In this series of posts we have been presenting what is, for many, a very different way of looking at the Scriptures. We have been talking about historical optimism, as opposed to the rampant historical pessimism of the modern evangelical world. But we must be careful in using phrases like “way of looking at the …
Thy Kingdom Come
Many Christians want to avoid millennial wrangles, and in an important sense, they are quite right. It makes little sense to fight with one another about when the divine peace will come. But other Christians want to avoid debate on the subject because they believe it to be trivial or unimportant. “After all, is not …
The Authority of the Cross
Far too many Christians take a phrase from Luther without the faith of Luther. They do believe that this world is “with devils filled,” but have no knowledge of the “one little word” which fells the evil one. That one little word is cross. Christ is the Savior of the world, not only because He …
The Cross and Eschatology
Many Christians veer into one of two errors in their view of future history. Either they plunge into a very exciting study of the “end times,” and become consumed with the book of Revelation and newspaper reports about the European Union, killer bees, trouble in the Middle East, and so forth, or they dismiss the …
The Cultural Mandate
Genesis is the book of beginning — this is too often neglected by Christians. Here we see the beginning of the world, obviously, but also the beginning of marriage, of work, of rest, of music, and of many other of God’s good gifts. In short, the book of Genesis provides us with a basic understanding …
World Conquest
42. So the Christian faith is a religion of world conquest? That is exactly right. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the …
Gospel Glory
35. Does the Old Testament contain visions of glory for the gospel era, and not just judgment at the beginning of that era? Yes. These Scriptures below are only a small portion of what could be gathered under this head. A diligent reading of the Old Testament will reveal many more. God gives a wonderful …
Primer on Eschatology 3
26. What are some of the features of postmillennialism? We have already talked about preterism: Many of the prophecies of the Bible which premillennialists consider unfulfilled, postmillennialists believe have already been fulfilled. This includes Old and New Testaments both. We determine what has been fulfilled by the teaching of the New Testament. Psalm 2 provides …
First Century Newspapers
21. It seems that the history of the first century is very important in the study of this debate. That is certainly correct. 22. What are some of the more important historical details? Obviously, this is simply a brief answer. But the purpose of this is to enable us to see that there is at …
Primer on Eschatology 2
14. Okay. Can you go back to hermeneutics? Once again, the word hermeneutic refers to the art, science and methodology of interpretation when approaching the text of the Bible. There are different hermeneutical schools of thought; we shall only consider the three options here that affect our discussion of eschatology. The allegorical method: An allegorist …