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"Amillennialism 101" -- Audio and On-Line Resources

 

Living in Light of Two Ages

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Wednesday
Apr232008

More on "Issues, Etc.," and Other Interesting Stuff from the Net

Links%207.jpgHere's another update on the situation with "Issues, Etc" complete with pictures of the recent protest.  Click here: Lutherans with Issues » GetReligion.  Looks like there has been significant financial support for Rev. Todd Wilken and his producer, Jeff  Schwarz (Click here: Weedon's Blog, scroll down).   I look forward to seeing (hearing?) these guys resurface on radio again soon!

Muslims are working hard to create a "Euro-Islam" which would be more compatible with "western values."  In Europe these days, "western values" consist of left-socialist politics, overt secularism, and embarrassment at all forms of historical national identity.  Why do Muslims need to adapt to that?  Seems to me that Islam is flourishing in Europe because of Europe's current set of "western values."   Click here: Muslim Martin Luthers: The Theologians Working Towards a Euro-Islam - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Our old friend, hair-dresser turned Pentecostal televangelist, Junita Bynum, will appear on the TV show "Divorce Court" this week to discuss her divorce from Bishop Thomas Weeks.  This whole debacle is just wrong on so many levels.  You would think that after blowing over a million bucks on their televised wedding, there would be some modicum of humility, if not shame and embarrassment.  Sadly, there is not.  So Ms. Bynum will head to TV and air all the dirty laundry.   Sad.   Click here: FOXNews.com - On 'Divorce Court,' Televangelist Juanita Bynum Calls Her Marriage 'Done' - Local News | News Articl

I was very sorry to learn that William Hung (remember him from American Idol?) was ending his singing career.  Seems no one is interested in him any more.  Too bad that Hung forgot that there is an intermediate step between his fifteen minutes of fame and being a complete "has-been"-- CCM.   Too bad.  Think what he could do with contemporary Christian worship music?   Click here: WHAT?!! AND GIVE UP SHOW BUSINESS? - New York Post

Wednesday
Apr232008

The Two-Age Model as Interpretive Grid -- Amillennialism 101

alpha%20omega%202.jpgThe Two Age Model as an Interpretive Grid

It is important to consider the basic eschatological framework provided for us by the New Testament writers, who speak of eschatological matters with one voice when they depict God’s sovereign control of history as the out-working of two qualitatively distinct and successive eschatological ages, known variously as “this age” and the “age to come.” 

Throughout the New Testament, “this age” is used in reference to the present course of human history, while the “age to come” is used of the eschatological age of redemption promised throughout the Old Testament, which is now realized with the coming of Jesus Christ, and manifest for all to see in the triumph associated with his bodily resurrection and exaltation.

I believe that the period of time between the first advent of Jesus Christ until his Second Advent–the time between the establishment of Christ’s kingdom as described in the gospels and the consummation of all things–is the same period of redemptive history described in Revelation 20 as “a thousand years.”  This means that the so-called “millennium” is a present reality and not a future hope.  This means that events depicted in Revelation 20, refer not the future but to the present.  This also means that the thousand years is that same period of time in which citizens of “this age” await “the age to come”–though given the fact of the present reality of the kingdom of God (Matthew 12:28, Luke 10:1-20; 17:20-21; Romans 14:17) and the work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), “the age to come” is already a present reality for the believer in Jesus Christ.  

This tension between the “already” and the “not yet” characterizes much of the New Testament eschatological hope as Christians await the final consummation of Christ’s present kingdom on the great and glorious day of the Lord Jesus.  As Geerhardus Vos points out, “Christianity in its very origin bears an eschatological character.  It means the appearance of the Messiah and the inauguration of His work.”  Therefore, the starting point in developing this Christ-centered eschatology is “the historico-dramatic conception of the two successive ages,” which are variously designated “this age” and “the age to come” (Geerhardus Vos, “Eschatology of the New Testament,” in Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, ed., Richard Gaffin, P & R, 1980, 25-28). According to Vos, since the very fabric of redemption itself is eschatological, the key to understanding this is to correlate eschatological language predicated of these two ages to the historical events surrounding the person and work of Jesus Christ.  This will become clear when we examine terms such as “this age,” “the age to come,” and the biblical texts in which they occur.

