Jesus Is Coming Back on June 12 (Oops!) and Links to Other Stuff on the Web

Check out the chapter introduction to the Book of Revelation from the new ESV Study Bible (coming in October).  This will surely set a new standard for study Bibles.  Now, if only they'd put the Reformed confessions in the back! 
Click here: http://www.esvstudybible.org/images/excerpt-revelation-
intro.pdf.

Don't you just hate it when you go to all the trouble of setting a date for the Lord's return, and then it doesn't happen?  They've got trailers full of food and everything . . .   You'd think "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins would have learned a thing or two after he made the same prediction back in September, 2006.  Seems like this guy is on cable 24/7.  How can anybody take him seriously?  Wait, I should know that answer to that . . . Click here: ABC News: Texas 'Prophet': Doomsday Begins June 12

I hope this one is a joke.  Supposedly, theologians (Roman Catholic) are preparing for the eventual encounter with a real-live alien, you know, Area 51 stuff.   Klatu!  Verada!  Nikto!    Click here: Christian Theologians Prepare for Extraterrestrial Life

Finally, it looks like the Issues, Etc., crew is getting closer and closer to being on the air again.   Sure will be good to have them back.   Scroll down for pictures of the new facility.   Click here: Augsburg1530

Comments

[Phil Walker]

Does that mean we could get a Martian Pope before another Englishman?

That ESV intro is brilliant; I love proper introductions to books like that. Leon Morris' commentary on Luke has another example of an introduction that tells you *everything* (as contemporary understanding stood) that you could want to know.

And on the narrow doctrinal question, they very wisely don't come down hard on any side, but they present the book's structure as re-capitulatory. I don't know--perhaps Kim does?--whether amillennialism is a necessary condition of re-capitulation, but the link seem pretty strong.

[Charlie]

Kim: I read both the journal and part of the blog; it is good stuff. Maybe we Reformed could learn a lesson or two from our lutheran brothers (confessional!) in the area of liturgics.

[Jim Vellenga]

Yes, if only they included the reformed confessions in the back of the ESV Study Bible. It is one of the things I like about the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible.

[Joe]

I think I will stickto my old KJV "Reformation" Bible - the Wal Mart version with no extra notes. No bias.

Joe

[lee n. field]

"KJV no bias"

Eh? There certainly is, just not a bias we'd probably be bothered by at 4 centuries remove. "Bishop" vs. "overseer" -- an ecclesiastical bias.

[Tom Albrecht]

"Klaatu barada nikto" -- Helen to Gort

Sorry, I thought it was another "Who Said That?"

[Z. Bartels]

Phil,
I studied Revelation under Dr. Brian Webster (now at that Mecca of dispen-sensationalism, Dallas Theological Seminary). He presented re-capitulism, but from a futurist POV. Ironically, it drove me to Hendriksen's work, which is what helped me escape the clutches of classical dispensationalism (funny how removing one card often makes the whole house come down).

[Joe]

John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." ESV

John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." KJV

I don't need the confusion.

Joe

[Andrew]

I'm not really sure why the discussion of possible alien life should not be taken seriously. I think there are several possible scenarios that should be explored regarding the topic. A number of them were addressed in the article. Theologically, I don't think it would have any effect on our standing before God via the sacrifice of Christ on the cross but I do think it does raise some interesting questions.