Biblical Evidence for the Imminence of the Rapture

Biblical Evidence for the Imminence of the Rapture
by Wayne A. Brindle
What I intend to do here is to examine to what degree the Bible teaches that the Rapture of the church is imminent. First, a definition of imminence as applied to the Rapture is in order.1 In 1973, Robert Gundry wrote that “by common consent imminence means that so far as we know no predicted event will necessarily precede the coming of Christ.”2 John Sproule countered in 1974 that imminence is better defined as the belief that “Christ can return for His Church at any moment and that no predicted event will intervene before that return.”3 I have no reason to quarrel with either definition.
Some posttribulationists have responded to the doctrine of imminence by claiming that all the intervening signs have already occurred, and thus the final Parousia can indeed occur at any time. Others attempt to deny that the Bible teaches imminence in any sense. Most would prefer to redefine imminence along the lines adopted by Douglas Moo, who objects that the term does not necessarily mean “any moment,” but rather only that the return of Christ “could take place within any limited period of time.”4
In this paper I will follow the more strict definition, and will view any Biblical passage which teaches or strongly implies that Christ's return for the church can occur at any time without any predicted intervening signs or events as evidence for the imminence of the Rapture.
Criteria for Imminence
But how is one to know for certain whether a specific passage teaches the imminence of the Rapture, when no Rapture passage is given a specific temporal designation? I would propose four criteria, any of which would indicate imminence:
(1) The passage speaks of Christ's return as at any moment.
(2) It speaks of Christ's return as near, without giving any signs preceding his coming. (3) It speaks of Christ's return as something that gives believers hope and
encouragement, without indicating that these believers will suffer tribulation.
(4) It speaks of Christ's return as giving hope without relating it to God's judgment of
mankind.
Based on these criteria, many Second Coming passages fail the test. Matthew 24-25,
for example, describes Christ's return as delivering the elect from tribulation and death, and does not prove imminence. Likewise 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 19 fail to speak of imminence, since both depict eschatological chronologies which include signs for Christ's return (although 2 Thessalonians 2:1, a reference to the Rapture, could arguably be separated from the rest of the chapter). Even Revelation 3:10 might fail to meet these criteria, since it speaks of a keeping “out of the time of testing,” which, it is argued by many, indicates a deliverance from tribulation that is already occurring. I will proceed instead to passages that are commonly put forth as clearly teaching imminence.
John 14:1-3
1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, [there] you may be also. (NASU)5
John 14:3 is the only passage in the Gospels that is commonly accepted by contemporary pretribulationists and posttribulationists alike as a reference to the Rapture. I
2
take it as evident that when Jesus says, “If I go,” he is not merely speaking figuratively of his death or resurrection. He refers to a literal departure, in which he went bodily from earth to heaven (cf. Acts 1:11). His next statement, “I am coming again” (pavlin e[rcomai – a futuristic present = “I will come again”),6 must likewise refer to a literal and bodily return from heaven, not a coming of Christ to individual believers in death7 or in the person of the Holy Spirit. Again, many posttribulationists agree with pretribulationists on this point.8
When Christ returns, he will take believers to be with him forever. Verse 2 clearly refers to heaven as “my Father's house.” The close connection between the “dwelling places” and the Father's house almost certainly locates the “dwelling places” in heaven.9 In verses 2 and 3, Jesus twice discusses an activity which he will carry out in his “Father's house”—he will “prepare a place” for believers.10 Sometime after that has been accomplished, he will then “come again” and “receive” (paralhvmyomai – “I will take to myself”) them “to
himself.” Where will he take them? He will take them “where I am” (o{pou eijmiV ejgwV). But where exactly is that?
There are two clues to the answer to this question. First, Jesus' double reference to “preparing a place for them” in heaven is irrelevant (even worthless) information if he does not intend to take them there when he “takes” them to himself. The foregoing context thus virtually compels us to conclude that he intends to take them to heaven—where he “will be” (eijmiV is also futuristic here). Second, Jesus' next statement is “and where [o{pou] I am
going, you know the way.” Unless Jesus is being intentionally devious, we must assume that he is still speaking of heaven. In fact, following Thomas' question about the way (v. 5), Jesus candidly states that no one is able to go to the Father except through him (v. 6).
