Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.'s Blog, page 113

PROBLEMS WITH REVELATION’S EARLY DATE (2)

PMT 2015-049 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Revelation’s early date is generally held by modern postmillennialists of the preterist variety. I have argued elsewhere positively for the early date. So here I am offering a short series that briefly responds to late-date evidences. I am focusing on Leon Morris’ arguments, due to their cogency, succinctness, and his stature as a Revelation commentator.

Morris discovers “indications that Revelation was written in a time of persecution.” This evidence is felt to accord “much better with Domitian.” [1] W. G. Kümmel is quite confident that “the picture of the time which the Apocalypse sketches coincides with no epoch of the primitive history so well as with the period of Domitian’s persecution.” [2] Morris, Kümmel, and a number of other scholars list this as among their leading arguments for the A.D. 95-96 date.

I agree that it seems clear enough that in Revelation imperial persecution against the faith has begun. But the evidence heavily favors a Neronic (A.D. 64-68) persecution rather than a Domitianic (A.D. 95-96) one. In fact, it is extremely difficult to even prove a Domitianic persecution — secular history is totally silent on the possibility.

Surprisingly, when we turn to Morris’s own presentation, we are frustrated as we seek sure conviction: “While later Christians sometimes speak of a persecution under Domitian the evidence is not easy to find.” [3] Many scholars understand Domitian’s violent conduct in A.D. 95 as a paranoid outburst. [4] It seemed to concentrate on “selected individuals whom he suspected of undermining his authority.” [5] The problem with the evidence for this “persecution” is that it proceeds solely from Christian sources — sources somewhat later than the events. A Domitianic persecution is not mentioned by any secular historian of the era.

Greatness of the Great Commission

(by Ken Gentry)

An insightful analysis of the full implications of the great commission.

Impacts postmillennialism as well as the whole Christian worldview.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Though the historicity of a Domitianic persecution of Christianity is questioned, such cannot be the case with the persecution under Nero. Although many scholars argue that the Neronic persecution was confined to Rome and its environs, the indisputable fact remains: Nero cruelly persecuted Christianity, taking even the lives of its foremost leaders, Peter and Paul. The evidence for the Neronic persecution is overwhelming and is documentable from heathen, as well as Christian, sources.

In Before Jerusalem Fell I showed clear evidence of a Neronic persecution from the writings of several pagan and Christian writers of the era. To that list let me now add Tertullian (A.D. 150-220), who was a lawyer who wrote in Latin, the legal language of the Roman Empire. In defending Christianity, he challenged men to search the archives of Rome for the proof that Nero persecuted the Church: “Arid if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon a public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the lives of the Caesars: “At Rome Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith.” [6] Surely he would not issue a challenge to search the archives of Rome, which could easily be taken and just as easily refuted, were his statement untrue.

Interpreting Revelation (5 mp3 lectures)

by Ken Gentry

Lectures on Revelation discussing its date of writing, preterist interpretation, and leading features.

Very helpful, basic introduction to Revelation. Question and answer sessions.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Indisputably, the sheer magnitude, extreme cruelty, and paradigmatic role of Nero’s persecution of Christianity fit well the role required in Revelation. Thus, we are led again to repeat: The Domitianic evidence is doubtful and, if accepted at all, pales in comparison to Nero’s. Interestingly, late-date advocate Robert Mounce, like so many others, admits that “the evidence for widespread persecution under Domitian is not especially strong.” Yet, he goes on rather boldly to add that “there is no other period in the first century in which it would be more likely”! [7] No other period?

The late-date use of the persecution theme in Revelation can neither establish the late date for Revelation, nor compete with the early date evidences.

Notes

Morris, Revelation, 37.
W. G. Kümmel, Introduction to the New Testament, trans. Howard Clark Kee, 17th ed. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1973), 328.
Morris, Revelation, 36
For example, J. Ramsey Michaels, Revelation (IVPNTC) (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 19. M. Eugene Boring, Revelation: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox, 1989), 17.
Glenn W. Barker, William L. Lane, and J. Ramsey Michaels, The New Testament Speaks (New York: Harper and Row, 1969), 368.
Tertullian, Scorpion’s Sting 15.
Robert Mounce, The Book of Revelation (2d. ed.: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 34.

PROBLEMS WITH REVELATION’S EARLY DATE (1)

PMT 2015-048 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Preteristic postmillennialists hold that Revelation was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. We argue this on historical and exegetical grounds. We do not argue for an early date for Revelation on purely theological grounds in order to defend our long-range hope against John’s enormous judgment scenes.. I have argued the case of the early date of Revelation in several places, most especially in my doctoral dissertation published as Before Jerusalem Fell. In this brief series of articles I will respond to four leading arguments against the early date.

The modern case for the late date of Revelation concentrates upon four basic arguments. These have been ably and succinctly summarized by noted evangelical scholar and late-date advocate Leon Morris in his commentary, The Revelation of St. John (2d. ed.: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987). I choose to investigate Morris’s approach for three basic reasons.

