The most popular author of biblical prophecy...

The most popular author of biblical prophecy books says that the Persian Gulf War is not the start of the great war of Armageddon.

Rather, says Hal Lindsey, it is at most a “dress rehearsal” for a later--in his view, inevitable--multinational war in the Middle East.

Lindsey is best known as the author, with C.C. Carlson, of “The Late Great Planet Earth,” first published in 1970 and now up to 28 million in copies sold.

Some evangelical publishers have been pushing biblical prophecy books amid speculation by conservative Christian ministers that events in Iraq are linked to “last days” scenarios preceding a second coming of Jesus.

Before Lindsey, 60, left on a book-writing sabbatical this week from his church and ministry duties in Torrance, he told the Associated Press:

“I lament this--this rushing to get books out, capitalizing on the moment as if we’re in the period of Armageddon. If (the authors are) clarifying, that’s one thing, but some seem to be kind of exploitative.

“I believe the most important thing to come out of (the war) is that the world is going to say we can’t let a war like this happen again. Then we will go for peace, which I call a ‘pseudopeace,’ ” he said.

Declaring that he does not know the time frame, Lindsey suggested that the world, delighted with the arrival of peace, will “submit to a kind of world federation. This will be ruptured in the future when the combined Arab armies unite again and attack Israel. This time they will be joined by the Soviet Union. That will be the beginning of the first battle of Armageddon.”

Lindsey quoted various Scripture verses as indicators, particularly the books of Zechariah, Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation.

Most mainstream scholars maintain that the biblical works cited by Lindsey and other biblical prophecy writers refer to the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern political world at the time of their writing--between 200 BC and AD 150--not to modern events.

Although Lindsey, working on a book titled “From Abraham to Armageddon,” avoids predicting a year, he was precise in saying that the final war will begin 3 1/2 years after a dominant leader (the “anti-Christ”) of a new Western confederacy signs a treaty guaranteeing Israel’s security.

PEOPLE

The Venerable Havanpola Ratanasara of Los Angeles, longtime president of the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California, has been appointed a patriarch in the large Theravada Buddhist tradition by an influential council of monks in his native Sri Lanka. Ratanasara, who will be 71 on Thursday, has also been executive director of the nationwide American Buddhist Congress since its inception in 1987. Also honored for their services to Buddhism in the recent ceremonies in Sri Lanka were two other Los Angeles leaders: Do Ahn Kim, abbot of the Kwan Um Sa Korean temple, and Karuna Dharma, the abbess of the International Buddhist Meditation Center.

The Rt. Rev. C. Brinkley Morton, 65, bishop of the San Diego Episcopal Diocese since 1982, has announced that he will retire early because of failing sight. Morton, who suffers from diabetes, said he is now blind in his right eye and quickly losing sight in his left. He will be on leave from April 1 to the end of the year. He and his wife, Virginia, will move soon to Memphis. The San Diego diocese, which embraces 50 parishes in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties, will be administered by the diocesan standing committee until a new bishop is elected in 1992.

DESERT STORM

A Christian record company is sending 300,000 audio cassettes of music and spoken messages of encouragement to U.S. troops stationed in the Persian Gulf region. The cassette, titled “Operation Desert Storm--I Will Be With You,” was produced by Maranatha! Music in Laguna Hills to help soldiers deal with the mental, emotional and spiritual stress of military service. The cassette was created with the cooperation of the Armed Forces Chaplain’s Board and will be distributed with other chaplain materials in the Gulf area, according to Maranatha vice president Buddy Owens. He said the project is backed by Chaplain Col. Med Standley, head of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services in Burbank.

A public forum Sunday on “The Repercussions of the Gulf War” at Westwood Presbyterian Church features a panel of Middle East analyst Joseph Kechician, RAND international policy analyst Mary Morris, UCLA psychiatrist Robert Pasnau and J. Dudley Woodberry of the Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of World Mission. The Rev. Charles Orr, pastor of the host church, will moderate the discussion, which will start at 12:30 p.m.

CONFERENCES

The fourth annual conference on healing in the Pentecostal/charismatic tradition, sponsored by Glendale Presbyterian Church next weekend, will be keynoted by former priest Francis McNutt and his psychotherapist wife, Judith McNutt. McNutt, who had been prominent in Catholic charismatic circles, created a stir when he left the priesthood in 1980 to marry. The two-day conference, which drew about 1,200 registrants last year, begins Friday night. Other speakers include Pastor Jack M. Chisholm of the host church and Prof. Charles Kraft of Fuller Theological Seminary.

A public consultation on urban violence and Christian responses will be held next Saturday at First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, starting at 8:30 a.m. Speakers include the Revs. Aidsand Wright-Riggins of Macedonia Baptist Church, Charles Mims of Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church and Jung Nam Lee, pastor of Valley Park Korean Church in Sepulveda. Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, a onetime hostage in Lebanon who is a chaplain at USC, will be the concluding speaker at 3:20 p.m.