Title: Unraveling the End A Biblical Synthesis of Competing Views
1Unraveling the EndA Biblical Synthesis of
Competing Views
2- Few doctrines unite and separate Christians as
much as eschatology... - ...One of the most divisive elements in recent
Christian history. - Christianity Today February 6,
1987 p-1-I
32 Guidelines
4SUMMARY 7 Reasons Why Vital
- How much of the Bible is involved?
- How much salvation do we currently have?
- How much of the kingdom do we currently have?
- What do you do with the modern-day nation of
Israel? - Its the focal point of the liberal-skeptic
attack on the Bible and Deity of Christ. - It makes a difference in your worldview
- It makes a difference in your life and family
5Four Abuses
- Tendency to import or add things not there in the
text. - Inconsistently applying literal or symbolic
meanings. - Accepting a belief because it was simply told
us. - Stubborn resistance to change when confronted
with scriptural evidence.
6Four Views(in order of prominence)
- 1 Premillennial (Dispensational)
- 2 Amillennial
- 3 Postmillennial
- 4 Preterist
7Unraveling the EndA Biblical Synthesis of
Competing Views
83 Postmillennial View
- Motivated our forefathers in the faith to come to
America . . . - Not just to escape religious persecution.
- But to expand the kingdom of God.
- And help Christianize the world.
- Better and better as society was transformed.
- Each Christians individual responsibility.
93 Postmillennial View
- discredited
- World War I and World War II
- Atom Bomb
- Threat of a nuclear Armageddon
- Moral decline of society,
- Rebirth of the nation of Israel (1948)
103 Postmillennial View
- . . . there used to be a group called
postmillennialists. . . . World War I greatly
disheartened this group and World War II
virtually wiped out this viewpoint. No
self-respecting scholar who looks at the world
conditions and the accelerating decline of
Christian influence today is a postmillennialist.
- Hal Lindsey,
- The Late Great Planet Earth, 164-165.
113 Postmillennial View
- Are SURE Christs Second Coming is future
(happens after the 1,000 years) - Be personal, visible, bodily, and in great glory
ending history at the end of time. - But will not occur any time soon.
- All three other Four Chief Moments are also
future.
123 Postmillennial View
- Optimistic kingdom orientation.
- Rarely, if ever, charged with heresy.
- A lot of Scripture to back their view . . . for .
. . - Earthly and historical success of the gospel.
- Growth of the present and earthly kingdom of God
in this present age. - Victory within history . . . in terms of
converting a sizeable portion of humankind to
Christianity. - All of which must take place BEFORE Christ can
return.
133 Postmillennial ViewScriptures
- Genesis 128
- Isaiah 96-7
- Ezekiel 471-12
- Daniel 235 244 727-28
- Luke 133
- Mark 115
143 Postmillennial ViewScriptures
- Growth parables
-
- SEED scattered on the ground produces the harvest
(Mark 426-29). - MUSTARD SEED into a tree (Matt. 13 31-32 Mark
430-32 Luke 1318-19). - YEAST throughout the dough (Matt. 1333 Luke
1320-21).
153 Postmillennial ViewScriptures
- Great Commission (Matt. 2818-20)
- All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I will be with you always, to
the very end of the age.
16(No Transcript)
173 Postmillennial ViewScriptures
- Matthew 2414
- And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached
in the whole world as a testimony to all nations,
and then the end will come.
18- During the past sixteen years I can recollect
only two occasions on which I have heard sermons
specifically devoted to the theme of the Kingdom
of God. . . . I find this silence rather
surprising because it is universally agreed by
New Testament scholars that the central theme of
the teaching of Jesus was the Kingdom of God. - quoting Dr. I. Howard Marshall of the
University of Aberdeen - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 59.
19Supportive Quotes
- "the great omission . . . why . . . today's
church is so weak" - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 40f.