(1) He has rightfully earned an international reputation among both evangelical and liberal scholars. (2) He has a demonstrated competence in the field of New Testament studies, having even produced an excellent commentary on Revelation itself. (3) His presentation is succinct and focused, which lends itself to blog analysis. The order of my listing of these evidences will follow Morris’s, which is based on his scholarly estimation of their priority.

Before Jerusalem Fell  (by Ken Gentry)

Coctoral dissertation defending a pre-AD 70 date for Revelation’s writing.

Thoroughly covers internal evidence from Revelation, external evidence from history,

and objections to the early date by scholars.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Morris begins with what he calls “the principal reason for dating the bock during” Domitian’s reign, which is: Revelation “contains a number of indications that emperor-worship was practised, and this is t:ought to have become widespread in Domitian’s day” (p. 35).Earlier than Morris, James Moffatt insisted that the role of emperor worship in Revelation was virtually conclusive: “When the motive of the Apocalypse is thus found in the pressure upon the Christian conscience exerted by Domitian’s emphasis on the imperial cultus, especially as that was felt in Asia Minor, any earlier date for the book becomes almost impossible.” [1]

This argument regarding emperor worship is also held by Robert H. Mounce, R. H. Charles, H. B. Swete, Donald B. Guthrie, W. G. Kümmel, M. Eugene Boring, William Barclay, and many others. References in Revelation which seem to reflect emperor worship are found in scattered places. See especially Revelation 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4. The most noteworthy statements re found in Revelation 13, where worship of the “beast” is compelled.

Unfortunately, for this view emperor worship dates back to Julius Caesar in the last century before Christ. And it is endorsed by Nero, the emperor who commissions Vespasian to put down the Jewish rebellion (which results in the destruction of the temple). The emperor cult had a prominent role in the political and social life of the Roman empire well before Domitian, and even before Nero.

Although it is true that historical development continued to introduce new features and requirements into the practice, nevertheless after 30 B.C. “we can observe a swift spread of the emperor cult throughout the Roman Near East.” [2] As even late-date advocate James Moffatt wrote: “The blasphemous title of dims, assumed by the emperors since Octavian (Augustus = sebastos) as a semi-sacred title, implied superhuman claims which shocked the pious feelings of Jews and Christians alike. So did theos [god] and theou huios [son of god] which, as the inscriptions prove, were freely applied to the emperors, from Augustus onwards.” [3]

Great Tribulation: Past or Future?

(Thomas Ice v. Ken Gentry)

Debate book on the nature and timing of the great tribulation.

Both sides thoroughly cover the evidence they deem necessary,

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See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

The appearance of emperor worship in Revelation is held by many late-date theorists as the strongest evidence for a date during the last year of the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81-96). It is true that Domitian required people to address him as “Lord and God.” Certainly the emperor cult was prominent in his reign. Yet when we scrutinize the relevant historical evidence we discover abundant testimony to emperor worship at various stages of development well before both Domitian and Nero. Indeed, such clear statements exist of so many aspects of the emperor cult, it is surprising that this argument is used at all against the early date. One wonders why it is deemed “the principal reason” (Morris) that makes it “almost impossible” (Moffatt) for the early date view to stand is wholly incredible.

Notes

James Moffatt, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, vol. 5 in W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, rep. 1980), 317.
Doron Mendels, The Rise and Fall of Jewish Nationalism: Jewish and Christian Ethnicity in Ancient Palestine (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 278.
Moffatt, Revelation, 429. See also: Aune, Revelation 1-5, lxviii; Leonard L. Thompson, The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire (New York: Oxford, 1990), 104-190.

IS PRETERISM SPIRITUALLY DEPRESSING? (4)

PMT 2015-047 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

As I continue considering the question whether preterism is depressing, I come to my fourth article in answering a reader’s concern. It is at this point that we actually get to the reason that Rick sees preterism as potentially depressing. I have summarized this portion of his concern as follows:

Does preterism discount our eternal hope in a glorified estate? If the new Jerusalem and the new heavens and new earth have already begun, what comfort is that since so much in the world is in such bad shape? Such thinking has almost ruined the writer’s faith.

I can now see why he is depressed. And now he is making me depressed too. He has been reading hyperpreterists. Hyperpreterists see the world and history continuing forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. World without end, amen. Thus, they have no final removing of sin from the universe. God will always and forever have a fallen, sinful universe.

However, the historic, orthodox preterist believes in a future physical return of Christ, a future bodily resurrection, a future great judgment, the end of world history, and a physical new creation. He believes in the blessed hope of the Christian faith in eternity.

Navigating the Book of Revelation (by Ken Gentry)

Technical studies on key issues in Revelation, including the seven-sealed scroll, the cast out temple, Jewish persecution of Christianity, the Babylonian Harlot, and more.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

But we also believe these are spiritually anticipated now. For instance, Jesus and Paul both teach that we are spiritually resurrected when we are saved, as we may see in the following texts:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

“He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6)

We also believe that the future physical new creation has begun spiritually in Christ now.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:17)

“Neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (Gal 6:15)

These spiritual realities are advance notices of the final, consummate, physical realities which we who are redeemed will enjoy in the eternal realm. Theologians call this relationship between current spiritual realities and future final realities a “now but not yet” theology. Eternity is intruding into history and beginning to impact it.