3
Thus Christ will go to heaven (his ascension), then return literally and bodily to earth for his people, and take them literally to heaven with him (at the Rapture) to “be with him.” Some exegetes object that since the word “heaven” is not in the passage, the emphasis of the text is on Christ's promise that believers will ultimately (and always) be “with him”-- wherever that is--so that the promise should not be understood as necessarily implying a Rapture “to heaven.”11 This would allow the Rapture to occur at the same time as Christ's coming to the earth, so that “where he is” is on the earth during the Millennium, not in heaven. As shown above, this explanation makes a mess of the preceding context, as well as the conversation that follows it.
Now, what does all this have to do with the question of the imminence of the Rapture? In the preceding context, the apostles have begun to show signs of fear as a response to Jesus' statements about his coming departure. In answer to a question from Peter, Jesus said, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later,” to which Peter replied, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now?” (13:36-37). This led Jesus to begin the current discussion with the statement, “Do not let your heart be troubled.” Christ here clearly speaks of the Rapture as an antidote to their fears and as a great hope and encouragement in light of his coming departure to heaven.12 There is no mention of suffering or judgment from which the Rapture may rescue them, nor are any preceding signs mentioned. It appears to be presented purely as a reunion of the apostles with their Lord, which issues in an eternal “at- home-ness” with both Jesus and his Father.
In addition, assuming a premillennial eschatology, this passage cannot refer to Christ's Second Coming to the earth, since at that time Christ will rule on earth rather than return to heaven with his people. In fact, on the occasion of the Second Coming, no one is depicted as
4
going from earth to heaven.13 The events depicted in Matthew 25 and Revelation 20 are not possible in John 14:1-3, and no intervening event such as a time of tribulation is even hinted at.
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, [that is] Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Three time periods are described here, in all of which the Thessalonian believers participated. First, when Paul visited them with the gospel, they “turned to God from idols”; that is, they responded to Christ by faith and were born again. Second, they were now serving “a living and true God” (rather than the idols and false gods they formerly worshiped) as they waited for Christ to return from heaven. Third, one day Jesus would appear out of heaven and rescue them “from the wrath which is to come” (ejk th'" ojrgh'" th'" ejrcomevnh").
What “wrath to come” is this? Since Christ's appearance “out of heaven” is later described in 4:15-17 as the Rapture, this “coming wrath” must be the same wrath described in 5:3, 9, which is the wrath of the eschatological Tribulation.14 The general context of both Thessalonian epistles is the Day of the Lord, especially that aspect of God's judgment that precedes and leads up to Christ's second coming. Indeed, the fact that 1:10 calls it a “coming wrath” implies that the “rescue” is related to Christ's return.
In what sense will believers be rescued from this wrath? Paul says that they will be rescued “from,” “out of,” or “away from” the coming wrath. The UBS4 text, following three Alexandrian manuscripts, reads ejk th'" ojrgh'". Daniel Wallace, however, argues that the
internal evidence strongly supports as original the reading apoV th'" ojrgh'",15 which
5
implies that Christ will not only rescue believers “out of” the coming wrath, but will also keep them “away from” that wrath. To quote Wallace,
On all fronts the internal evidence is decidedly in favor of ajpov. There are
many good reasons why a scribe would change ajpov to ejk, and virtually nothing to argue in the other direction. To answer the question, “Which reading best explains the rise of the others(s)?”, ajpov must be judged as the obvious originator of ejk. This writer would give ajpov an A- rating on internal probability.16
Even apart from the strength of the ajpov reading, the statement points to a
deliverance before wrath begins. The attempt by many non-pretribulational expositors to interpret this wrath as God's final judgment illustrates the point. To say that the point of this passage is to show that salvation by Christ provides a present deliverance that will keep believers “out of” the final wrath and judgment of God makes it necessary that one interpret the deliverance as total and complete. In other words, the saved will not be touched at all by God's final wrath.17 If the same explanation of ejk or ajpov is used with regard to the
believer's deliverance from the coming eschatological wrath (the Tribulation, as depicted in chapter 5), the present passage must be seen to provide strong evidence for Paul's belief in an imminent Rapture.
