Hot answers tagged eschatology
22
Actually, the Bible does have quite a direct answer to the question What is God waiting for?
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:14 (KJV)
16
For starters, the Bible doesn't contain the word "rapture" nor does it clearly state that such an event will happen. Different people have read between the lines to infer a rapture at different points in the book of Revelation, but it is not clearly stated anywhere.
Since the Bible doesn't clearly state that there will be a Rapture and those who believe ...
15
The claim
Well, the underlying doctrine behind this is the idea of the rapture. That idea comes out of dispensation premillennialism. This doctrine states that Jesus will have all the Christians pulled out of the world before the tribulation occurs.
This particular prediction was made by Harold Camping. He claims that the Bible was his source for this. ...
14
As you note, the different "millennialisms" are based on different interpretations of the "thousand year reign" mentioned towards the end of Revelation. Unfortunately, answering this question is not as easy as simply stating the different views on the millennium itself. Each of the different views only make sense inside their respective theological ...
12
Dispensationalism basically suggests that at different ages (eras or dispensations) in human history, God has interacted with people in different ways, through various covenants:
Edenic (innocence)
Antedeluvian(consciousness - people did what they wanted)
Civil Government(After the flood, the rainbow covenant was for all people)
Patriarchic (Abraham and ...
12
Jesus taught that we might be able to read the signs that it was near, but that no one would be able to know what day the end would come:
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very ...
11
Neither. You're asking the wrong question.
Earthly and fallable court systems work one way. As omniscient maker of the universe and its sovereign King, God is not required to work quite the same way. We use the imagery of a courtroom to talk about the last judgement, but it is just imagery. The actual proceedings are a little different.
For one thing, ...
10
This is the matter of some debate, and there are at least three theories about it that I'm familiar with. I actually found a study online that explains all of them here.
Some relevant sections (copied and pasted since the author explains it better than I would):
The one that is popular in my denomination:
One explanation that is popular among ...
10
Nothing specific to abortion, although I wouldn't expect there to be. 2 Timothy 3:1-7 gives us:
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, ...
10
The difficulty in verifying the math and the calculations is that every prognostication has its own formula. In order to verify Harold Camping, for instance, you have to look at the passages he is pulling from.
For example, here is one (and I don't endorse it) showing how they arrive at their numbers.
Probably the most important calculations revolve ...
8
I don't know how much weight should be put on this reference, but it does give different information:
It may come as a surprise but the doctrine of the Rapture is not mentioned in any Christian writings, of which we have knowledge, until after the year 1830 C.E. Whether the early writers were Greek or Latin, Armenian or Coptic, Syrian or Ethiopian, ...
8
Unfortunately we just don't know. Many people have tried to figure out when he will come back, or what conditions are required for him to return, but quite frankly they aren't specified and we are to be ready for his return at any moment.
Matt 24:35-37 (NIV)
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
36 “But about that ...
7
It is the number of the Beast in Revelation:
Revelation 13:18 (ESV)
18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Its significance is often claimed to be that the Emperor Nero, during whose reign Revelation was written, has a name with the ...
7
I believe that they are literal men. With that in mind, there are two different schools of thought that I have come across on whom these men could be:
These are just two "normal" men who have been called out (like the 144,000 witnesses in Rev. 7:1-9) to perform signs to the unbelievers during the Tribulation.
These are two men that have lived before on ...
7
I think a good reason lies in 2 Peter 3:9 NIV
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Some say that God won't return until all peoples of the earth have been reached by the gospel. As far as I know, all peoples of the ...
7
The seven spirits referenced in Revelations may refer to the spirits mentioned in Isaiah 11.
Spirit of the Lord
Spirit of wisdom
Spirit of understanding
Spirit of counsel
Spirit of might
Spirit of knowledge
Spirit of fear of the LORD
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The ...
7
St Augustine says we do and I might as well quote him at length since its way way in the public domain:
Whether the Bodies of Women Shall Retain Their Own Sex in the Resurrection.
From the words, Till we all come to a perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4:13 and from the words, Conformed to the image of the ...
6
As dleyva3 mentioned, the term comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Our word "rapture" comes from the Latin word for "caught up".
The doctrine that faithful Christians would be whisked away to be spared tribulation is a relatively new interpretation of that verse. The traditional Christian belief was that Jesus would return once, to bring judgment. At his ...
6
There is very similar imagery in Revelation to particular verses in Joel. A comparison is shown below:
Joel 2:4-5 (NIV)
4 They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for ...
6
666 has several possible meanings. The most prominent answer is that, as it is the "number of a name" that it would be Nero. Since there are early manuscripts which have the number as 616 instead and this also can reference Nero (I believe it is in Aramaic as opposed to the Greek).
There are others who have stated that it has to do with the fact that it is ...
6
In Revelation 13:18, as cited by Dancek, it is the number of "the Beast".
The verse indicates that is the number of man as well. A possible reason for this is that mankind was created on the 6th day, so 666 is a three-fold repetition of that. I understand in Hebrew that repetition signifies degree, so God is called "holy, holy, holy" in Isaiah 6.
6
Since you don't have any other answers at this point, I'll go ahead and throw out the ideas that I'm seeing play into this graph:
Young Earth Creationism
It would be hard to look at this chart written in 1919 and not start out with the realization that the author undeniably believes in Young Earth Creationism.
Young Earth Creationism is (essentially) the ...
6
This question should probably be answered by somebody that believes in dispensationalism as well. (Obviously, from that sentence you all know that I do not.) Nevertheless I will venture a "pre-answer". I will not discuss passages of scripture, that taken together might be understood as supporting the view.
I'd like to put some focus on the hermeneutics ...
6
It's a combination of a couple of things.
First, there's a passage in Matthew 24:38-41:
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and
took them all away. That is how it will be at the ...
6
Christians of many persuasions recognize this text as a definite and peculiar sign concerning the last days. Yet even though the majority of them can agree that the abomination of desolation is an important sign, they can't seem to agree on its specific nature. Even preachers are thrown into a quagmire of confusion - looking for something that no one is very ...
6
I believe you are looking for the theology called "Universalism".
I'm not sure that it has been explicitly declared a heresy, but the Catholic, Orthodox many Protestant churches have made formal declarations that are in disagreement with it, so they presumably do consider it a heresy. Look at the 'disagreements' section of the article.
6
In Ezekiel 36, the prophet has a vision of a valley of "dry bones." When asked if these bones could yet live, Ezekiel wisely says, "You alone know, O Lord." After this, the Lord miraculously makes the bones come together and come alive.
It is explicitly stated that this refers to Israel. Ezekiel, speaking for the Lord says:
“‘But you, mountains of ...
6
Origin of the phrase
There are actually a number of texts that are labeled the "Nicene Creed". The text produced by the 325 council does not include information about the kingdom at all. Eusebius of Caesarea, who attended the council, wrote back to his congregation about the deliberations. He reports an initial version of the creed that was used as a ...
6
*Yes. Every significant Christian tradition affirms the return of Jesus. *
The Nicene Creed, adopted by the Universal manifestation of the assembled church in 325AD and accepted by just about every mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox church with which the average Westerner will most readily identify affirms:
He will come again in glory to judge ...
5
Some translation details
The passages from Revelation you refer to (3:11, 22:7, 22:12, 22:20) all contain the same Greek phrase:
ἔρχομαι ταχύ
The phrase is translated "I come quickly" or "I am coming soon" in most English translations.
Strong's Concordance has the following definition for ταχύ:
Neuter singular of G5036 (as adverb); shortly, i.e. ...
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