- "reductionism of the gospel"
- Darrell Guder, The Continuing Conversion of
the Church, xiiif. -
- the gospel we proclaim has been shrunk
- Robert Lynn, Far as the curse is found in
Breakpoint Worldview magazine, Oct. 06, 14. - we have settled for a little gospel, a
miniaturized version that cannot address the
robust problems of our world - Scot McKnight, The 8 Marks of a Robust
Gospel in Christianity Today magazine, March
2008, 36.
20Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 1) Fulfilling the assignment of preaching the
Kingdom is the key to the timing of the return of
Christ. Jesus said that the end will come after
the gospel of the Kingdom is preached to all
nations. . . . The fact that Jesus has not come
back yet is proof that His assignment, which He
delegated to His followers in every generation,
has not yet been fulfilled.
21Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 2) How many churches today are actively and
conscientiously preaching the gospel of . . . .
the Kingdom of God? Not just any message will
do. . . . Jesus will return only when the message
of the Kingdom has been proclaimed in all the
earth, and that proclamation is the Churchs
responsibility.
22Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 3) In Africa, many African believers have
never heard the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
They know Jesus, but they have never been taught
about their status and rights as sons and
daughters of God and citizens and heirs of His
Kingdom. . . . Even in Europe and the West . . .
few people have heard the gospel of the Kingdom.
Yet Many have heard about Jesus. . . .
23Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 4) Some have heard the wrong message of the
Kingdom. . . . that is perhaps the most serious
deficiency of all. . . . The gospel of the
Kingdom of God . . . must be carefully defined so
that there are no ambiguities. . . .
24Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 5) One of the reasons the Church is not more
effective at reaching the nations is because we
are not preaching the message they need to hear.
. . . Unfortunately many in the Church have
discovered the King but they have no clue about
the Kingdom that He came to bring to mankind.
25Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 6) So much time today we get the message wrong
by preaching the good news of heaven. The two
are not the same. We tell people to put their
faith in Jesus for salvation and then we focus on
heaven as our goal and destination. Jesus never
preached heaven. The disciples never preached
heaven, and neither should we. There may be a lot
of appeal to the idea of going to heaven . . .
but people struggling with daily life on earth .
. . . need to hear the good news of the Kingdom
of heaventhe rule of God has come to earth and
all can experience the reality of that world.
26Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 7) People everywhere are looking for the
Kingdom, even if they dont recognize it by that
name. . . . People are not looking for religion
they are looking for power, and the Kingdom
offers power. . . . If we preach the gospel of
the Kingdom of God, people will respond.
27Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 8) When we preach Christ without preaching also
about the Kingdom of God, we do people a great
disservice. . . . Jesus preached the Kingdom, but
the Church preaches so many other things rather
than the Kingdom. . . . Its the lost message of
Jesus that needs to be resurrected in our times.
28Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 9) The gospel of the Kingdom is the only true
gospel. Anything else we preach is not the true
gospel, or at least, not the complete gospel.
Preaching about Jesus Christ is a vital and
essential part of preaching the gospel of the
Kingdom, because He is our way into the Kingdom.
Just because we place our faith in Christ,
however, does not mean that we automatically
understand either what it means to be a citizen
of the Kingdom or how to live like one.
29Rediscovering the Kingdomby Myles Munroe
- 10) Every one of the 7 billion people on planet
earth is seeking the Kingdom of God, which is
their ultimate fulfillment. Every religion and
activity of mankind is mans attempt to find the
Kingdom. It is the pearl that out-values all
pearls, and the only treasure that is worth all
the other treasures of life. The Kingdom is life
itself. . . . and The king is the central
component of a kingdom and embodies the essence
of the kingdom.
303 Postmillennial View
- Demise
- 1) Negative world events.
- 2) Absorbed into the social gospel movement.
- 3) Charges of being triumphalistic.
- 4) A small band of modern-day postmillennial
scholars fight back.