Both Jesus and Paul repeatedly speak of “this age” and “the age to come” as two successive and qualitatively distinct eschatological periods.  In three places in the synoptic gospels our Lord explicitly contrasts “this age” with “an age to come.”  In Matthew 12:32, Jesus is speaking of the impossibility of forgiveness for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, either “in this age or the age to come.”  In Luke 18:29-30, Jesus is speaking about the kingdom of God, in response to the unbelief expressed by the rich young ruler.  Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Finally, in Luke 20:34-35, Jesus declares, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.”

From these texts it is clear that our Lord understands these two ages as successive and qualitatively distinct.  “This age,” say Jesus, is characterized by marriage and things temporal.  “The age to come,” on the other hand, is characterized by resurrection life and immortality, hence the impossibility of natural, earthly life continuing in any form after the general resurrection which occurs at our Lord’s return (John 6:39-40, 44, 54).  This notion of a the general resurrection occurring at Christ’s Second Advent presents a very serious problem for those forms of premillennialism in which it is argued that people in natural bodies continue to populate the earth during Christ’s millennial rule after the resurrection of the righteous.  If the “age to come” is the age of resurrection in which there is no marriage or sexual relationships, just how is it that people somehow escape this universal event so as to repopulate the earth, after Christ returns?  This is an impossibility.

Paul sets out the same eschatological understanding of history in Ephesians 1:21, speaking of the present exaltation of Jesus Christ, who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  Like Jesus, Paul sees these two ages as consecutive and distinct, though Paul adds to our understanding the important point that Christ’s rule is already a present reality which began with his resurrection and exaltation.  As Lincoln points out, “the terminology and structure involved in this contrast play a large part in the apostle’s thought” (Andrew T. Lincoln, Paradise Now and Not Yet, Cambridge University Press, 1981, 170 ff.  Geerhardus Vos also sees this as a fundamental structure in Paul’s thought, in The Pauline Eschatology, (Baker Book House, 1982,  1-41).

The impact of this two-age eschatological framework upon the question of millennialism becomes very apparent when we examine how these terms are used throughout the New Testament.  Whenever the term “this age” is used it is always in reference to things temporal, things destined to perish.  Consider the following things predicated by the biblical writers of “this age.”  The end of the age will be preceded by signs (Matthew 24:3), and Christ himself will be with us until this age ends (Matthew 28:20).  There are material rewards in this age (Luke 18:30), and the people of this age marry and are given in marriage (Luke 20:34).  According to Mark, the present age is an age of homes, fields and families (Mark 10:30).  Paul, on the other hand, puts this in ethical terms.  We are not to be conformed to the pattern of this age (Romans 12:2), for this present age is evil (Galatians 1:4).  The wisdom of this age is the godless speculation of the philosophers (1 Corinthians 1:20), and is characterized by rulers who do not know the truth (2 Corinthians 2:6-8).  In fact, says Paul, Satan himself is the “god” of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4) for the ways of this age are evil (Ephesians 2:2).  Paul exhorts those who are rich in this age not to put their hopes in their riches for the age to come (1 Timothy 6:17), for we are to live godly lives now as we await the age to come (Titus 2:12).

In every case, the qualities assigned by the biblical writers to “this age” are always temporal in nature and represent the fallen world and its sinful inhabitants awaiting the judgment to come at our Lord’s return.  This becomes clear when we see “this age” as the biblical writers intend—an age which stands in stark contrast to the eschatological “age to come.”

What do the Scriptures say about the “age to come”?  The gospel writers record our Lord as saying that there will be no forgiveness in the age to come for speaking blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32), and that it is a period of judgment when the weeds are thrown into the fire (Matthew 13:40).  It is also an age of eternal life (Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30) and when, as we have seen, there is no longer marriage or giving in marriage.  It is an age, says Paul, where life is truly life (1 Timothy 6:19).

