Conditions for redemption

If the earth is six thousand years old, people can be redeemed from sin.
If the earth is six billion years old, people can be redeemed from sin.

If the rapture will occur in the middle of a seven year tribulation, people can be redeemed from sin.
If the Bible doesn't really teach that there is a rapture, but, instead, that there is a triumphant procession welcoming Christ back to earth, people can be redeemed from sin.

If women can be divinely called to be ministers, people can be redeemed from sin.
If women can't be divinely called to be ministers, people can be redeemed from sin.

If . . . 
If . . .
Should I go on? Some things are peripheral.

But if Christ didn't come to earth as a human embryo, live a sinless life as the God-man, die a sacrificial death on the cross, and rise again, people can't be redeemed from sin.

Some things are essential. (See 1 Corinthians 15:13-21)

(This post was modified, by adding the reference to 1 Corinthians, and the graphic, on December 24, 2014.)

Sunspots 489

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: It's not out yet, but here's a blog post warning Christians not to take the Left Behind movie too seriously.
A splendid lecture on how God is seen through nature.
Computing: Be careful of pirated e-books. Apparently, some of them can hack your Amazon account.
Relevant has posted a map showing all the web-connected devices on the planet. Interesting, but perhaps not terribly surprising -- web use is concentrated in a few places.

Science: One of the advantages of being sexual is that the offspring have new and unique combinations of the genes of their parents. But Wired reports on a microscopic organism that takes such recombination much further than any other known living thing.
Wired also reports on a parasitic worm that invades the eyestalks of snails, so it can be eaten. Really. There's a short video.
Image source (public domain)

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 27

[Continuing a discussion of prophecy]

There are also differences in views on the millennium, a thousand-year reign of Christ. Some Christians are amillennialists – they believe that the Biblical millennium refers to the activity of the church in history, or that the millennium is figurative, not literal. Pre-millennialists believe that Christ will return before the millennium. Post-millennialists believe that Christ will return after a thousand-year period during which Christians will rule the earth, or else that the millennium is not literal.

The most common view among the Christians I am familiar with is futuristic, with the rapture before the tribulation, and the millennium after the tribulation. This view is known as dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is often taught in conservative Christian churches. The Left Behind series of books and related material is based on dispensationalist theology. (I have not read any of these books, and cannot comment on them intelligently. For discussion, including criticism, see the Wikipedia article on the series.)

Dispensationalism has not always been so popular, and it was not the view of the early church. It was introduced in the 19^th century, and has grown in popularity since that time.

It is not possible to rule out dispensationalism scripturally, and it may be true. However, dispensationalism is not firmly supported by the Bible. The following is a discussion of the weakness of the support for that view.

The rapture

The word, “rapture,” doesn’t occur in the Bible. It refers to an event where believers are taken from the world by God. Here is the main scriptural support for the idea:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

These verses describe the event that dispensationalists call the rapture. There is controversy over how literally to take this, and the timing. Some Bible scholars believe that this is like a triumphal procession, with Christ coming to earth accompanied by the believers, rather than taking them away.

This passage also may be speaking of a rapture:

Matthew 24:37 “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, 39 and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left; 41 two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

However, this seems to be mostly talking of Christ’s return to earth, not about believers leaving. It is also true that, shortly before the above verse, Jesus said this:

Matthew 24:29 But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Many popular depictions of the rapture, from the dispensationalist view, include this type of story:

Alice will be at home, and come to realize that she can’t find her husband and children, even though she thought they were home with her. They have disappeared. After searches, phone calls, etc., Alice realizes that this has happened to a lot of people, and that the ones who can’t be located are believers. She has been “left behind.”

That sort of idea about a rapture is strange, because verse 16 of 1 Thessalonians 4, and Matthew 24:29-31, which are both above, indicate that the events described, whatever they are, won’t be secret at all. They will be associated with some loud noises and visible phenomena, such as the archangel. It seems that, even if people are going to be left behind, they will know that something extraordinary has taken place.