31Onward, Christian Soldiers (1865)
- Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to
war,With the cross of Jesus going on
before.Christ, the royal Master, leads against
the foeForward into battle see His banners go! - At the sign of triumph Satans host doth
fleeOn then, Christian soldiers, on to
victory!Hells foundations quiver at the shout
of praiseBrothers lift your voices, loud your
anthems raise.
32Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus (1858)
- Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
- Ye soldiers of the cross,
- Lift high His royal banner,
- It must not suffer loss
- From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
- Till every foe is vanquished
- And Christ is Lord indeed.
33Joy to the World! (1719)
- (1) Joy to the world, the Lord is come!Let
earth receive her KingLet every heart prepare
Him room,And heaven and nature sing,And heaven
and nature sing,And heaven, and heaven, and
nature sing.
34Joy to the World! (1719)
- (2) Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!Let men
their songs employWhile fields and floods,
rocks, hills and plainsRepeat the sounding
joy,Repeat the sounding joy,Repeat, repeat, the
sounding joy.
35Joy to the World! (1719)
- (3) No more let sins and sorrows grow,Nor
thorns infest the groundHe comes to make His
blessings flowFar as the curse is found,Far as
the curse is found,Far as, far as, the curse is
found.
36Joy to the World! (1719)
- (4) He rules the world with truth and grace,And
makes the nations proveThe glories of His
righteousness,And wonders of His love,And
wonders of His love,And wonders, wonders, of His
love.
37???
- For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
- And the dawning to noonday bright,
- And Christs great kingdom shall come to earth,
- The kingdom of peace and light.
- Weve a Story to Tell to the Nations
- (1896)
38(No Transcript)
39- the most serious error in much of the current
prophetic teaching is the claim that the future
of Christendom is to be read not in terms of
revival and victory, but of growing impotence and
apostasy. - Oswald T. Allis, in Foreword to Roderick
Campbell, Israel and the New Covenant, ix.
403 Postmillennial View
- The bottom line for why postmillennialists think
their view is hated so much nowadays is this - Their view of exercising dominion in history .
. . . teaches responsibility. - Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.,
- He Shall Have Dominion, back cover.
413 Postmillennial View
- Duration of the Millennium
- Some say figuratively.
- Lasts longer than a literal thousand years.
- We are living in it now.
- Not something to come cataclysmically at some
future time.
423 Postmillennial View
- Duration of the Millennium
- Others believe we are not now living in the
millennium. - See it as a special and future golden age of
peace and prosperity, of gospel success, and the
triumph of good over evil. - May or may not be a literal thousand years in
length.
433 Postmillennial View
- End of the Millennium
- The end of time and the end of history coming
after the millennium at Christs Second Coming. - Proceeded by a brief period of apostasy and
conflict between Christian and evil forces . . . - Headed up by the end-time antichrist.
443 Postmillennial View
- End of the Millennium
- Christ taking his Church to be with Him.
- The resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.
- An end to all earthly existence and to the earth
itself. - The final judgment.
- The beginning of the eternal state.
- A totally new or renewed earththe new heavens
and new earth.
45- This does not mean that there ever will be a
time on this earth when every person will be a
Christian, or that all sin will be abolished.
But it does mean that evil in all its many forms
eventually will be reduced to negligible
proportions, that Christian principles will be
the rule, not the exception, and that Christ will
return to a truly Christianized world. - Loraine Boettner, The Millennium, 14.
46- C.S. Lewis condemn it as
- the idea which here shuts out the Second Coming
from our minds. - Idea for the world slowly ripening to
perfection as a myth . . . which distracts us
from our real duties and our real interest. - C.S. Lewis, The Worlds Last Night
(1960), in The Essential C.S. Lewis, Lyle
W. Dorsett, ed., 388.
47(No Transcript)
483 Postmillennial View
- Many Comings of Christ
- Includes his return in judgment coming in A.D.
70. - His future final coming in glory and consummation
at the end of time. - In the meantime and in between there have been,
are, and will be many comings of Christ in
various ways.
