CIM Briefing Papers
C.I.M. Outline #25
Christianity and the Future
I. Introduction
A. In theology it is known as the study of Eschatology.
The study of "future " or "final" things. How God will
wrap-up, or conclude history.
B. Importance:
1. What we believe about the future determines in a
large measure how we live in the here and now.
This is true both at the personal level and
corporately, in that it affects how the church
views its ministry in the world.
"Since everything will be destroyed in this way,
what kind of people ought you to be? You ought
to live holy and godly lives as you look forward
to the day of God and speed its coming." (IIPet.
3:11,12a).
2. That Christ will again return to earth is a
fundamental of the faith. To deny that Christ
will one day return to earth is to be less than
orthodox. "I will come back..." Jn. 14:3.
II. The Problem, or Crisis in Eschatology
A. It has been estimated that over one-half of the NT
is about the future Kingdom, i.e., Christ's return.
Critics of the Bible in the previous century, and
in the 20th, therefore say Christ's mission was a
failure since his kingdom has not been realized in
two thousand years of history.
B. Those who believe the Bible readily agree on the
fact of Christ's return, but there has been no
strong consensus in church history as to how the
final days (or order of events) will come about.
C. Among some Bible believers and sects there has been
undue speculation and unsuccessful date-setting
which has damaged the credibility of many and has
harmed the reputation of the church as a whole.
Some current examples:
1. The book 88 REASONS WHY THE RAPTURE COULD
OCCUR IN 1988.
2. Each Psalm contains hidden prophecy for that
particular year. For example: Psalm 90
contains hidden prophecy for events that will
occur in 1990, from Psalm 91, events for 1991,
etc. (J.R. Church)
3. God allowed the Hubble telescope to be flawed
because the New Jerusalem is now approaching
the earth and God did not want it to be
revealed at this time.
4. Equating the recent rise of Iraq with the
rebuilding of the city of Babylon which the
Bible says will never again be inhabited. See
Jer. 50:39.
III. Interpreting Prophecy
A. The liberal approach. Because of its naturalistic
bias, prophecy must be demythologized. It holds to
non-literal spiritual fulfillment. Prophecy
(apocalyptic literature) is studied as a form of
ancient literature.
B. The evangelical approach. Since they believe the
Bible is a supernatural book, fore-telling the future
is no problem. The problem is interpretative. What
method of interpretation can I use to arrive at the
meaning intended by the original authors?
1. Some prerequisites:
a. Knowledge of the historical situation.
What crisis or problem caused the writer to
pen this book? This involves a great deal
of historical study of both internal, or
biblical sources, and external, or non
biblical sources. Archaeology plays a key
role here.
b. Language requirements. To be an accurate
interpreter one must know the original
languages and what the words meant at that
time, and in the context of the passage.
c. The symbolic language of prophetic passages
must be studied in the light of the Bible's
overall usage of the symbols. Take the
symbol of leaven for example; it does not
always mean the same thing. To be an
accurate interpreter, a significant grasp
of the Bible as a whole is necessary. For
example, much of the symbolism in The
Revelation is borrowed from the books of
Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel.
d. When studying prophecy it is helpful to
have a grasp of historical theology, that
is, what the great theologians of the
church have taught. This is, of course,
not an infallible rule. Even the great
ones have made errors, but it should make
us precede with caution when we oppose
them!
2. Why the differences? Several plausible
explanations:
a. Different levels of knowledge. Let's face
it, some have a better grasp of the
original languages than others. The same
goes for the historical situation, etc.
b. Theological bias has a great deal to do
with the interpretative scheme we use.
c. World events and the cultural climate often
influence our interpretation of Scripture.
For example: Augustine saw Christianity
become the official religion of the Roman
empire. He naturally thought Christ would
return at the end of the millennium.
During WWII many saw Hitler as the
Antichrist because of his persecution of
the Jews.
IV. Three Main Interpretive Schemes for Interpreting Prophecy
A. They are based upon how they answer the following
questions:
1. What is the nature of the kingdom?
2. Will the Church be successful in evangelizing the
world?
3. How does Israel and the Church relate to each
other in God's overall plan?
4. Will Israel be revived as a nation to receive all
the promises made to David?
5. Will there be a literal 1000 year reign of Christ
on earth as revealed in Rev. 20:6?
B. Three views of the Future:
1. Postmillennialism: Christ will come after the
millennium or Golden Age. The millennium is
generally not seen as a literal 1000 year period.
