The Image of the Beast -- Then and Now

One biblical passage which has perplexed interpreters is Revelation 13:13-15.  "[The second beast] performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.  And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain."

Popular dispensational writers often take this text to be a prophetic prediction of the high-tech mode of deception used by the antichrist to enslave the world after the Rapture.  On this view, John is speaking of some sort of future technology (a computer-generated hologram or similar) used to create a dazzling and deceptive image which successfully attracts the bulk of those living on earth to worship the image of the beast so that people willingly take his mark (cf. Revelation 13:16 ff).

Critical scholarship, by and large, understands John to be speaking of the Roman imperial cult dominant throughout Asia Minor at the time John records his vision.  The imperial cult centered upon veneration and worship of deified emperors (Augustus, Tiberius, Vespasian, Domitian, et. al.), as well as various Greek and Roman gods, whose images and temples dominated the region.  Christians were persecuted for failing to worship the divinized emperor or the accepted Roman gods.  In fact, Christians were considered "atheists."

In his famous Church History, Eusebius describes the following scene during the reign of Maximin Daia (who ruled the eastern portion of the Roman empire from A.D. 308-313), and his lackey Theotecnus (which, ironically means "child of God" in Greek) and who was the city comptroller of Antioch.  Eusebius recounts the following in Book 9.5:

Time and time again this man [Theotecnus] engaged in hostilities against us, trying every means to hunt our people out of hiding as if they were thieving villains, using every subterfuge to slander and accuse us, and even causing death to countless numbers.  Finally, with illusions and sorceries, he erected a statue of Zeus [like the one in Olympus, pictured above] as a god of friendship, and after devising demonic rites, initiations, and repulsive purifications for it, he displayed his magic even in the emperor's presence through whatever oracular utterances he pleased. . .

Eusebius goes on to describe the fall of Maximin and the arrest of Theotecnus after Constantine's rise to power:

Justice also summoned Theotecnus, determined that what he did to the Christians should never be forgotten.  After he set up the idol at Antioch, he seemed to enjoy great success and indeed, was awarded a governorship by Maximin. . . . When, under torture, they [Theotecnus] revealed that the entire mystery [the oracle from Zeus] was a deception contrived by Theotecnus" [Book 9.11].

Eusebius' account seems to indicate that the priests of the imperial cult were able to deceive even emperors through the use of fake "oracles from Zeus."  Seems like ventriloquism was at least one of the modes by which the image of the beast (in this case, the statue of Zeus) was made to seem alive and perform deceptive signs and wonders.  And this about the time of Constantine's supposed conversion in A.D. 312.

There are a couple of points of interest here.  The use of occult deception and the hunting down of believers sounds much like the kind of thing proposed by dispensationalists as characteristic of the future seven-year tribulation period.  The problem for dispensationalists is that this was occurring in the fourth century, and was clearly a continuation of that spasmodic persecution of Christians by Roman emperors depicted by John in A.D. 95. 

Far from being something isolated to the future (after the Rapture), the occult deception described here seems to be rather characteristic of the efforts undertaken by the dragon (Satan) to seduce the nations throughout the entire inter-advental period .  Thankfully, the dragon is able to empower the beast only for short periods of time, and only in localized areas.

In this localized persecution, we see the power of gospel "restraining" (or binding Satan) until the very end of the age when the dragon is said to be released from the abyss immediately before the return of Christ, when the dragon is able to universalize and intensify his war on the people of God (Revelation 20:7-10).

When we read of Christians being put to death and churches being burned (as a number were just last week) we see the same Satanic war on the people of God that Eusebius' witnessed in the rage of Theotecnus and the deception foisted upon the people by the priests of Zeus.

Dispensationalists are right to expect Christians to be hunted down, and technology used to deceive the masses.  They are wrong (and more than a bit naive) to assume that this is limited to future a seven-year tribulation period.  As John sees it, we have been in the great tribulation, we are in the great tribulation, and we will be in the tribulation until Christ comes back (Revelation 7:14).

Eusebuis gives us an interesting glimpse of the image of the beast and explains why the people of Antioch worshiped a statue of Zeus.  Let us not think that we, unlike those in Antioch, cannot be taken in by such things.  History marches on, but the human heart remains as sinful as ever.