Nourishment from the Word

(by Ken Gentry)

Reformed studies covering baptism, creation, creeds, tongues,

God’s law, apologetics, and Revelation

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

It so happens that John’s Rev focuses on the spiritual new creation in Rev 21–22 rather than the consummate new creation. But this does not mean he denies a final, consummate new heavens and new earth. It just happens not to be his concern.

Orthodox preterists do not believe history is all there is and all there ever will be. We see new covenant history as a mixed reality, a blending the present age with the age to com. A reality that points to our future, consummate, glorious hope in Christ.

IS PRETERISM SPIRITUALLY DEPRESSING? (3)

PMT 2015-046 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the third in a series responding a reader named Rick. As he looks at preterism, it seems to reduce supernatural actions of God to mundane historical events and apply glorious images of eternity to contemporary history. This was leaving him spiritually depressed. He wonders if preterism is inherently deflating for the Christian hope.

I reduce his lengthy question to several focused observations. I am dealing with the second summary observation in this article:

2. Why can we not interpret Rev 8:8 as referring to a meteor strike and the enormous consequences resulting from it? Why should we discount a more literal understanding when it is entirely feasible? Are we limiting the supernatural power of God?

On the surface, interpreting Rev 8:8 as a meteor strike is not unreasonable. We know that such a strike would produce catastrophic destruction. And God certainly has the power to providential direct a meteor to the earth.

Theological Debates Today (5 mp3 messages)

Conference lectures on contemporary theological issues:

1. The Great Tribulation; 2. The Book of Revelation; 3. Hyperpreterism;

4. Paedocommunion; 5. God’s Law

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

But we have to interpret Scripture according to its genre and context, rather than in a manner that is more impressive and exciting.

John’s expressly stated time-frame controls where in history we should look for the fulfillment of Rev 8:8. John clearly states that the events in Rev are to take place soon, because the time is near.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John” (Rev 1:1).

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Rev 1:3)

This is especially significant in that we can see OT imagery employed in Rev 8:8. And that imagery speaks very similarly to John’s burning-mountain reference. Since John is mimicking the OT prophets (with his grammar, OT allusions, place names, and so forth), this should lead us to consider the collapse of the temple and Jerusalem (as I noted in my last article) as the proper and relevant understanding of the passage.

Besides this, we cannot get around the fact that Rev is an extremely symbolic book, so that a literal interpretation should not necessarily be the first option to which we turn. In Rev we see numerous symbolic statements. Consider:

Do we not see Christ with feet like glowing hot burnished bronze (1:15; 2:18)? His hand holding seven stars (1:16; 2:1)? His mouth having a sword coming out of it (1:16; 2:16)? His possessing keys to death and Hades (1:18)? His giving faithful saints the morning star (2:28)? His holding David’s key (3:7)? His making his overcoming followers a pillar in the temple of God (3:12)? His spitting people out of his mouth (3:16)? His standing at a door and knocking (3:20)? Strangely compounded creatures filled with eyes and having six wings (4:6–7)? A slain but living lamb with seven eyes (5:6)? Four lone horsemen wreaking cultural havoc (6:1–8), with one of them carrying a pair of scales (6:5) and another having Hades following him (6:8)? Men talking to mountains (6:16)? People washing their robes in blood (7:14)? A third of the sun and moon being smitten (8:12)?

Have we not notice a key for the bottomless pit (9:1; 20:1)? Locusts with bodies of horses, faces of men, teeth of lions, crowns of gold, and tails like scorpions (9:6)? Lion-headed, scorpion-tailed horses belching fire and smoke (9:17) with tails like serpents (9:19)? Fire-breathing prophets (11:5)? A woman with eagle wings standing on the moon (12:1, 14)? A seven-headed red dragon with ten horns and seven crowns who pulls stars down from heaven (12:3–4)? War in heaven (12:7)? A serpent vomiting a river of water from his mouth (12:15)? Ten-crowned, seven-headed beast who is a compound of three carnivores (13:1–2)? A two-horned beast that speaks like a dragon and forces men to worship the seven-headed beast (13:1, 11)? Two angels possessing sickles and who reap the earth (14:15–19)? Non-coagulating blood flowing for 200 miles to the depth of horses’ bridles (14:20)? Bowls full of the wrath of God (15:7; 16:1)? A sea that becomes blood like that of a dead man (16:3)? Frogs coming out of the mouth of a dragon (16:13)?

IS PRETERISM SPIRITUALLY DEPRESSING? (2)

PMT 2015-044 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the second in a series answering a reader’s (Rick) question as to whether preterism leaves us empty and spiritually depressed (see PMT 2015-043). I did not think that telling him that I feel pretty good on most days would be all that helpful. He obviously is seriously considering the implications of preterism, and I commend him for that.

In the introductory article I presented his question, then reduced it to a series of focused observations. In this article I will consider the first implication.