This means that the “age to come” is an age of eternal life and immortality.  It is characterized by the realization of all of the blessings of the resurrection and consummation.  It is not an age in which people await the consummation!  When we consider those additional texts where Paul speaks of the consummation of the kingdom of God, the evidence against premillennialism becomes even stronger.  According to Paul, evil-doers will not inherit this kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), while flesh and blood cannot (1 Corinthians 15:50).  Those who live evil lives will not enter this kingdom (Galatians 5:21), nor will the immoral (Ephesians 5:5).  Thus, it is clear that “the age to come” refers to that period of time after the resurrection, the judgment and the restoration of all things.  Those who participate in the “age to come” are no longer characterized by the temporal, but the eternal—a point particularly problematic for all forms of premillennialism which insist upon an earthly existence of some sort in a millennial age of half-way consummation after Christ’s return, as well as for those influenced by preterism, who see “this age” as the Jewish era and “the age to come” as that which follows God’s judgment upon Israel in A.D. 70.

The inability of dispensationalists in particular and premillennarians in general to deal with this argument becomes clear when we look at how dispensationalists deal with the rather extensive biblical data about the two ages.  As J. Dwight Pentecost argues,

    As it is used in the New Testament, according to the normal usage of the words, this present age refers to that period of time in which the speaker or writer then lived.  As used in reference to Israel in the Gospels this present age referred to the period of time in which Israel was anticipating the coming of the Messiah to fulfill all her covenant promises.  The coming age was the age to be inaugurated by the Messiah at His advent.  In reference to the church the term this present age refers to the inter-advent period, that period from the rejection of the Messiah by Israel at His second coming.  The phrase coming age could be used in its earthly aspect, to which the church will be related (as in Eph. 1:21), or in its eternal aspect (as in Eph. 2:7) (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, Zondervan, 1980, 131-32).

But, we must ask, “are we ever justified in saying the coming age was to be inaugurated, but was not, because Israel rejected her Messiah”?  “Does the age to come has an earthly aspect as well as a eternal one?  Pentecost’s understanding of this matter simply does not fit with the data we have already seen, and it seems to me as though the two ages have not been properly considered as a major interpretive grid.  More recently, Elliot Johnson has tried to weaken the thrust of this argument by pointing out that since so many interpreters of the New Testament cannot precisely agree upon what is entailed by the terms “the already” and the “not yet,” it must be because the terms fail to clarify what is already fulfilled and what remains yet to be fulfilled (Elliot E. Johnson, “Prophetic Fulfillment: The Already and the Not Yet,” in Willis and Master, eds., Issues in Dispensationalism, 188).  

The solution to this over-stated dilemma is to connect the terms the “already and not yet” to the more concrete terms, “this age” and the “age to come.”  The already refers to the eternal blessings of the age to come which are realized in the present, while the not yet refers to the blessings of the age to come, yet to be realized in the consummation.  Neither dispensationalists, nor millennarians in general, can account for the significance of the biblical writers view of history as a non-millennarian and successive unfolding of two qualitatively distinct eschatological ages.

Adapted from my book, A Case for Amillennialism (Baker, 2003). Click here: Riddleblog - A Case for Amillennialism - Understanding the End

 

Tuesday
Apr222008

Up, Up, and Away, and Some Other Interesting Things from the Blogosphere

Links6.jpgIf you love Reformed theology and don't own Herman Bavinck's four-volume dogmatics, you should!  Volume 4 is now out, and the set is complete.  Click here: Westminster Bookstore - Reformed Books - Low Prices - Flat Fee UPS Shipping.