493 Postmillennial View
- One More Big Problem Re Matt. 2414
- According to the Bible itself, the gospel of the
kingdom was preached to all nations and to the
world in that 1st century. - Col 16, 23
- Rom. 18 1018 1626
- Acts 18 25 245
- Luke 21
- The Greek word world is oikoumene, meaning
land . . . specifically the Roman Empire. - Jesus prerequisite is past in fulfillment and
was satisfied over 1900 years ago.
504 Preterist View
- The least known.
- But now the chief recipient of heresy charges.
- The easiest view to present.
- But perhaps the hardest to believe.
514 Preterist View
- Preterist is derived from the Latin word
praeterwhich means past. - Used in verb forms (past tense).
- In eschatology it means past in fulfillment.
524 Preterist View
- Two Basic Types
- Full preterists
- Partial preterists.
534 Full Preterist View
- All Four Chief Moments are past in fulfillment.
- During the Jewish-Roman War of A.D. 66-70.
- Sure this was Christs Second Coming and Return.
- A non-visible coming in judgment.
- But it was personal and glorious.
- No future coming or comings of Jesus following
A.D. 70.
54Criticisms
- the position sounds so bizarre that some may
wonder if it seriously deserves to be refuted. - . . . of sacrificing the plain sense of every
other prophecy about the return of Christ and
end-times events. - heresy of the worst stripe
- sub-Christian heresy.
- is currently overthrowing the faith of many.
- John MacArthur,
- The Second Coming, 11, 13, 223.
55Critical Assessment
- the debate is shaping up as a showdown between
preterism and futurism. -
- Thomas Ice and Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.,
- The Great Tribulation Past or Future?, 6.
- early forms of preterism were mild and
underdeveloped by todays standards. - Thomas Ice Timothy Demy,
- When the Trumpet Sounds, 14.
569.5 Theses
- 1. Everything Jesus said would happen, happened
exactly as and when He said it wouldwithin the
lifetime of his contemporaries. - 2. Everything every New Testament writer
expected to happen, happened exactly as and when
they expected it wouldwithin their lifetimeas
they were guided into all truth and told the
things that were to come by the Holy Spirit (John
1613).
579.5 Theses
- 3. Scholars across a broad spectrum are in
general agreement that this is exactly how every
NT writer and the early Church understood Jesus
words. If they were wrong on something this
important, how can we trust them to have conveyed
other aspects of the faith accurately, such as
the requirements for salvation?
589.5 Theses
- 4. No inspired NT writer, writing twenty or
more years later, ever corrected their
Holy-Spirit-guided understanding and fulfillment
expectations (John 1613). Neither should we.
Instead, they intensified their language . . . .
- 5. Partial fulfillment is not satisfactory. 3
out of 5, 7 out of 10, etc., wont work. Partial
does not pass the test of a true prophet (Deut.
1818-22). Again, Jesus time-restricted all of
his end-time predictions to occur within the
1st-century time frame.
599.5 Theses
- 6. God is faithful (2 Pet. 39) and not a man
that he should lie (Num. 2319). Faithfulness
means not only doing what was promised, but also
doing it when it was promised. -
609.5 Theses
- 7. 1st-century, fulfillment expectations were the
correct ones and everything happened, right on
timeno gaps, no gimmicks, no interruptions, no
postponements, no delays, no exegetical
gymnastics, and no changing the meaning of
commonly used and normally understood words.
Such manipulative devices have only given
liberals and skeptics a foothold to discredit
Christs Deity and the inerrancy of Scripture.
619.5 Theses
- 8. What needs adjusting is our understanding of
both the time and nature of fulfillment, and not
manipulation of the time factor to conform to our
popular, futuristic, and delay expectations. - 9. The kingdom of God was the central teaching
of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a present but
greatly under-realized reality, and must again
become the central teaching of his Church.