What is the mountain burning with fire in Rev 8:8? That text reads: ‘The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood.’ Preterism seems to reduce this enormous catastrophe to a relatively minor occurrence.

In asking this question Rick was assuming that the preterist sees this burning mountain as an image of the Roman siege equipment arrayed against Israel in AD 70. Though this could possibly be speaking of such, I think there is a better understanding available to us.

Four Views on the Book of Revelation

(ed. by Marvin Pate)

Helpful presentation of four approaches to Revelation

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Given the fact that Revelation is clearly focusing on AD 70 — due its near-term indicators (Rev 1:1, 3; 22:6, 10) and its theme of judgment against the Jews for killing Christ (Rev 1:7) — I believe an alternative view is much superior.

We must recognize that Scripture often uses mountains to represent kingdoms (Isa 2:2–3; 42:15; Jer 51:25; Am 6:4; Mic 6:1–2; Rev 17:9–10). So here in Rev 8:8 the imagery suggests the collapse of a kingdom. And given John’s time-frame and Jewish-focus, it speaks of the destruction of the nation of Israel.

More particularly though, in keeping with the exodus imagery so abundant in the trumpet judgments and throughout Rev, the “great mountain burning with fire” which was “thrown into the sea” (8:8a) reverses Israel’s Mount Sinai experience. At that original smoldering-mountain episode (Ex 19:16–18), God establishes Israel as a nation (Ex 19:5–6) after her exodus from Egyptian bondage (Ex 20:1). But here in Rev Israel as a nation is destroyed as she is “thrown” down “into the sea” as Rome overwhelms her.

But there is more! John’s imagery appears to be multi-faceted, for this reversal of their Sinai experience also applies Babylon-destruction imagery to Israel. When Babylon falls in the OT, Jeremiah likens it to being overwhelmed by the sea: “The sea has come up over Babylon; / She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves” (Jer 51:42). That image in Jeremiah almost certainly speaks of the flood of armies overflowing her, as John’s does here in Rev. Jeremiah also speaks of Babylon as a “burnt out mountain”: “‘Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, / Who destroys the whole earth,’ declares the LORD, / ‘And I will stretch out My hand against you, / And roll you down from the crags, / And I will make you a burnt out mountain’” (Jer 51:25).

But this is not all of the significance packed into this image!

The burning-mountain image focuses even more narrowly on a particularly significant result of the collapse of Jewish government in AD 70. It reflects the fiery destruction of Israel’s beloved temple — which destruction could not happen apart from the collapse of the Jewish state. This is significant in that, the temple is the central focus of Israel’s religious affections. And in the OT God’s temple is called a “holy mountain” (Isa 56:7), “the mountain of the house of the Lord” (2Ch 33:15; Isa 2:2–3; Mic 4:1–2; cp. Jer 26:18; Eze 43:12).

John probably also alludes to Jesus’ prophecy regarding the temple mount in Matt 21 (we must remember that John’s great prophecy is “the revelation of Jesus Christ” [Rev 1:1a]). After he cleanses the temple (Matt 21:12–13) and curses the fig tree (Matt 21:20), and just before he denounces the temple authorities (Matt 21:23–46), the Lord prophetically declares: “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it shall happen” (Matt 21:21). This points to the coming destruction of that temple which sat on the Temple mount.

John’s image of the burned mountain (temple-mount) cast into the sea anticipates the final destruction of Jerusalem-Babylon which is later expressed as follows: “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste! Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.’ Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer’” (18:19–21).

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For more study materials: www.KennethGentry.com

In AD 70 the Jewish temple sitting on the temple mount is burned as the Roman legions flood into Jerusalem over her toppled walls — as per the image in Rev 8:8. Josephus speaks of the elevated location of the temple: “Now this temple, as I have already said, was built upon a strong hill” (J.W. 5:5:1 §184). Thus, he records the terrible site of the temple’s burning with the following tragic words employing mountain-burning imagery:

“While the holy house was on fire, every thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by fighting. The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire.” (J.W. 6:5:1 §271–73)

The destruction of the temple is no small, local matter. It results in the final closing of the old covenant and the removal of the temple system. Preterism is not making much ado about nothing. And John most definitely uses imagery in his remarkable book — images such as a seven-headed beast, fire-breathing prophets, lion-headed locusts, and a woman standing on the moon.

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IS PRETERISM SPIRITUALLY DEPRESSING? (1)

PMT 2015-044 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A reader named Rick wonders if preterism is spiritually depressing. Here is his lengthy question. As you can tell from the involved nature of the inquiry, I will have to break it down into manageable chunks.

In this article I will basically present his question, then break it down into numbered sections for later analysis.

Reader’s Question

Dr. Gentry:

I checked out your website and that makes a lot of sense. I can understand most of your teaching regarding Revelation, but some of it is fuzzy. I can really see most of the history you describe and what has happened, but I have a hard time believing that much of the judgement is over unless it’s a foretaste/foreshadow of what’s to come. I know that some hold this view even though I didn’t pick it up from anyone else.