OK, this was really dumb.  A Roman Catholic priest in Brazil decided to put on a thermal suit and helmet, and tie hundreds of helium balloons to a chair.  The gimmick was done to raise money for his favorite ministry project, and to break the record for chair flying (nineteen hours).  The priest floated up, up, and away, and hasn't been seen since.  At least he broke the record.  Click here: Priest carried aloft by balloons missing - Americas- msnbc.com

If you hate the change from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time, you'll really hate the change from GMT to Mecca Time.  Seriously,  Muslim scientists and clerics think it would be a good idea, because, as we all know, Mecca is the center of the earth.  Click here: BBC NEWS | Middle East | Muslim call to adopt Mecca time

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  Live green, die green.  Yes, eco-friendly funerals are here--wicker/cardboard coffins,  natural fiber grave clothes, no marble tombstones.  And no, I'm not kidding.  I hope I don't have to perform one of these.  How do you not peak through the wicker to see if they really put shoes on the deceased?  Click here: Even Funerals Are Going Green - AOL News

Finally, I remember the panic that went through the house when a good size Alligator Lizard ended up in our kitchen.  It may have been 12 inches long and lost its tail when we tried to catch it.  But this poor woman in Florida was really in for a shock.  If my wife actually reads this post, remove Florida from the list of possible retirement places.  By the way, its Mick's birthday today.   Click here: FOXNews.com - Florida Woman Finds 8-Foot Alligator in Kitchen - Local News | News Articles | National News | US Ne

 

Tuesday
Apr222008

"Abba, Father" -- Romans 8:12-17

romans%20fragment.jpgThe Twenty-First in a Series of Sermons on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans

In Romans 8:1-11, Paul sets out a stark contrast between the those who walk in the flesh (non-Christians) and those who walk in the Spirit (those who trust in Christ).  But this is also a contrast between two eschatological ages:  “this present age” which is dominated by the flesh, and the “age to come,” which is an age characterized by life in Christ.  To be in Christ is to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  And to be indwelt by the Spirit is to have life and peace.  But those who remain “in Adam” are bound to the flesh and subject to death.  To be in Adam is to belong the old order of things which even now is passing away.  But to be in Christ is to be a citizen of the age to come and entitled to all of the benefits of heavenly citizenship including a glorious inheritance and an intimate relationship with God, our heavenly father.

In Romans 8:1-11, Paul has stated that we are given life in Christ through the indwelling the Holy Spirit, and we are now freed from sin, death and the condemnation of the law.  In verses 12-17, Paul now turns his attention to some of implications of this indwelling for Christian believers.  While there are no imperatives (commands) in this section, nevertheless, Paul’s words serve as an implicit exhortation for Christians to act in a certain way, especially in light of the knowledge of our present standing in Christ. 

In Romans 7:14-25, Paul describes the Christian life as an intense struggle with indwelling sin–which we spoke of in terms of an unwanted tenant or squatter who refuses to leave even though his former dwelling is under new ownership–and Paul goes on to say that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  This is because Christ has borne our condemnation upon the cross.  Because we are in Christ, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.  To be in Christ is to walk in the Spirit and no longer walk after the flesh.  To walk in the flesh as we did “in Adam” is to hate God and to be unwilling and unable to obey his commandments.  But Paul’s whole point is that we are no longer in the flesh and because we walk in the Spirit there are consequences for the Christian life now set forth in verses 12-17.

To read the rest of this verse, click here 

Monday
Apr212008

HWJV and More . . .

links5.bmpHWJV?  It was only a matter of time--"How Would Jesus Vote?"  The HWJV team is touring, they are willing to come to your church, and they want money.  My guess is that Jesus' first vote would be to eliminate the HWJV campaign!  Click here: HWJV?

Its good to be the prince!  And I thought it was a big deal when I got to borrow my mom's Mercedes to pick up a date.  Prince William just landed the royal helicopter in his girlfriend's backyard.  That sets the bar rather high.  Click here: Prince William's '£30K stunt' as he lands RAF helicopter in Kate's back garden | the Daily Mail

Dude, a crowd of 10,000 pot smokers gathered yesterday in Boulder, Colorado, for the annual marijuana celebration.  Nearby convenience stores report selling out of Doritos and all Hostess products.  Click here: CU’s 4/20 pot smoke-out draws crowd of 10,000 : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

This was news to me.  Atheists "go to church."  They don't believe in God, but enjoy each other's company.  How about a place like "Cheers" instead?  Click here: Some atheists go to church too, but not to worship: Times Argus Online  

Sunday
Apr202008

Ken Samples' Academy Lecture Posted

World%20of%20Difference%20samples%20cover.jpgKen Samples' most recent Academy lecture, "The Imago Dei:  A Meaningful life" has been posted.

