Where were you
on October 28?

Where were you at 11pm , on October 28, 1992 ? Some of you will recall that at that very moment there was a feverish expectation that Jesus Christ would return to earth. All through that week, much of the world was stirred up by the rumor which originated in South Korea that the prediction in the Bible about the Second Coming was now about to be fulfilled. A Korean Pastor, Lee Jang Lee, and his followers started the rumor, and it spread like wildfire to a large segment of the Christian world, especially among the fundamentalist and conservative groups.

Pastor Lee's follower who were so thrilled by the expectation divested themselves of their possessions, concentrated on the watch for Christ's coming down through the clouds, and spent their time praying in church. Some churches in the Philippines , including a local church, were in a state of readiness.

Being the pastor of our influential Silliman University Church , I was interviewed by local radio stations. “What do you think of the event that is to come? They asked. My spontaneous answer was a false alarm, that it would not happen. And I added with some amusement that I had some anxiety. For should it happen at 11pm , I wondered where or how I would celebrate my birthday, it being October 29!

When I ask the question now—“Where were you on October 28?—the question is not geographical in nature but theological. Did you believe Christ was coming as soon as the clock struck 11 o'clock that evening? I recall that as far as that rumor was concerned, we in our Church were unbelieving.

Pastor Lee and his followers were of course proclaiming to the whole world that the signs were there for all to see. Jesus was to visibly break through the clouds of the sky, then he would to him all who were his own; then they would forever be with the Lord. From this view, how about those who were not “Christ Own'? the unbelieving, which to them included much of the Christian world. Would be doomed eternally.

Much of the scenario was from I Thessalonians chapter 4, as literally interpreted by Mr. Lee.

Where was I theologically?

In answer to the questions asked me over the radio, I said that there had been up to that time so many fake predictions in regard to the date of the Second coming that I could no longer believe in any rumor of the kind. TO BE CONTINUED*

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