To object that the participle which names Jesus as the one who rescues (toVn rJuovmenon) us, since it is a present tense, must denote a current, progressive deliverance from God's general (non-eschatological) wrath misunderstands both the relevance of the tense of the articular participle and the meaning of the final participle (th'" ejrcomevnh",
“coming”). The participle rJuovmenon may be considered timeless with the force of a substantive.18 As F. F. Bruce puts it, “the participle plays the part of a nomen agentis, 'our deliverer'“ (as in Romans 11:26, oJ rJuovmeno" is usually translated “the Deliverer”).19
6

7 On the other hand, the present participle here could be futuristic, making it equivalent to the
phrase ajpoV th'" mellouvsh" ojrgh'" (“the coming wrath”) in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7). The closing participle, th'" ejrcomevnh", seems clearly
to be futuristic. This would allow a close connection between the future deliverance and the fact that the object of the deliverance is a wrath which itself is still “coming.”
In any event, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 seems to function as Paul's “apostolic kerygma,” imparted to the infant church while Paul was still in Thessalonica. It serves as a “summary of the eschatological teaching Paul had given, which finds its expansion and further explanation in 4:13–5:11,”20 to which we now turn.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-9
4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of [the] day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ ...
Paul begins this section by assuring his readers that they know “the times and the epochs” (5:1) and do not need any new information on the subject from him. They know “very well” (accurately), for example, that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (5:2). The wrath of that day is the same as that of 1:10, described here as coming as suddenly and unexpectedly as “labor pains on a pregnant woman” (5:3, NIV). Unbelievers (“they”) will not escape.
That the “destruction” described in verse 3 is that of the Great Tribulation as a whole and not the “day of vengeance” accompanying Christ's second coming (2 Thess. 1:7-9) or God's later judgment of the lost (Rev. 20:11-15) is indicated by the fact that those who will suffer this destruction are quoted as saying, “Peace and safety,” just before the calamity
suddenly and violently comes upon them. It is unthinkable that people could be saying near the end of the Tribulation or during the outpouring of heavenly signs (Rev. 6-19) or at the time of God's final judgment anything resembling “peace and safety.”21 Men's hearts will “faint from fear” during the Tribulation (Luke 21:25-27), and there is no reason to think that those who “will not escape” will find Christ's judgment any more comforting.
Beginning in verse 4, Paul contrasts the situation of the believer with that of the unbeliever, inserting the pronouns “you” and “we” (5:4-5). As Paul Feinberg puts it, “The day of the Lord will overtake the unbelievers as a thief in the night because of their general moral state, which is spoken of as night, or darkness. Believers, on the other hand, will not be surprised as they are of light and the day.”22 In addition, the contrast between the “you” of verses 1-2, 4-5, and the “they” of verse 3 (“they shall not escape”) strongly implies that the church will escape, and that is one reason Paul has no need to discuss the “times and epochs” of the Rapture (5:1).
These contrasts are followed in verses 6-8 with exhortations to be alert and sober (self- controlled), living in faith, love, and a confidence in salvation, since this is the lifestyle that is fitting for the day (cf. Rom. 13:12-13). Drunkenness and sleep characterize the night, but alertness and soberness are needed in the daytime (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8).23 Then in verse 9 Paul reaffirms the fact that God has not destined believers to suffer this eschatological wrath, but rather have been appointed to obtain salvation through Christ. This salvation is further defined in verse 10 as including an eternal “living together” with Christ, thus showing that it is parallel to the “rescue” of 1:10 and the “catching up” (rapture) of 4:17 (“thus we shall always be with the Lord”).
8
According to verse 2, it is the “day of the Lord,” not specifically the destruction, that will “come as a thief in the night.” The destruction will be the evidence of the “day.” This day of the Lord is apparently a literal period of time which stretches through the millennium to the new heavens and the new earth (2 Pet. 3:7-13). It is this period of time that will begin in the night, like a thief. Both night and day are periods of time. The church, Paul says, is not of the night, but of the day (verses 4, 5, 8). Day and night cannot exist at the same time in the same way or in the same place. But here one group (the church) is always of the day, and the other group (unbelievers) is trapped in the night and destined to suffer God's eschatological wrath.24 It is certainly possible to see the day and night as representing “coexisting spiritual conditions.” But to say that the day of the Lord will come upon the church that is of the day in the same way and at the same time that it will come upon unbelievers as in the night would seem to contradict the Paul's specific declaration that it will come “as a thief in the night” and to make his counsel to stay alert, watchful, and sober practically worthless.25
It seems evident that Paul presents salvation here as an alternative to the wrath which is manifested by the Tribulation. The purpose of this salvation is that believers will “live with Christ” (suVn aujtw'/ zhvswmen, 5:10), which therefore has exactly the same results as
the Rapture in chapter 4 (suVn kurivw/ ejsovmeqa, 4:17). Even the words of encouragement and comfort (“therefore encourage one another--parakalei'te ajllhvlou"--and build up one another,” 5:11) are identical with those in 4:18 (“therefore comfort one another--parakalei'te ajllhvlou"--with these words”). Paul clearly teaches
that a Rapture will occur and that it will include all living believers (1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:51). The fact that in 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul describes the Rapture as part of the outworking of the salvation which will deliver the church from God's eschatological wrath
9
(the Tribulation) shows that for Paul the means of saving the church from the wrath of the Tribulation (or day of the Lord) is specifically the Rapture.