Covenantal Theonomy

(by Ken Gentry)

A defense of theonomic ethics against a leading Reformed critic.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

For example, a mountain burning like fire, a possible asteroid/meteor, being thrown into the sea and destroying everything is not an impossible or unreasonable thing. I know some Preterists may look at these big catastrophes in the book of Revelation and try to narrow them down to a very small thing in a small area such as the “mountain burning like fire” being a rock on fire used in a catapult by the Romans. I don’t think we should limit God’s ability to literally use the apocalyptic scenes, as described in the scripture, against the wicked one of these days. Any thoughts on this? I am in no way saying you are saying this, but I would like to know what you think when you get the time.

Some of the Preterist teachings have almost ruined my faith because there just doesn’t seem to be anything really to look forward to based on those teachings. No heavenly Jerusalem because it was never literal, no earthly judgement on the wicked avenging God’s people that have been massacred up to this point because it was already accomplished, no Jesus coming in glory as King in a supernatural setting because it was never literal, and so on.

It just seems when we start ridding the amazing supernatural scenes from the scripture that only Almighty God can accomplish and limiting his abilities to accomplish these amazing works, all we get is just another religion of the world with a God who cannot really do what he says. I by no means believe that. I believe Almighty God can accomplish any amazing work and means what he says. Any thoughts?

This has really been weighing in on my chest lately because it concerns me. If Revelation is 99% accomplished, what is there to really look forward to? What applies to us today? Why does Almighty God not speak to us today about anything coming if it has already come? What is our relevancy in this corrupt dark world?

Dispensationalism

(by Keith L. Mathison)

An important critical evaluation of dispensationalism from a Reformed perspective

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

I have no desire to live in this broken world and this broken world is not heaven to me. I remember hearing someone say that we should be in heaven on this earth right now. That doesn’t mean much to me. I understand from a spiritual viewpoint, but hopefully, not from a physical viewpoint. This world is chaos.

Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Rick

Georgia

Reader’s Issues

Upon considering his complex question, I will break it down into the following questions.

What is the mountain burning with fire in Rev 8:8? That text reads: “The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood.” Preterism seems to reduce this enormous catastrophe to a relatively minor occurrence.
Why can we not interpret Rev 8:8 as referring to a meteor strike and the enormous consequences resulting from it? Why should we discount a more literal understanding when it is entirely feasible? Are we limiting the supernatural power of God?
Does preterism discount our eternal hope in a glorified estate? If the new Jerusalem and the new heavens and new earth have already begun, what comfort is that since so much in the world is in such bad shape? Such thinking has almost ruined the writer’s faith.
If Revelation is basically fulfilled, what do we have to look forward to in the future as Christians? Is any of Revelation applicable to us today?

These are good questions, written under a genuine spiritual burden. I will interact with them in a brief series. Hopefully others will find these thoughts helpful.

ESCHATOLOGY IN THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY (2)

PMT 2015-043 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Postmillennialism involves the whole system of biblical doctrine. In the basic Christian philosophy of history, eschatology is a key plank. In my last blog article I began a brief overview of the basic elements of the Christian view of history. In that article I focused on the basic doctrine of God. I will now complete my overview by considering the remaining elements.

Creation

All of reality derives from a personal, moral, sovereign being. The Christian’s creational viewpoint puts man under God and over nature (Ge 1:26–27; Ps 8). It imparts transcendent meaning to temporal history and sets before man a high calling.

The entire Universe from the smallest atomic particle to the largest and farthest flung galaxy was created ex nihilo. It exists solely by the exercise of God’s creative will, and was brought into being by his sovereign, successive divine fiats (Ge 1:1; Ex 20:11; Heb 11:3). All facts and laws, all people and materials, trace their origin, meaning, and purpose back to God (Ps 24:1; Jn 1:4; Ro 11:36ff; Col 1:16–17; Rev 4:11.). Michael Goldberg reminds us that “for both Judaism and Christianity, ordinary, profane time is real, and it is real precisely because it — rather than some other ‘Great Time’ which transcends it — is the locus (and focus) of redemption and meaning.”[1]

Providence

God has an eternally decreed, minutely detailed, sovereignly determined, and unfailingly certain plan for the Universe. He personally and intimately administers this plan for his own glory (Ps 115:3; Pr 16:1–4, 9; Da 4:35; Mt 10:29, 30). Providence imparts transcendent meaning into the control of history. “The entire scheme of the Bible is structured around the movement ‘from creation to new creation by means of divine redemptive interventions.’”[2] God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11; cf. Ps 33:11; Isa 45:10–11). Providence is the alternative to the Chance and brute factuality (i.e., the unrelatedness of reality) of the non-Christian viewpoint.

Charismatic Gift of Prophecy

(by Ken Gentry)

A rebuttal to charismatic arguments for the gift of prophecy continuing in the church today.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Fall

Because of God’s testing of Adam, which results in Adam’s Fall (Ge 3:1–8), history becomes the battleground of Christ and Antichrist (Ge 3:15). Sin affects every aspect of human endeavor, distorting all of reality. We cannot understand our historical situation apart from the intrusion of sin, as an unnatural factor. Neither may we think of man’s fundamental problem as ontological, related to his finite being. Adam’s pre-Fall abilities were remarkable (Ge 2:15, 19–20), as will be our resurrected existence (1Co 15:42–53). Man’s fundamental problem is ethical, related to his rebellion against the Law of God (Ro 5:10; 8:7–8). Because of this he labors under God’s curse (Ge 3:15; Ro 5:12–19; Gal 3:10).