"Be United" -- 1 Corinthians 1:4-17

Here's the audio from Sunday's sermon, the second in a series on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

Click here

Paul Maier's Translation of Eusebius' Church History

I've tried several times to slog my way through Eusebius' Church History.  Never quite made it all the way through, though I've consulted it many times, especially when dealing with matters of gospel origins, and important historical stuff like the death of James and John. 

The biggest reason for the slog was that the edition I own was a version I picked up when I first began reading theology.  Back in the day, Baker Book House published a line of books they called the "Twin Brooks" series--photolithographs of theological standards.  Basically, these were old (and out of print) books, photocopied and released with paperback covers.  This was an invaluable resource before Google Books.  The Baker Twin Brooks version of Eusebius' classic was the Cruse edition from 1850.  The translation was wooden and the book's binding was brittle.  In other words, this was a book you had to slog through or else it would split in half!

Although I later purchased the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers set (which includes a "Eusebius" volume in series II with the McGiffert translation) it too is hard to read in its entirety given the format.

So, when I saw that Kregel Publications had released a translation of Eusebius' Church History by Paul Maier back in 1999, I bought a copy, and finally got around to reading it last week in preparation for a writing project.  Lo and behold I finished it quickly.  No slogging here.  There is also a paperback version of Maier's translation released in 2007.

I must admit, I really enjoyed the full-color edition.  Even if you pride yourself on being an amateur patristics scholar, don't let the shiny paper and the many illustrations turn you off.  Maier's translation is crisp, and given the subject matter, I actually found the illustrations quite helpful.  Although I own the critical edition of Josephus, I find myself turning to the Maier edition of that as well (even though it is abridged).

If you haven't read Eusebius' Church History (or have slogged through portions of it as I did) this is well-worth tackling.  We often quote that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," but Eusebius introduces us to many of these martyrs by name and recounts the specific circumstances of their deaths.  I found myself asking, "could I endure what they did?"  Only by the grace of God.

While the discussion of which John wrote Revelation, when James (the brother of our Lord) was killed, as well as the story about how his chair was passed down to others in the Jerusalem church, etc., are interesting, it was good to be reminded of how the early church dealt with pagan culture, heresy and schism, as well as suffering and persecution.

Maier's translation (which includes helpful background information in footnotes) makes this great classic accessible to all.  I would also recommend his edition of Josephus.  If you can find the "illustrated versions," of these, don't be ashamed.  Looking at pictures of otherwise obscure emperors and unfamiliar places while reading about them isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Who Said That?

"What is there greater than the word which persuades the judges in the courts, or the senators in the council, or the citizens in the assembly, or at any other political meeting?-if you have the power of uttering this word, you will have the physician your slave, and the trainer your slave, and the money-maker of whom you talk will be found to gather treasures, not for himself, but for you who are able to speak and to persuade the multitude." 

Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no guesses or google searches.  Answer to follow in one week.

Update on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 01:33PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is an excerpt from Plato's dialogue with Gorgias.  Sounds to me like a power Obama might possess?

This Week's White Horse Inn

The White Horse Inn 20th Anniversary Special (Part 2)

As part two of our special 20th anniversary celebration, this program features more soundbites from across the decades, including some highlights from our old "Inventory of Relics" segment, various man-on-the-street interviews, and White Horse Inn spoof commercials. The hosts also take some calls from listeners across the country who express their thanks for the program and offer their congratulations.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/



"The Spirit of Truth" -- 1 John 4:1-6

The Eighth in a Series of Sermons on John's Epistles

In his first Epistle, John is defending the doctrine that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh against a group of false teachers who have departed from the truth by teaching that Jesus was not a flesh and blood Savior, but a deity who merely appeared in the form of a human.  John calls this teaching–which is known to us today as the heresy of docetism–the spirit of antichrist.  For the Apostle, Christianity is not a religion in which one learns a set of secret principles revealed to a few enlightened individuals who have managed to gain insight into the “real” teaching of Jesus.  For John, Christianity is a religion grounded in the historical work of a flesh and blood Savior (Jesus Christ) whom John has heard preach, whom John witnessed perform miracles, and whom John even touched with his own hands.  To deny that Jesus is truly human is to deny Christianity.  Given the importance of this essential point, John once again returns to a discussion of the nature of the Christian truth claim, and warns us yet again of false teachers and antichrists, who will inevitably come and attempt to deceive God’s people.  But John does more than merely warn us about these false teachers, he gives us a test to determine whether or not someone has imbibed from the Gnostic heresy–“does a teacher confess that Jesus is God in human flesh?”