629.5 Theses
- 9.5 We have been guilty of proclaiming a
half-trutha partially delivered faith to the
world and to fellow Christians. We must repent
and earnestly contend for the faith that was
once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). - If Christianity has been as effective as it has
by proclaiming that Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
came, died for our sins, bodily arose from the
dead, and ascended to Heaven at just the right
time (Rom. 56 Dan. 924-27), how much more
effective might it be if we started preaching,
teaching, and practicing the whole truthi.e., a
faith in which everything else also happened at
just the right time, exactly as and when Jesus
said it would and every NT writer expected (John
1613). Dare we continue to settle for less?
634 Preterist View
- The Three Biggest Problems
- 1) I just cant believe everything is fulfilled
and over. - My eyes arent seeing what these words are
saying! - If all was fulfilled, wheres our hope?
644 Preterist View
- Great Service
- The first is the time-frame references of the
New Testament regarding eschatological prophecy.
The preterist is a sentinel standing guard
against frivolous and superficial attempts to
downplay or explain away the force of these
references. -
- R.C. Sproul,
- The Last Days According to Jesus, 202-203.
654 Preterist View
- Great Service
- The second major issue is the destruction of
Jerusalem. This event certainly spelled the end
of a crucial redemptive-historical epoch. It must
be viewed as the end of some age. It also
represents a significant visitation of the Lord
in judgment and a vitally important day of the
Lord. Whether this was the only day of the Lord
about which Scripture speaks remains a major
point of controversy among preterists. -
- R.C. Sproul,
- The Last Days According to Jesus, 202-203.
664 Partial Preterist View
- For some it means some or most end-time
prophecies were fulfilled, but not all. - For others it means all or most were fulfilled
in some sense but and await a more complete,
final, or ultimate fulfillment when the Lord
returns in the future at the end of time.
67- I am convinced that the substance of the Olivet
Discourse as fulfilled in A.D. 70 and that the
bulk of Revelation was likewise fulfilled in that
timeframe. . . . -
- While partial preterists acknowledge that in
the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a
parousia or coming of Christ, they maintain that
it was not the parousia. That is, the coming of
Christ in A.D. 70 was a coming in judgment on the
Jewish nation, indicating the end of the Jewish
age and the fulfillment of a day of the Lord,
Jesus really did come in judgment at this time,
fulfilling his prophecy in the Olivet Discourse.
But this was not the final or ultimate coming of
Christ. . . . which will be universal in scope
and significance. It will come . . . at the end
of human history as we know it. It will be, not
merely a day of the Lord, but the final and
ultimate day of the Lord. - R.C. Sproul, The Last Days According to Jesus,
158.
68(No Transcript)
69- The modern revival of preterism represents an
interesting and important paradigm shift in
eschatology. -
- The advantage of preterism is that is saves the
phenomena of the New Testament time-frame
references it interprets biblical prophecy
according to the images used in Scripture itself
and it offers a framework for consistent
interpretation of the difficult apocalyptic
literature of the Bible, such as that found in
Daniel and Revelation.... - Serious study and dialogue are needed if we are
to reach agreement as to how far preterism is to
go and what remains for the hope of the churchs
and the cosmos future in the full plan of
redemptive history. - R.C. Sproul, in Foreword, And It Came To Pass
- The Third Annual C.E.F. Symposium Preterism,
vii.
70Four Views(in order of prominence)
- 1 Premillennial (Dispensational)
- 2 Amillennial
- 3 Postmillennial
- 4 Preterist
71Recap 2 Questions
- How much end-time prophecy was relevant to his
original audience? - Premillennialists, none of it or little of it
was. - Amillennialists, some of it was.
- Postmillennialists, most of it was.
- Preterists, all of it was relevant and
fulfilled, right on time. - What do you say?
72Recap 2 Questions
- 2) Whos right?