Here's the MP3 version:   http://links.christreformed.org/realaudio/A20080418-ViewOfMan.mp3

Here's the streaming file:  http://links.christreformed.org/real/20080418.m3u

Sunday
Apr202008

Who Said That?

question%20mark.jpgA noted pro-choice Catholic had this to say:  "I think the church can only do what it believes and I respect that.  [But]  I can't do anything other than what I believe. . . . I always take Communion when I go to church, and I go to church regularly. . . . God gave us all a free will and a responsibility to be accountable and to live up to our responsibilities, and that's how I see it. . . . The church sees it another way."

Who said that?  No google searches or cheating.  Leave your guess in the comments section below. 

Saturday
Apr192008

More Interesting Links . . . .

links%203.bmpHere's the latest update on the LCMS--"Issues, Etc." debacle.   The church bureaucrats are still stonewalling and equivocating, the faithful are still doing what they can, and "Issues" remains silent.    Click here: New St. Louis Post-Dispatch story « Augsburg1530

The courts now say that Caesar does have the power to tell us what we can and cannot eat.  Man, do I hate the nanny state.  Click here: News from The Associated Press

I'm sorry the courts didn't buy the baldness thing as a handicap/disabled excuse.  I was hoping for a handicapped parking sticker so my car won't get all dinged up.   Click here: BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Bald teacher loses disabled claim

Finally, for those of you in South Carolina, be warned, Bigfoot is on the loose.   So is the "Lizard Man," although he's not been seen since 1988.  We had sightings of a "Bigfoot-like"  creature in our neighborhood a few years back.  Turns out it was a tall, bare-footed, bearded, shaggy-haired, homeless guy.    Click here: The State | 04/13/2008 | Bigfoot in S.C.? | Experts: ‘it’s the real deal’

Thursday
Apr172008

Ken Samples' Academy Lecture

kenneth_samples.jpgWorld%20of%20Difference%20samples%20cover.jpgKen Samples continues his Academy series at Christ Reformed Church entitled: "A Little Lower than the Angels:  The Christian View of Man."  Ken's third lecture is entitled, "The Imago Dei:  A Meaningful life"

Here's the synopsis for Ken's series:  What is man? What makes human beings so different from the rest of the creatures on Earth? A person’s thoughts on the origin, nature, and characteristics of humanity (anthropology) are a critical part of any worldview.

For more information, Click here: Christ Reformed Info - Schedule of Academy Classes and Author's Forums

Thursday
Apr172008

Some Interesting Links . . .

links%202.bmp

The CRC wants to be included among those swooning over Benedict XVI.  The once faithful church of farmer-theologians has become the RCA-lite (h.t. Chris Coleman).  Click here: CRC Executive Director Welcomes Papal Invite - Christian Reformed Church      

So, a church is going to hold worship services in a bar.  Its not a Lutheran Church.  Its not a Reformed Church.  Ironically, it is a Methodist Church.  Boy, times have changed.  I'll bet their potlucks are a hoot!  Lots of chips, buffalo wings, and open tabs.  Click here: Area church to hold worship services in bar.

Taking the "be careful little hands what you do" theology to new levels, a number of pastors in the UK plan on boarding city buses to control unruly youth.  Yeah, that will work!  Click here: Croydon Pastors Patrol Bus Routes (from This Is Local London)

There is no doubt that the number of mysterious fires and human deaths, along with strange and ungodly noises in the night, will soon rise to alarming levels.  America is about to be overrun by feral cats--Click here: FOXNews.com - Expert: America About to Be Overrun by Feral Cats - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology

Meanwhile, another brave dog saves its owner's life--Click here: Dog saves woman from watery death.