Why don’t some Bible scholars believe in a rapture, or don’t believe in the dispensationalist version of it? One reason is that there are scriptures that don’t seem consistent with such an event. Here’s 1 John 2:28: Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

This seems to be saying that Christians should look forward to some sort of judgment as the next big event.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

This seems, again to be warning about a judgment, not about being zipped off to heaven.

Revelation 22:20 He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.”

Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.

This is the next-to-last verse in the Bible. Although it is difficult or impossible to fully know what Revelation means – it is highly symbolic and apocalyptic – there doesn’t seem to be anything in these verses, or in the entire book, that suggests that Christ will come back and remove believers. Instead, John seems to be describing the Second Coming of Christ.

Some Bible scholars believe that the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4 (quoted at the beginning of this section) has a different meaning. 1 Thessalonians 4:15: “who are left to the coming of the Lord,” in Greek, is ho zaō paraleipomai eis parousia (source). Parousia, according to the Blueletter Bible’s Outline of Biblical usage, means 1) presence

2) the coming, arrival, advent

a) the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God

N. T. Wright says that parousia concerns two ideas:

The first meaning was the mysterious presence of a god or divinity, particularly when the power of this god was revealed in healing. People would suddenly be aware of supernatural and powerful presence, and the obvious word for this was parousia. . . . The second meaning emerges when a person of high rank makes a visit to a subject state, particularly when a king or emperor visits a colony or province. The word for such a visit is royal presence: in Greek, parousia. In neither setting, we note, obviously but importantly, is there the slightest suggestion of anybody flying around on a cloud. Nor is there any hint of the imminent collapse of the space-time universe. (Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, New York: HarperOne, 2008, page 129)

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

Harold Camping, Rest in Peace

The Washington Post, and other outlets, report that Harold Camping, who predicted that Christ would return on May 21, 2011, and, thank God, later apologized for that prediction, has passed away.

There are two things we can be confident about, concerning end times:
1) Christ will return, and we should be ready for that.
2) We don't know when this will be.

Many Christians apparently have a strong desire to know more than that. We shouldn't succumb to that temptation. The previous paragraph tells us what Christ, Himself, told us, and that should be sufficient.

Some more food for thought, related to what some people want us to believe about Christ's return:
The word, "rapture," does not occur in the Bible.
The word, "anti-Christ" does not occur in Revelation.
The phrase, "seven years" does not occur in Revelation, either, even though the number seven occurs a few dozen times.
The nation of Israel, re-founded in 1948, may be related to Bible prophecy, (or may not) but the government discourages conversion to Christianity, and, in order to be classified as a Jew, a person does not have to so much as believe in God.

Thanks for reading.

The rapture?

Many Christians believe in a rapture, a time when Christians who are alive will be suddenly removed from the earth. Not all Christians do, however, and there are differences as to the expected timing and mode of the rapture among those who do believe in one.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (World English Bible, public domain)

Where does this belief come from? Is that word, rapture, in the Bible? The main, perhaps the only source, is 1 Thessalonians 4:17, given above, which doesn't actually use the word, rapture. The Blueletter Bible gives a number of translations of the verse, here, none of which have this word. The Latin Vulgate uses rapiemur, and, as I understand it, rapture is derived from that Latin word. There's a Wikimedia entry on rapiemur. The Wiktionary entry on rapture supports that, and also indicates that rapture, in English, has another, more common meaning, namely extreme pleasure.

One apparent teaching of the passage above is that the return of Christ will not be like many have portrayed it. There is a common belief about that return, namely that it will be stealthy -- those left behind will not realize what happened to believers. They will just disappear. But that idea is not suggested by the passage above. On the contrary, it seems that Christ's return will be widely recognized.

Some Bible scholars believe that the passage quoted above is a prophecy about the once and only return of Christ. They reject the idea that He will come once, for the church, and then return again to judge.

Here's the Blueletter Bible's Greek lexicon listing for apantesis, which means to meet one. There are four instances in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and also in Matthew 25:1 and 6, and Acts 28:15.