But God does not abandon history because of man’s Fall. History does, however, witness the rise of a new factor: redemption.

Redemption

A major motif of history is God’s redemptive activity in reconciling creation back to himself (Ge 3:15; Col 1:19–23). This will very powerfully and directly affect our understanding of biblical eschatology. God establishes his redemptive plan in order to bring wayward man back to himself. “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him” (Jn 3:17). We can possess no proper understanding of historical progress and direction when referring only to the Fall of man. We must take into account also the restorative acts of God in redemption. The division of history into BC and AD highlights Christ as the focal point of the historical process. Such an historical designation has theological implications. Some scholars opt for BCE and CE dating, which is a sign of an anti-Christian bias.

Revelation

God reveals himself and various aspects of his will infallibly and inerrantly in his Holy Word, the Bible: “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2Ti 3:16; cp. Jn 10:35; 2Pe 1:20, 21). The causative prophetic word of the Creator providentially governs history. God’s eternal decree, from which his prophetic Word springs into history, is neither abstract nor random; it is concrete and rational. It is not raw force, but structured power. God’s Word intelligibly constructs all things, “declaring the end from the beginning” (Isa 46:10; cp. Ps 33:11; 148:5; Heb 1:3; 11:3). God’s objective revelation in Scripture is foundational to a truly Christian eschatology.

The Climax of the Book of Revelation (Rev 19-22)

Six lectures on six DVDs that introduce Revelation as a whole,

then focuses on its glorious conclusion.

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Consummation

Not only does history have a beginning, but God is providentially guiding it to a particular end: “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Ac 17:31; cp. Isa 46:10; 55:11). Our labor on earth “is not in vain in the Lord” (1Co 15:58). We labor in the present with a view to the future — and ultimately to history’s consummation and the eternal state. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Php 3:20-21). In fact, “it was the Christian view of history that gave western civilization its remarkably widespread conviction that the future offers hope.”[3]

I can afford no more space to this important matter of the philosophy of history. But I urge you to keep these general statements in mind as you sturdy biblical eschatology from the postmillennial perspective. We are dealing with a very important matter: the Christian philosophy of universal history. We must recognize that “Scripture affirms that all history has a purpose and goal, that history is unrepeatable, and that it moves toward the final triumph of the good.”[4] To read much of popular eschatological literature, one could surmise that the Bible is an eschatological jigsaw puzzle, a grand trivial pursuit. Such is not the case.

Whether or not the entire course of world history is under the absolutely sovereign administration of the infinitely personal God of Scripture means everything to eschatological inquiry. Whether or not we view the Universe as God’s creation designed for his glory is fundamentally important. If God is not absolutely sovereign, some competing god or some countervailing principle or some unforeseen fortuity could throw a dark blanket of obscurity over the ultimate eschatological outcome of universal history and human existence. This would undermine any hope for a moral conclusion to world and universal history.

Regarding the facts of eschatological eventuation, God has an eternal plan that absolutely governs the origin, process, direction, and outcome of history. A Christian philosophy of history must insist that his will is determinative rather than responsive. God is not merely reacting against forces inherent within historical processes, whether resulting from a competing spiritual being or beings, or flowing from autonomous human activity, or arising from “natural” phenomena. Furthermore, God graciously and objectively reveals himself and his will to man. If neither of these biblical “givens” is true, then, hopelessness prevails. Denying the former, God himself cannot certainly know the future because it would be definitionally random and unknowable. Denying the latter, we could have no hope for lifting the veil of the future; our inquiry would be pure guess-work.

Notes

Michael Goldberg, Theology and Narrative: A Critical Introduction (Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2001), 56.
Kent E. Brower and Mark W. Elliott, eds. Eschatology in Bible & Theology: Evangelical Essays at the Dawn of a New Millennium. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1997), 22.
D. W. Bebbington, Patterns in History: A Christian View (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979), 42.
Carl F. H. Henry, God Who Stands and Stays: Part Two, in Carl Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1983), 6:493.

ESCHATOLOGY IN THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY (1)

PMT 2015-042 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Eschatology is a greatly abused feature of systematic theology. The modern evangelical world is filled with Rapture-theorists, Armageddon-fearers, and Antichrist-identifiers. The integrity of the Christian faith has taken a powerful hit due to the naivete of so many publications by “prophecy experts.”

Yet, eschatology is an important element within a full-orbed systematic theology. Despite its abuse by televangelists and novelists, we must be careful not to avoid it as an embarrassment to our holy faith. Indeed, we need to reclaim it as a fundamental feature of a Christian philosophy of history.

In this two-part study, I will outline some key elements of a biblical, Christian philosophy of history. At the end of this brief overview we will see how eschatology is one of those key elements that help define the faith.

