Eschatology is Life: The Rest is Just Details

Now that's a Christian t-shirt that could bring in the big bucks. If I could only find a way to twist a scripture, convincing my fellow believers that they are out of the will of God if they don't buy my new "Eschatology is Life: The Rest is Just Details" t-shirt, I could make millions. Or maybe I can make it look like one of those totally sweet Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts--It could become a racy Christian fad (to the glory of God, of course) for teeny boppers and old gray haired men who are torn between their love for eschatology and a desire to dress their age (a love for eschatology always wins in the end). If I were only a marketing specialist, I would be in a place where I wouldn't even have to trust God or ask for my daily bread. The possibilities are endless.

For those of you who don't know me, this is what I like to call satire.

Anyway, onto the outcome of our latest poll on eschatology (the study of the end times). I was surprised by the outcome: 1 Historical Premil, 8 Amil, 0 Dispensational, 1 Postmil, 4 Don't know's, 0 Don't Care's, and 0 Have never heard of these terms.

I did not realize that there are so many of like mind who come to this blog. Personally, I voted "I don't know." I really am torn between the Amil and Historical Premil positions. In this post I am not going to take you through what the Scriptures teach about eschatology. Rather, I am going to just say a few important things about eschatology in general.

1. Fellowship should never be broken over eschatological views. Great grace and humility should accompany a person's end times position. There is no eschatological view which is essential for saving faith. End times issues should be considered debatable, non-divisive issues--in the same category as things like sabbath observance, predestination, politics, spiritual gifts, music, and other issues like this. Christians can and will think differently on these things because we see dimly as through a mirror in this time between the times. Sheer immaturity is what causes Christians to divide over issues like eschatology (and the other issues listed above).

2. Just because eschatology is a debatable issue does not mean that it is unimportant. Many neglect eschatology as if it were never talked about in the Scriptures. Eschatology is talked about in the Scriptures just as much as any other doctrine. It is the primary theme in the book of Revelation and in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. It is talked about in detail in the Gospels, and here and there throughout the letters of Paul and Peter. It is also discussed in some detail in the Old Testament--Daniel, Ezekiel, etc. No, we should not divide over it, but we should take it very seriously. We should also speak out against (but not divide over) certain eschatological views that seem to go against other important doctrines of Scripture. For example, I would never refuse fellowship with a full-fledged dispensational, but I would speak out against their view that the sacrificial system will be reinstated during the millenium because it goes against the entire book of Hebrews.

3. In our study of eschatology, it is just as important, if not more, to know why the author (of whatever book) is talking about eschatology than it is to know the specifics of what the author is actually saying about eschatology. This may seem like splitting hairs, but I do think it is important. Many get so bogged down with trying to nail down the exact chronology of end times events that they fail to understand why end times events are talked about in the first place. End times events are hardly ever talked about in the Scriptures for the express purpose of giving us a detailed chronology of what is going to happen. It is written to help Christians live their everyday lives in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. End times doctrine is first and foremost to help us in our everyday lives.

4. It is of utmost importance to know how apocalyptic literature works before we go to the book of Revelation to gain a better understanding of what the Bible has to say about the end times. Apocalyptic literature functions a certain way. Unless we know how it functions, we do not have a point of reference when it comes to interpreting it. Apocalyptic literature is a literary genre like poetry or narrative. And, just like poetry and narrative, it can only be read and interpreted correctly when done so following the rules of interpreting that particular literary genre. Thus, apocalyptic literature cannot be read in the same way that we read the Gospels, or Paul's letter, or the Psalms.

The End Must be Near!

On my way to check my email at yahoo.com, an article entitled "Don't Send in the Clowns" caught my eye. Apparently, researchers from the University of Sheffield polled children to find out what they think about clowns. The result was unanimous--children are not partial to clowns.

My first thought was, "The Book of Revelation has to talk about this somewhere. We got the war in Iraq, nation-wide economic hardship, global warming, a prevailing paranoia of being bar-coded (for those out of the Dispensational loop, bar coded refers to being officially branded with the mark of the beast by having a bar code inserted into your right hand or forehead. Ok, so bar-coding is my own term), and now... and now... children have declared their suspicion of clowns! Surely it must be in there somewhere, anywhere. I might have to twist some Greek to find it. Maybe i'll have to ignore context. Who knows! What I do know is that it must be in there."

Actually, my first thought was, "Where on earth have you been? You actually had to spend thousands of dollars to figure out that clowns are the freakiest, sanity-stealing phenomenon on the face of the planet?"

Either way, the end must be near. Oh well.