One form holds that the present church age will
culminate in the entire world becoming
"Christianized." When this occurs a golden age
will commence for 1000 years (or longer) after
which Christ will come. This view tends to be
very optimistic about the mission of the Church
("the gates of hell will not prevail..." Matt.
16:18). Many of the great hymns of the church
have a very strong postmillennial flavor.
2. Premillennialism: Christ will return to earth and
establish a literal 1000 year kingdom on earth. A
literal nation of Israel will be prominent among
the nations. (See Rom 11).
3. Amillennialism: There is no literally 1000 year
kingdom followed by Christ's return, only the last
judgement followed by the eternal state which
begins after Christ returns to judge the earth.
One variation of this view holds that the eternal
state is a literal kingdom on earth, the New
Earth, that is.
V. Some Perspectives on the Study of Eschatology
A. The purpose of Prophecy in Scripture is not to simply
satisfy our curiosity about future things, but to
motivate individual Christians to holy living and for
the Church to keep a proper focus on its task in the
present world.
B. The doctrine of eschatology should be one of the last
things new believers try to master.
C. Except for the belief that Christ will return again to
the earth in bodily form, various schemes of the last
days should not be held with a rigid dogmatism, nor
should they be a point of fellowship. In otherwords,
how we interpret the beast in Rev. 13 should not be the
grounds for determining with whom we fellowship. The
grounds of fellowship are given in IIJohn.
D. We must be careful not to interpret prophecy in light
of current events, which some call "newspaper
exegesis".
E. Rather we must be assiduous students of the Word,
always laboring to find the author's original intent as
it was meant for its original readers.
F. Never hold views concerning the Last Days in such a
rigid manner that we are not willing to listen to new
ideas or be open to new discoveries from scholarly
research. Occasionally, read a prophetic book of the
Bible (like Revelation) as though you have never read
it before.
G. Be careful not to romanticize the modern state of
Israel. Rabbinical Judaism is a false cult and not a
valid way to God. This view does not make one anti-
semitic. Old Testament Judaism, while true does not go
far enough. The New Covenant announced in Jer. 32-33
is now in affect.
H. As much as possible, attempt to be aware of modern
biblical studies which challenge us to re-think old and
cherished prophetic interpretations. For example:
1. New studies indicate that there are strong
arguments that all the books of the New Testament
were written before 70 A.D. including the book of
Revelation. This makes a great deal of difference
as to how the message related to the original
readers.
2. New studies from the Dead Sea Scroll material is
shedding much new light on the theological beliefs
in Palestine in the early First Century. For
example, scholars believe the writer of the book
of Revelation was familiar with the non-canonical
book of Enoch, which is a book of similar genre.
Jude, the half-brother of Jesus quotes from two of
these books, including this book of Enoch. See
Jude 4, and 9.
3. We need to re-think the importance of Christ's
curse on the nation of Israel in Matthew 23, and
the events which He prophesied in Matt. 24.
Perhaps the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. plays a
more significant role than we think in such NT
phrases like "the last Days" and why the warnings
in Hebrews were so urgent to the original readers.
I. Whatever we believe about prophecy it must never become
a means of escapism to the extent that it keeps us from
the task God has called us to do. We are to be "salt"
and "light" in the world. Salt in the shaker does no
good whatsoever, nor does light under bushel remove
darkness.
Provocative New Books on the Subject of Eschatology:
Balyeat, Joseph R. BABYLON: THE GREAT CITY OF REVELATION.
Blaising, Craig A. and Bock, Darrell L. editors.
DISPENSATIONALISM, ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH.
Clouse, Robert G. ed. THE MEANING OF THE MILLENNIUM: FOUR
VIEWS.
Crenshaw, Curtis I. and Gunn, Grover E. III. DISPENSATIONALISM:
TODAY, YESTERDAY, AND TOMORROW.
Davis, John Jefferson. CHRIST'S VICTORIOUS KINGDOM:
POSTMILLENNIALISM RECONSIDERED.
DeMar, Gary. LAST DAYS MADNESS.
Gentry, Kenneth L. Jr. BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL: DATING THE BOOK
OF REVELATION.
Gentry, Kenneth L. Jr. THE BEAST OF REVELATION.
Grenz, Stanley J. THE MILLENNIAL MAZE.
Hoekema, Anthony A. THE BIBLE AND THE FUTURE.
LaRondell, Hans K. THE ISRAEL OF GOD IN PROPHECY.
Travis, Stephen H. CHRISTIAN HOPE & THE FUTURE.
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