The presuppositions undergirding the Christian philosophy of linear history include the following several elements, which I will only briefly present. We must bear these in mind as we engage in a study of postmillennialism, for if we do not we will throw eschatological inquiry into hopeless confusion. These elements undergird my understanding of the biblical eschatological system. The fundamental presuppositions of the Christian philosophy of history, which appear in both testaments, are: God, creation, providence, fall, redemption, revelation, and consummation.

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God

A proper view of history, its meaning, and purpose requires a proper view of God. God exists and is absolutely independent and wholly self-sufficient. In Exodus 3:14 he defines himself via his special covenantal name “YHWH” (“Yahweh / Jehovah”). This name is so prominent that the Scriptures can simply mention “the name” (Lev 24:11, 16). God jealously declares that this is his name “forever” (Ex 3:15). In Exodus 3:14 he identifies himself as: “I am that I am.” This self-designation is peculiarly important to our understanding of God. This name-statement is found in the imperfect tense in Hebrew, thereby emphasizing a constantly manifested quality.

From this name we may discern certain of God’s intrinsic qualities:

(1) His aseity: God exists of himself. He is wholly uncreated and self-existent. There is no principle or fact back of God accounting for his existence: “the Father has life in Himself” (Jn 5:26; Ac 17:25; cp. Isa 40:20–25). Indeed, “in the beginning God” (Ge 1:1a) — for he “created all things” (Eph 3:9).

(2) His eternity: He is of unlimited, eternal duration. The combination of the verb tense (imperfect) and its repetition (“I am” / “I am”) emphasize his uninterrupted, continuous existence. “From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Ps 90:2; cp. Ps 93:1–2; Isa 40:28; 57:15).

(3) His sovereignty: He is absolutely self-determinative. He determines from within his own being. He can declare absolutely “I am that I am,” without fear of any overpowering or countervailing entity to challenge him. As the Absolute One he operates with unfettered liberty. He is not conditioned by outward circumstance. He is what he is because he is what he is. He is completely self-definitional and has no need of anything outside of himself (Isa 40:9–31), for “I am God, and there is no one like Me” (Ex 9:14; cp. Isa 44:7; Jer 50:44).

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(4) His immutability: He declares “I, the LORD, do not change” (Mal 3:6). He is forever the same, for in him “there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (Jas 1:17). Thus, we can trust that he will not change his mind or his plan in governing history, for “God is not a man, / that He should lie, / Nor a son of man, / that He should repent; / Has He said, and will He not do it? / Or had He spoken, and will / He not make it good?” (Nu 23:19).

This view of God, though obviously widely-held by Christians, is important to establish if postmillennialism is to stand against the objections brought against it. Once we have the God of Scripture behind our eschatological hope, objections will vanish away.

IS AD 70 THE “END OF THE AGE”?

PMT 2015-041 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I am not always able to engage in theological discussion by email, due to my time constraints and the number of requests for such that I receive. But occasionally I will engage a discussion briefly. Here is one I just had with a PostmillennialismToday reader. It regards the two-age structure of history.

Edgar wrote:

I have a spanner to throw in the works if I may: Matthew 24:3 says ” What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

This could mean the end of the Old Testament age. I back this up with Jesus comments on the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven “in this age or the age to come” ( Matthew 12:32.)

“This age” – the old Testament age in which Jesus was at the time. “The age to come” the New Testament age. The Age to Come could not mean heaven or after Christ’s return because there is no sin in that age.

Gentry reply:

Actually I believe that “this age” is history and the “age to come” is eternity.

In Luke 20:34-36 we read: “Jesus said to them, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.’”

Jesus’ statement that blasphemy will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come means it will never be forgiven.

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Edgar:

Thank you for your prompt reply – please know that I do not intend to argue but to understand – hence my questions and proposals.

Where I am coming from in this discussion is the belief that the death of our Lord was a far more important event than many Christians realise. And therefore that our present age, the church age is very different from the previous Jewish dispensation. Here I refer to James Kennedy with “What if Jesus had never been born?” The earth would probably degenerated back into the immediate preflood era – filled with violence, whereas now the forces of darkness fight a long retreat as the forces of the Lord progressively occupy until He comes. I also cite Oswald Chambers concerning the death of Christ as well as my fellow South African, J J van den Burg, in his Gospel According to Luke.

God is making all things new from the inside out as it were – whereas the original creation was “top down” and ending with the creation of man, first his body then finally his spirit, breathed into him by God, the New Creation begins with the creation of the new race of humans – in the reverse order first the new spirit in the born again experience…. There are now two species of humans on the planet ! – the saved and the lost.

As we Postmillenialists believe, this age, the church age ends very well, precisely because of the death of Christ !

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Gentry:

I agree with your disappointment that Christians do not better comprehend the implications of Christ’s death and the changes he effected thereby. For instance, he began in spiritual principle the new creation.

Actually, because of Christ the present age (history) is being impacted by the age to come (eternity). We see this in that we are new creations (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15), are spiritually resurrected (John 5:24-27; Eph 2:6), and so forth. We live in the now / not yet era of mixed realities: we are in the old creation though we are new creation beings.