According to Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 and 13, believers on earth during the Tribulation will experience extreme suffering and martyrdom. Nothing further can be done to someone to injure him than to take his life. Martyrdom is therefore the supreme result of the wrath of God's enemies which during the Tribulation will be part of God's wrath upon the earth. But martyrdom cannot be thought of as delivery or “rescue” from the coming wrath. If the church finds itself in the Tribulation, then at least some of the church is not delivered, since they will be martyred. This seems contrary to the clear teaching of 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9, where no exceptions to the rescue are indicated or implied. The promise of deliverance by Rapture is for the entire church. It is also worth noting that believers who find themselves in the Tribulation and who are kept faithful until death will thereby be “delivered” from denial or apostasy, but this is not the wrath spoken of here. A faithful Christian may be delivered during the Tribulation from his own weakness, but not from the “wrath.” Paul's promise is that the church will be actually and literally delivered from the coming wrath.
I conclude, then, that Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonians to “watch and be sober” (5:6) is unrealistic and his promise that the church is not appointed to wrath (5:9) is misleading if the Rapture is not imminent.
1 Corinthians 1:7
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ
In Romans 8:23, as Paul attempts to show that the Christian's coming glorification is something that far outweighs the suffering he will experience in this life, he declares that believers “groan” within themselves as they “eagerly await” the “redemption of their bodies.”
10
Two verses later, he explains that they “eagerly await” this hope with perseverance. This verb, ajpekdevcomai (“await eagerly or expectantly,” “look forward eagerly”26), found
also here in 1 Corinthians 1:7, is always used of Christian hope in the New Testament,27 and Paul uses it only in eschatological contexts.28
Why do the Corinthians need to be reminded, in the midst of a thanksgiving focusing
on their wealth of spiritual gifts, that they are eagerly looking forward to the revelation or
“unvealing” (ajpokavluyi") of Christ? Gordon Fee suggests that they had an “overrealized
eschatological understanding of their existence,” connected to their experience of tongues.29
Paul, however, is probably foreshadowing his later warning that the day is coming when the
very spiritual gifts on which the Corinthians have centered their Christian existence will cease
and be put aside when (or by the time that) “the perfect comes” (13:10). As Paul will say
there,
8 Love never fails; but if [there are gifts of] prophecy, they will be done away; if [there are] tongues, they will cease; if [there is] knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)
The “perfect” (toV tevleion) presumably has something to do with Christ's return
for the church and his ushering in of a new (glorious) kind of existence for them, in which believers will know him and his will perfectly and completely. As Fee puts it, “at the coming of Christ ... those gifts now necessary [perhaps better, useful] for the building up of the church in the present age will disappear, because 'the complete' will have come.”30 Paul intends in 1:7 to refocus their expectation on Christ, rather than on themselves and their (temporary) gifts (cf. also 1:17-18, 30-31; 2:2). This indicates that 1:7 has in view an
11
imminent Rapture, “eagerly expected” at any moment, on which believers should focus their expectation.
The word ajpokavluyi" at times refers to either the Rapture (1 Pet. 1:7, 13; 4:13) or
the second coming (2 Thess. 1:7; Rom. 8:19).31 Here, where no signs are mentioned, an imminent Rapture is not only possible but most likely. The underlying concept of “seeing” an unveiled Christ as he really is coincides well with such clear Rapture passages as 1 John 3:2, where it is said that the church “will see him even as he is.”
