArthur, William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel, and Josh McDowell who contend for the faith. Since Rapture Ready has an extensive library of "defending the faith" articles, it qualifies as an apologetic site. What makes Hunt's passing noteworthy is that he was the last person who was effective on a national scale in this field. Today, ‘apologetics’ has become a dirty word. Few Christian leaders want to be the bad guys. They would rather make friends with the enemies so they won't lose out on financial opportunities that come with these alliances. 

Terry and I heard the news of Dave's death while we were at the Tulsa prophecy conference. During one of the breaks, they ran a presentation that Dave gave in 1995, and the general reaction was that there is no one who preaches like that today. This is a true statement, but our problems have gone beyond the lack of good leaders. If we had a time machine that could go back and grab a young and vibrant Dave Hunt, we would still be at a disadvantage. Unless you have a church that cares about the values of sound doctrine, it wouldn't matter if we had John the Baptist. 

We are so far into apostasy, I don't think the enemies of Dave Hunt even care to dance on his grave. They won the battle of supremacy years ago. The lack of watchmen is probably their greatest threat. One possible reason God has been calling so many of His key saints home lately is because we are about to transform from a time of warning to a time of judgment. 

"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" (2 Thessalonians 2:7). 

“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).
--Todd