The Christian Sentinel

September 1994 issue

John Hinkle's Failed Prophesy

The Cleansing was only a shaking

By Jackie Alnor

ã 1999 Christian Sentinel

What is John Hinkle's explanation for the apparent failure of his prophecy that God would rip the evil out of this world on Thursday, June 9, 1994? An earthquake that took place on Wednesday, June 8th in Bolivia (it was 00:33 Thursday Greenwich time, though it was still only Wednesday in the five time zones that felt the 8.2 tremor) was said to be the physical manifestation of a mere spiritual event.

Hinkle's sermon (at Christ Church in Los Angeles the Sunday following the non-event) was a predictable attempt to spiritualize away the fact that nothing unusual happened on that Thursday. "Many are saying, 'Did you hear from Jesus really? Did He rip the evil out of this world?"' Hinkle preached. "Yes, I heard from Jesus and yes, He ripped the evil out of this world June the ninth."

"The veil was it ripped?" he added. "Yes, but it was at first a spiritual veil...The greatest earthquake this world has ever witnessed took place in Bolivia 400 miles down. There is no explanation that science has for it...God is saying 'Wake up!"'

But, according to seismologist, Kate Hutton, at the California Institute of Technology, it was not the largest quake in this century. In 1960 there was a 9.5 in Chile and Alaska's 1964 quake was a 9.2. These were shallow quakes but she said that a few percent of earthquakes are deep like the Bolivia one. "Scientists were very excited about this because an earthquake at depth has not occurred in the past decade with such good instruments to study it," said Hutton. And she added that another in this century in South America was only 1/10 of a point smaller and at the same depth. So science does too have an explanation for it contrary to what Hinkle claims.

But Hinkle didn't prophecy a shaking, but a cleansing of evil. Is there any evidence that God has removed the evil from the earth? No! On June 9th at 11 p.m. (PST) Christ Church was visited by a satanic emissary according to Hinkle's June 12th sermon. At the end of a two-day prayer vigil a man dressed in white with a turban on his head arrived at Hinkle's altar and glared hatefully at him with utter disdain. Hinkle explained that God had warned him earlier. "God said, 'remember I told you that evil would arrive...you have just seen a preview.'" Hinkle read the verses about the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place and offered this as the fulfillment.

It would seem that the voice Hinkle is hearing is utterly contradictory, (evil being removed and arriving simultaneously), but he refuses to acknowledge that it is a lying spirit. "There is no possible way for his glorious voice to be misunderstood," said Hinkle in his June 15th message. "Every word he spoke and the Scriptures he gave me will be fulfilled." But, Hinkle says that the physical fulfillment will happen in the near future. He admitted being disappointed at first but changed his mind after he received faxes from TBN that "people are calling in from all over that there's healing...there are new ideas, new joys in the Lord coming forth" (see article on TBN's laughing evangelist).

Paul Crouch has a stake in helping Hinkle out of this one after going out on a limb in promoting his prophecy on several of TBN's prime-time programs. The false prophecy was used by TBN to raise money during their "Praise-a-Thons" and in their newsletter. Yet, Crouch has not answered two letters this ministry has sent to him to confront him for giving a world-wide platform to a lying message. And Crouch railed at those of us who have written to him on the "Behind the Scenes" show telling us all to "stay out of my face" about it. He said he would not dignify our letters with a response but that they all went directly into the trashcan. (The reason he even received these letters is because we published his home address at the end of our Hinkle story in the Winter, 1993 issue of the Christian Sentinel.)

Hinkle promises an increase in the miraculous as the next manifestation of the newly torn veil of evil. "God did rip the veil," Hinkle proclaimed, "and it will not be put back." But my question is after the veil was torn at Christ's death on the cross, who put it back after that? The Bible doesn't speak of any other veil. And Hinkle says that June 9th fulfilled the prophecies of the coming invisible kingdom of God on earth that, says Hinkle, "is invisible, in the midst of you." Yet, isn't that what was fulfilled with the birth of the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit? What kingdom is this spiritual kingdom that Hinkle is pointing to? He uses Old Testament prophecies of the future establishment of the millennial rule of Christ but says that we have just entered this time and Christ is not returning now. He's only been revealed invisibly to his chosen ones on June 9th.

Perhaps, Hinkle will now birth a new cult based on this fanciful "move of God." That is exactly what happened in 1914 to Charles Taze Russell when his prediction of the return of Christ that year didn't pan out and he had to make it a spiritual happening saying that Jesus returned invisibly and entered the holy of holies and the Jehovah's Witnesses cult was born.

Calls to Hinkle's office revealed that my usual contact person had resigned and a woman named Joy said that there were some "unbelievers" in the congregation who did not accept Hinkle's explanation. In fact, Hinkle's church service on June 12 was well attended but from listening to the tape the crowd seemed dumbfounded. Hinkle had to admonish them toward the end of his message, "Somebody nod your head or something! Apparently, they were in shock. Those that stay will no doubt form the core of the new "Kingdom Now" cult and be led around by the untested voice that speaks to their leader.