Titus 2:13
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.
At the outset in Titus 2:13 it is appropriate to ask why Paul describes Christ's return as “the blessed hope” (thVn makarivan ejlpivda). Given that the term makavrio" has
a basic meaning of “happy,”32 and that the article thvn is most likely fulfilling either a par
excellence (“in a class by itself”) or a monadic (“one of a kind”) function,33 Paul's terminology here strongly implies that “the blessed hope,” as the Christian's ultimate hope, is the Rapture presented as a totally positive and joyful expectation.
Some pretribulationists interpret this passage as referring to the second coming of
Christ rather than the Rapture, because of Paul's use of the word ejpifavneia (appearing).
However, all four uses of the term in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13) present the appearing of Christ as a joyous expectation apart from signs or tribulation and thus refer to the Rapture.
Others have related this event to Christ's posttribulational second coming because it states that Christ's appearing will be a “glorious appearing,” which can only be the
12
manifestation of an exalted and glorious Christ to the entire world (cf. Matt. 16:27; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31). It must be noted, however, that although the world will not see Christ's glory until his second coming, the church will experience his glory when it meets him in the air (Rom. 5:2; 8:18, 30; 1 Cor. 15:43; Phil. 3:21; Col. 1:27; 3:4; 1 Pet. 5:1; 1 John 3:2; Jude 1:24). This “glory” may be either an attributive genitive (“glorious appearing”) or a subjective genitive (the glory “appears”). Either way, there is nothing in the passage that restricts this appearing to Christ's second coming.34
The fact that in Titus 2:13 Paul exhorts believers to look for the Rapture as the “happy,” blessed hope (confident expectation) for the church, without any mention of preceding signs or tribulation, strongly implies the imminence of this event—that it can occur at any time. The argument by some that the context of this passage makes any reference to signs inappropriate is weak,35 since Paul could easily have introduced the idea of tribulation and persecution and watching for signs as he spoke of the “present age,” just as Jesus did in Matthew 24. The exhortation to “watch” or “look” for what is the hope par excellence of the church loses its significance if it may not arrive “at any moment.”36
1 John 3:2-3
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope [fixed] on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
In seeking to motivate Christians to purify themselves from sin and lawlessness (cf. 3:4-11), John reminds his readers that when Jesus appears (fanerwqh'/), they will become
just like him. This is the Christian's hope, and everyone who has this hope in Christ and his return will purify himself now (in progressive sanctification) so that he may grow into the purity of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:29).
13
If one expects important guests to arrive at one's home momentarily, one may be busily engaged in cleaning the house and making every possible preparation for their arrival—perhaps with great eagerness which results in a strong focus on “purifying” the house and making it ready. If the guests call to cancel the visit, however, the preparations cease and the motivation for improvement is lost. The hope is realistic and motivational in proportion to its imminence.37 While it is certainly true that a Christian has other motivations for purification and obedience than simply the imminent hope of the Rapture, it must be admitted that the exhortation for Christians to purify themselves in light of Christ's return is most significant if his coming is imminent. As John Walvoord puts it, “The teaching of the coming of the Lord for the church is always presented as an imminent event which should occupy the Christian's thought and life to a large extent.”38
In 1 John the connection between an expectation of Christ's return and the purification of the believer's life has already been hinted at in 2:28 (abiding in Christ for confidence and lack of shame when he appears). Now in 3:2 John establishes a sequence of events: (1) he will appear, (2) we will see him just as he is, and (3) we will be like him. Taken together, these three points are a description of the essential elements of the Rapture. The phrase ejaVn fanerwqh'/ (“when/if he appears”) is exactly the same as that used to describe
Christ's coming for believers in 2:28, and alludes to Jesus' coming to glorify the church. At the moment of Christ's appearing, all genuine believers will become or be revealed to be “like him”—to be entirely conformed to the likeness of God's Son. “The complete transformation of the Christian into the likeness of Jesus awaits the moment of seeing him 'as he really is.'“39
But such a character-changing vision of Christ cannot be isolated from individual Christian responsibility here on earth. There are practical implications here and now because
14
of the imminence of that future vision. The hope for the future is an incentive to purity of living in the present. This purity is shown to involve the rejection of sin in the verses that follow. Keeping pure is endeavoring to stay free from sin (3:3). The hope of becoming like Christ when he appears should inspire Christlike character now. And it will, especially if that hope remains truly imminent, as this passage presents it.
Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
7 "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." 12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward [is] with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Three times in Revelation 22, Christ promises that he is coming quickly (ijdouV
e[rcomai tacuv).40 The word tacuv" is an adjective meaning “quick” or “swift.” The
form tacuv, a neuter singular, is used as an adverb, with two major types of meanings: (1)
“quickly, without delay,” and (2) “soon, in a short time.”41 The meaning generally proposed for the occurrences in Revelation is “quickly.” The major problem, of course, is that if we take Christ's promises literally, it appears that he was off the mark when he said he was coming back “quickly,” or else he had an unusual view of the meaning of the word. Commentators differ widely in how they attempt to resolve this difficulty. Some speak of a “foreshortened perspective on the time of the end.”42 Others say that John should not be held to the standards of a systematic theologian, and was simply attempting to “motivate his audience to respond to Christ immediately and properly in the light of his soon and sudden return.”43
Most likely the promises relate to the Rapture as imminent and ready to occur “at any moment.” The word tacuv suggests the suddenness of Christ's coming whenever it occurs.
15
A related promise in Revelation is found at 16:15: “I am coming like a thief.” G. K. Beale suggests that the idea of a “swift, unexpected appearance” is included, especially with respect to the “possibility that Jesus could come at any time.”44 The promises thus assume imminence, and the probability of a reference to the Rapture is strengthened by the reference to Christ's rewards in 22:12 (based on works, as at the judgment seat of Christ—2 Cor. 5:10- 11).
Conclusion
These passages which promise the Rapture of the church all either teach, imply, or allow for imminence as an event that can occur “at any moment.” The purpose of most of these passages is to encourage believers concerning the hope that awaits them, or to motivate them to pursue holiness in anticipation of seeing Christ soon. As Paul Feinberg notes, “there is no mention of any signs or events that precede the Rapture of the church in any of the Rapture passages. The point seems to be that the believer prior to this event is to look, not for some sign, but the Lord from heaven.”45
NOTES
1 A large number of twentieth-century works on the Rapture use the term "imminency"
instead of "imminence." However, most recent works use "imminence" and dictionaries seem to prefer "imminence," so this paper uses the latter term.
2 Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973), p. 29. More recently, Wayne Grudem has defined "imminent" to mean that "Christ could come and might come at any time" (Systematic Theology [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 1096, n. 7).
16

3 John A. Sproule, In Defense of Pretribulationism (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1980), p. 12. John Walvoord has also called Gundry's definition untenable for pretribulationists (The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976], p. 71).
4 Douglas J. Moo, "The Case for the Posttribulation Rapture Position," in Three Views on the Rapture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), p.208.
5 The updated New American Standard version will normally be used throughout this paper. 6 According to Robert Gromacki, "The choice of the present tense rather than the future in a prophetic context probably implies an ever-present possibility of fulfillment, or imminency" ("The Imminent Return of Jesus Christ," Grace Theological Journal 6 [Fall 1965]: 18).
7 The idea that Christ "comes" to believers at the time of their deaths is actually not found in Scripture at all.
8 Moo, "Case," p. 178.
9 Ibid., p. 247, n. 9.
10 Craig Keener sees these "dwelling places" as "rooms" in the new temple (Ezek. 44:9-16), "where only undefiled ministers would have a place"; he then interprets the reference figuratively as "being in Christ, where God's presence dwells" (cf. John 2:21; 14:23) (IVP Bible Background Commentary—New Testament [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993], p. 299). A more likely cultural background can be found in the fact that fathers and soon-to- be-married sons normally added small apartments ("dwelling places" or insulae) to their homes so that they could join together in an ever increasing expanded family.
11 Douglas J. Moo, "Response" to Paul Feinberg, in Three Views on the Rapture, p. 100. 12 Contrast Jesus' counsel to those present on earth during the Tribulation to flee from persecution (Matt. 24:15-22).
17
13 Cf. John F. Walvoord, The Rapture Question (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1957), p. 76.
14 Cf. William K. Harrison, "The Time of the Rapture as Indicated in Certain Scriptures—Part I," Bibliotheca Sacra 114/456 (October 1957): 319.