We have been working our way through John’s epistles, and we now come to fourth chapter of 1 John.  As we have seen in each of the last few sermons, John is returning to issues in chapter 3  he’s already addressed in the first couple of chapters.  John likely does this for the sake of emphasis.  In chapter two John had emphasized the need for Christians to obey God’s commandments, to reject worldliness (the non-Christian way of thinking and doing), and to heed his warning about the presence of many antichrists in the age in which we now live.  

In chapter three, John repeats these themes while emphasizing different aspects of them.  For example, not only must God’s people strive to obey his commandments, they are no longer to be characterized by the practice of sin.  Furthermore, Christians will strive to love their brothers and sisters in Christ, while rejecting the murderous ways of Cain, who is the epitome of worldliness, and whose indifference toward God (i.e., his produce offering) and hatred of his brother Abel (whom he killed) prefigures those whom John describes as antichrists.  These false teachers, says John, deny that Jesus is God in the flesh.  They seek out “esoteric,” secret truths about God, and they deceive themselves into thinking that they have somehow risen above sin.  This explains their indifference to God’s commandments and their lack of love for both God and his people.  They may claim to have gained “wisdom,” but John has repeatedly exposed them to be theologically clueless, which is a very serious and dangerous place to be.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click here  

The Mayans Got It All Wrong! The World Won't End in 2012 . . . Because Jesus is Coming Back in May of 2011!

He's back . . .

According to Harold Camping (a man whose end-times prognostications have been wrong at least twice already), the Mayan prediction of the end of the world in 2012 is a "fairy tale."

Without missing a beat, Camping then proceeds to spin a fairy tale of his own.  Christ is coming back on May 21, 2011.  Well, we can be sure of one thing.  Christ won't come back on that date (cf. Matthew 24:36).

Here's Camping's goofy eschatological calculus.  And you thought dispensationalism was complicated!

The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement." Ten is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011.

"Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years."

Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.

Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.

Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500.

Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared.

"Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved.

"I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that," Camping said.

One thing is all too clear.  At some point back in 1992-93, Camping actually did fall off his chair and cracked his noggin'.

Frankly, someone needs to just say it.  The guy is a kook.  Or else he's senile.  Or a false prophet.  Not good options.

How can any rational person listen to this nonsense?  This is one reason why "scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say, `Where is the promise of his coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.'” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

To read the article in which Camping's eschatological calculus is quoted, Click here

Basking in the Benefits

From the February 1, 2009 edition of Tabletalk

Q. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? 

A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

(Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A 36) 

Many of us take for granted how wonderful it is to place our heads on the pillow at night and know deep down inside that it is well with our souls. There are other times when our minds are much noisier and we cannot sleep. Life’s troubles seem like they will overwhelm us. There are those frightening moments when doubt comes rushing in like a flood. We question whether or not we are Christ’s, or ever were. At other times we worry that we may have done something that will cause Christ to cast us away.

To read the rest of this article, Click here

Big Picture Stuff and Redemptive History

Our friends at Monergism have arranged a whole series of links to references on understanding the basics and nuances of redemptive history.

Based upon the email I get, I know that a number of you are looking for such references.  So, here you go:  Redemptive History Resources

Who Said That?

"Papias supplies other stories that had reached him by word of mouth, along with some other strange parables and unknown teachings of the Savior, as well as other legendary accounts.  Among them he says that after the resurrection of the dead there will be a thousand year period when the kingdom of Christ will be established on this earth in material form.  I suppose that he got these notions by misunderstanding the apostolic accounts, not realizing that they used mystic and symbolic language.  For he was a man of very limited intelligence as is clear from his books."

Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  Answer to follow next week.

Update on Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 03:45PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is Eusebius' (the famed church historian) rather negative assessment of the premillennialism of Papias, about 310 A.D.

See, Eusebius, The Church History, ed. Paul Maier (Grand Rapids:  Kregel, 1999), 129.