a The Dangers of Literalism	3Back to Home

4 Navigation --------------- Homepage St. Matthew St. Matthew 2 St. Mark St. Luke St. Luke 2 St. John St. John 2 Acts of Apostles Acts of Apostles 2 --------------- The Letters --- Romans --- 1. Corinthias --- 2. Corinthias --- Galatians --- Ephesians --- Philippians --- Colossians --- 1. Thessalonians --- 2. Thessalonians --- 1. Timothy --- 2. Timothy --- Titus --- Philemon --- Hebrews --- James --- 1. Peter --- 2. Peter --- 1. John --- 2. John --- 3. John --- Jude --------------- The Apocalypse

"Will the Last Judgment come on a Tuesday?""Will the Second Coming take place in the year 2000?" People are always trying to date these things. But next time someone tells you that Judgment Day is coming on October 24, at 7:32 A.M., remember Jesus' words, "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" ( Matt. 24: 36). It is a little presumptuous to claim more knowledge than Jesus had himself. Rather than claiming inside information on just when and how the fulfillment of God's purposes will come, it is more important to believe that the fulfillment will come, that history is moving in a significant direction, and that in God's own good time his purposes will be fulfilled, as his power expresses itself over human life and destiny. We can assert this kind of belief, furthermore, without worrying about heaven's geography and hell's temperature. Such notions are not our worry, and whether they even have any meaning can safely be left to God to determine. How Biblical Eschatology Has Been Expressed The Old Testament looks to the future. The present is ambiguous: God chooses a people and that people forsakes him; power in God's world goes to nations who do not acknowledge him; the way of the wicked prospers. Consequently, the Old Testament asserts, these ambiguities will finally be overcome. God will intervene to re-establish his righteousness. The writers describe this fact by such eschatological phrases as the "Day of the Lord," the "Age to Come," the "Last Days." Sometimes this Day of the Lord is interpreted as a judgment:"It is darkness, and not light" ( Amos 5: 18). Sometimes it is interpreted as a restoration: rebellious nations will be trampled underfoot, and the people of God will be restored, after their experience of suffering. Sometimes it is connected with the hope of a Messiah who will come to vindicate God and God's people. Then God will be all in all, the people will follow his will, and there will be a kind of earthly paradise: The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . . . They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. ( Isa. 11: 7, 9) Toward the end of the Old Testament period we see a shift in this thinking. In Daniel (the last Old Testament book to be written) the scene of the New Age seems to shift from earth to somewhere else. There will be violent interruption of the historical process, history itself will be transformed into something utterly different, and in an indescribable way God's rule will be manifested, not just on earth, but throughout the entire cosmos. The New Testament atmosphere is somewhat different. It is claimed that the "end" has come, but in a way very different from what the Old Testament expected. With the sending of his Son, Jesus Christ, God has actively intervened in human life. Christ has come, and with him has come the beginning of the Day of the Lord. And very soon, the New Testament avers, the full consummation will take place, Christ will return again, and the "end" which has already broken into history, will be completed. In the interim, Christians are to live as citizens both of the present age and of the "age to come." God conquers death God gives us the power to conquer The Only Real "Answer" A Question You Can't Avoid Some Current Answers -- a Dime a Dozen The First Part of the Biblical Answer What Is the "Image of God"? Some Consequences The Second Part of the Biblical Answer What Sin Is Supplying Some Documentation What Sin Is Not Getting Straightened Out How Can I Be Changed? The Third Part of the Biblical Answer The First Step After the First Step The Heart of the Matter Not Once and for All Some Hints for Growing -- Tried and Tested A Final Warning Why Isn't "Individual Religion" Enough? The Case Against the Church -a Bagful of Objections When Did the Church Get Started? Just What Is a "Covenant"? The "New Covenant" Becomes a Possibility Those Words of Jesus to Peter Those "Upsetters of the World" A Rebuttal of the Case Against the Church Why the Church? Last Judgment? Second Coming? What Do They Mean? The Inescapability of Eschatology The Point of Biblical Eschatology: History Is Going Somewhere The Dangers of Literalism Exploring New Testament Eschatology The Kingdom of God A Few Bits of Help The Gift of God Schatology and "What I Do Today" What Happens When I Die? Sheol -- Where God Is Not Present The Community of the Resurrection Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact A "Spiritual Body" The Facts of the Case I Try to Live a Good Life. Why Isn't That Enough? The "Micah" Variation The "Worship and Action" Variation The "Therefore" Variation The Biblical faith that God is the Creator