- Premillennialists the very-soon future
fulfillment of all things. - Amillennialists some past partial fulfillment
but mostly future fulfillment whose time we
cannot know. - Postmillennialists a lot of past partial
fulfillment but significant far-away future
fulfillment. - Preterists past fulfillment of all things.
- What do you think?
73Early Church Fathers(2nd-4th centuries)
- At least four subscribed to a preterist (past
fulfillment) understanding that . . . - At least some of Jesus all these things (Mt.
2434) had indeed occurred within the time span
Jesus had specified. - i.e., this generation.
74Eusebius a preterist view
- It is fitting to add to these accounts the true
prediction of our Saviour in which he foretold
these events . . . .For there shall be great
tribulation . . . . These things took place in
this manner, in the second year of the reign of
Vespasian A.D. 70, in accordance to the
prophecies of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ .
. . . - Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3,
Ch.7, in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
Vol. 1, 141.
75Eusebius a preterist view
- . . . the abomination of desolation, proclaimed
by the prophets Dan. 927, stood in the very
temple of God . . . which was now awaiting its
total destruction by fire. -
- Ibid, Book 3, Ch.5., 138.
76Eusebius a preterist view
- Moses had foretold this very thing and in due
course Christ sojourned in this life, and the
teaching of the new covenant was borne to all
nations, and at once the Romans besieged
Jerusalem and destroyed it and the Temple there.
At once the whole of the Mosaic law was
abolished, with all that remained of the Old
Covenant. - Eusebius, Proof of the Gospel, Book. I, Ch. 6,
35.
77Eusebius a preterist view
- Recorded that in obedience to the Lords Olivet
Discourse instructions, 1st-century Christians
fled from Jerusalem to Pella in Transjordan
around A.D. 68 after the first siege and before
the second one,(1) . . . . and no Christians were
trapped and destroyed in the siege of Jerusalem
which concluded in A.D.70.(2) - (1) Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book III,
V. 86, 138. - (2) Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3,
Ch. 5, 138.
78Eusebius a preterist view
- For so it was prophesied concerning the
destruction of the royal glory of the Jewish
nation . . . . Yea, in return for their insults
to the Lord who thus prophesied, there has not
failed for them lamentation, mourning and
wailing. And it was only after our Saviour came
. . . . laying their Temple low, and driving them
from their country, to serve their enemies in a
hostile land . . . . - Eusebius, W.J. Ferrar, ed., The Proof of the
Gospel, Book 7, Ch. 4, 144, 146 on Zechariah
141-5.
79Eusebius a preterist view
- When, then, we see what was of old foretold for
the nations fulfilled in our own day, and when
the lamentation and wailing that was predicted
for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and
its utter destruction, can also be seen even now
to have occurred according to the prediction,
surely we must also agree that the King who was
prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since
the signs of His coming have been shewn in each
instance I have treated to have been clearly
fulfilled. - Ibid., 147.
80Clement of Alexandria a preterist view
- . . . in the one week, was He Lord. The
half of the week Nero held sway, and in the holy
city Jerusalem placed the abomination and in the
half of the week he was taken away, and Otho, and
Galba, and Vitallus. And Vespasian rose to the
supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem, and
desolated the holy place. - Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or
Miscellanies, Vol. 2, Book 1, in The
Ante-Nicene Fathers, 329.
81Athanasius a preterist view
- And Jerusalem is to stand till his coming, and
thenceforth, prophet and vision cease in
IsraelAnd this was why Jerusalem stood till
then?namely that there they might be exercised in
the types as a preparation for the realitybut
from that time forth all prophecy is sealed and
the city and temple taken, why are they so
irreligious and so perverse as to see what has
happened, and yet to deny Christ, - Who has brought it all to pass? What then has
not come to pass, that the Christ must do? What
is left unfulfilled, that the Jews should now
disbelieve with impunity? - Athanasius, Incarnation of the Word,
- Section 39 Verse 3, Section 40 Verses 1-7 in
The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 57-58.