Thus, we live in the great overlap of the ages. But we are only in the overlap, not the fullness of the age to come. We have “tasted the powers of the age to come” (Heb 6:5). This does distinguish the new covenant era from the old covenant era, but we still endure old covenant era physical death and so forth, which is a characteristic of the present age.

Therefore the end of the age has not yet come, consequently we are to continue evangelizing (Matt 28:20) because the unbelievers have not yet been finally separated from the believers (Matt 13:39-40, 49). And we are to continue instructing men to deny ungodliness in this age (Tit 2:12). And we remain “sons of this age” because we marry and are given in marriage (Luke 20:34).

CREATION, EDEN, AND POSTMILLENNIALISM

PMT 2015-040 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The God of creation is a God of covenant. Scripture structures God’s relationship to and rule over both man and creation in covenantal terms.

Creation Covenant

Though the term “covenant” (Heb.: berith) does not appear in Genesis 1, the constitutive elements of a covenant are there. Jeremiah, however, uses the word “covenant” of creation. In Jeremiah 33:24-25 the creation covenant that secures the regularity of the days and seasons serves as a ground of hope in God’s covenantal faithfulness to his people in the world: “This is what the Lord says: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’”

Hosea 6:7 also indicates a covenantal framework for Adam’s Edenic experience: “Like Adam, they have broken the covenant — they were unfaithful to me there.”

In the creation covenant, God appoints man as his vice-regent over the earth. The Lord creates man in his image and places all creation under him to be developed to God’s glory. Although a rich constellation of ideas cluster around the image of God, textually we know that at least one major concept involves man’s rule over the earth:

“Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. . . .’ God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Gen. 1:26, 28).

As the image of God under covenantal obligation, Adam and Eve must develop human culture to his glory, exercising righteous dominion over all the earth. This, of course, cannot be done by Adam and Eve alone, so God blesses and commands them: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth” so that they might obediently “subdue it” (Gen. 1:28a). The empowerment to dominion (the “image of God”) for man’s good (“God blessed them”) is followed up with the authorization (“let them rule”) and the obligation (“God . . . said to them　.　.　, Rule’”) to dominion.

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And in that human culture is the sum deposit of man’s normative activities in the world, this necessitates the corporate activity of men working in concert. This requires social order and civil polity to promote the development of civilization and the progress of culture. Contrary to humanistic evolutionary assumptions the Bible infallibly records early man’s development of culture. In fact, it proceeds at a remarkably rapid pace: man begins cattle farming, creates musical instruments, and works with metals while Adam is still living (Gen. 4:17-22). This is man’s holy calling, his God-ordained, creational drive. As Gary North puts it: “Man must exercise dominion. It is part of his nature to do so.” [1]

Tragically though, sin enters the world so that “as a result of the fall . . . man’s urge to dominion is now a perverted one, no longer an exercise of power under God and to his glory, but a desire to be God. This was precisely the temptation of Satan, that every man should be his own god, deciding for himself what constitutes right and wrong (Gen. 3:5).” [2]

Edenic Covenant

In response to man’s rebellious treason, God, who creates the world for his own glory, acts in sovereign mercy to initiate covenantal redemption in order to effect reconciliation with his fallen creature. In the very historical context of the fall God promises redemption and pledges to crush Satan who sparks man’s rebellion. To the serpent used by and representative of Satan, God says: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). This is the Edenic covenant, which is the foundation of redemption and supplements the creation covenant.

Here we have the protoevangelium, the first promise of the gospel. This passage anticipates struggle in history: the seeds of the representative participants in the fall will engage in mortal conflict. Ultimately, this is a cosmic struggle between Christ and Satan, a contest played out on earth and in time between the city of man (under the dominion of Satan) and the city of God. Its historical nature is crucial to grasp: the fall occurs in history; the struggle ensues in history; the focal seed of the woman appears in history (the historical Christ who is the incarnation of the transcendent Creator, John 1:1-3, 14).

Significantly for the eschatological debate this historical struggle ends in historical victory: the seed of the woman (Christ) crushes the seed of the serpent (Satan). We know from the New Testamental evidence that the historical crucifixion and resurrection of Christ legally effect Satan’s ruin: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15). Indeed, this is a fundamental motive to his incarnation, for “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8b; cp. Heb. 2:14). We further learn that Christ’s redemptive labor will have consequences in history: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:31-32). Christ’s historical lifting up, on which his victory is predicated, occurs either at the crucifixion, resurrection, or ascension — or most probably all three considered as a redemptive unit.

Sovereignty of God

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Postmillennialists emphasize the covenantal crushing of Satan in history at Christ’s first advent, with its results being progressively worked out in history on the plane of Adam’s original rebellion, Satan’s consequent struggle, and Christ’s incarnational intrusion. The protoevangelium promises in seed form (no pun intended) the victory of Christ in history, just as the fall and its effects are in history. The First Adam’s fall will be overcome by the Second Adam’s lifting up. God does not abandon history.

Notes

1. Gary North, The Dominion Covenant, 29.

2. Rousas John Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, 448.

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