At least one writer believes that apantesis, based on the other uses in the New Testament, means that 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is describing going up to meet Christ, and then coming down with him. Here's Matthew 25:1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. . . . In this case, apantesis seems to mean meeting, with the expectation of coming back with the person met.  So it's a welcoming committee, not an escape, in Matthew. I'm not sure that that rules out meeting someone, and then leaving, but it casts some doubt on that idea.

That same writer, basing his argument on Matthew 24, where Jesus indicates that His return will be like the sudden coming of the Flood, in the time of Noah, says that those taken by the Flood were not Noah's family, but the evil people who rejected Noah's teaching. That is true, but not everyone agrees that that means that evil people, who rejected Christ, will be taken away when He comes, and believers will be left behind.

I'm not going to solve the arguments about end times in this post, of course. The important thing about Christ's return, whenever and however it occurs, is to be ready. Thanks for reading. Be ready!

Cautions on interpreting what the Bible says about end times

I believe that you can get a larger version of the graphic below, by right-clicking on it. You may feel free to use the graphic, as long as you do not use it for any commercial purpose -- it must remain free for all to use.

I don't have a lot of answers on end times. Some people seem to have answers, and they may be right. The above graphic illustrates reasons for caution. The Bible is not as clear about the end times as some people seem to believe that it is.

"Rapture" is not a word used in the Bible. The presentation of the idea of a rapture, a sudden removal of Christians from the world, that is most familiar to me is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:17. However, as you may learn from the comments on this post, below, that familiar presentation is probably mistaken, and a misinterpretation of scripture. (This paragraph was amended on September 28, 2009)

There are other reasons for caution. The Bible says this:
Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (All scripture from the ESV. See here for information on the ESV policy on on-line usage.)
and
Matthew 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

A serious warning, widely ignored, occurs in Revelation: 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Connie Willis, an author of fantastic literature, put it this way, probably a little too cynically, and, perhaps, even violating the warning above -- but she has a point -- in a short story:

The radio evangelists made it sound like the story of the Second Coming was a single narrative, but it was actually a hodgepodge of isolated scriptures -- Matthew 24 and sections of Isaiah and Daniel, verses out of Second Thessalonians and Joel, stray ravings from Revelation and Jeremiah, all thrown together by the evangelists as if the authors were writing at the same time. If they were even writing about the same thing. Connie Willis, "Epiphany," pp. 653-700, in The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories -- Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2007 -- p. 671. For similar thoughts, from an expert in Biblical interpretation, see here. (The expert doesn't call Revelation "ravings.") The expert, Kenneth Schenck, of Indiana Wesleyan University, is referring to the Dispensationalist view of end times, in particular the idea that there will be a seven year tribulation, and he points out that that view has, at best, very weak support in the Bible.

 
Thanks for reading. The Bible is clear on one idea about the end times: He is returning! We don't know when.

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Added August 3, 2011: Here is a post, by me, on the first four prophecies mentioned by Matthew as being fulfilled by the coming, and early life, of Christ, and how difficult it must have been for those who first heard these prophecies, or even spoke and wrote them, to understand them as being about what actually happened.

Since these prophecies were difficult to interpret -- in some cases, impossible to interpret correctly until after the prediction came about -- why should we expect easy interpretations of prophecies about end times?

Added March 13, 2010:

David Heddle, of the He Lives blog, has recently posted on a particular word that occurs sometimes in prophecy, namely soon, and also this generation. He points out that some who claim to be interpreting the Bible very literally ignore, for example, part of the very first verse of Revelation, which says that Jesus told John that He was going to show him what would happen soon. Heddle doesn't seem to have a solution to how to deal with soon. I don't either. But, as I said in the title, it's best to be cautious, very cautious, about interpreting end times. Some people aren't very careful.

Added September 18, 2010:
Heddle has also posted on Armageddon, making a case for the idea that the Battle of Armageddon has already occurred.