15 Daniel B. Wallace, "A Textual Problem in 1 Thessalonians 1:10: Ek th'" *Orgh'" vs.
*ApoV th'" *Orgh'"," Bibliotheca Sacra 147/588 (October 1990): 478.
16 Ibid., p. 478.
17 Leon Morris, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, TNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956), p. 42; cf. D. Edmond Hiebert, The Thessalonian Epistles (Chicago: Moody, 1971), p. 75.
18 Hiebert, The Thessalonian Epistles, p. 72.
19 F. F. Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, WBC (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982), pp. 19-20.
20 Wallace, "Textual Problem," p. 479.
21 Cf. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, p. 117.
22 Paul D. Feinberg, "The Case for the Pretribulation Rapture Position," in Three Views on the Rapture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), pp. 53-54.
23 Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, pp. 111-112.
24 Walvoord puts it this way: “The implication is quite clear that believers are in a different time reference, namely, that they belong to the day that precedes the darkness” (The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, p. 117).
25 The concepts suggested here are elaborated in greater detail by Harrison, “The Time of the Rapture,” pp. 320-321.
26 Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988), 1:296.
18
27 BAGD, 2nd ed., s.v. "ajpekdevcomai," p. 83.
28 Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 42, n. 36.
29 Ibid., p. 42.
30 Ibid., p. 646.
31 As Sproule notes, the term ajpokavluyin is not a technical term that refers only to the Second Coming (In Defense of Pre-Tribulationism, p. 18).
32 BAGD, 2nd ed., s.v. "makavrio"," p. 486.
33 See Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), pp. 222-224, for descriptions and other examples.
34 Cf. Walvoord, The Rapture Question, p. 157.
35 Cf. Gundry, The Church, pp. 36-37.
36 As Earl Radmacher says, "If . . . there are specific prophesied signs, in reality we would not be looking for the Savior at any moment but instead should be watching for the revelation of the Man of Sin, the Great Tribulation, etc." ("The Imminent Return of the Lord," Chafer Theological Seminary Journal 4.3 [July 1998]: 20).
37 Ibid.
38 Walvoord, The Rapture Question, p. 81. Gleason Archer suggests that a comparison of this passage with Revelation 19:7-8, 14 proves that by the time Jesus leaves heaven for earth at his second coming the church will have been raptured, purified, and glorified, and have joined Christ's armies (dressed in white clothing) for his victorious return to earth ("The Case for the Mid-Seventieth-Week Rapture Position," in Three Views on the Rapture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), pp. 119-120.
19
39 Stephen S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, WBC (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1984), p. 147. 40 The word tacuv, "quickly," is also used of Christ's coming in 2:16 and 3:11.
41 BAGD, 2nd ed., s.v. "tacuv"," p. 807.
42 Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), p. 404.
43 Robert W. Wall, Revelation, NIBC (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991), p. 263.
44 G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 1135. 45 Feinberg, "Case," in Three Views on the Rapture, p. 80.

PRETERISM Defined & Discussed

PRETERISM Defined & Discussed

“Preterism” comes from the English word “preterit” which simply means “past, bygone, former.” With regard to Bible Prophecy, a preterit viewpoint would be one that puts the fulfillment of a particular passage in the past as opposed to the future. By this simple definition, many Christians have a preterist viewpoint on several prophetic passages (for example: all Christians believe that the virgin birth prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in the first century). But “preterism” in regard to eschatology (the study of the last things) is a system that places the fulfillment, of most, or all of Bible prophecy in the past.

More specifically, and most shockingly, “preterism” puts the Second Coming of Christ in our past, not our future! As heretical and shocking as this may sound, it is actually an extremely hard point to argue with scripturally. Those who hold to this view of Scripture are called “preterists” by most, “heretics by some. Be that as it may, preterism is soundly rooted in Scripture and is a formidable foe if one is of both a futurist persuasion and a lover of truth.

Most honest students of the Bible already realize that the New Testament paints an imminent picture of a “soon-coming” Christ from a first-century viewpoint. All real students of the NT will admit this. All will admit Paul and the apostles surely expected Christ to return in their lifetime. But a futurist will then add, “but it didn’t happen.” The preterist simply doesn’t add anything and just accepts that the NT expectation was fulfilled plainly as stated.

In so doing, this presents a preterist with some major rethinking to do on modern “Second Coming” expectations that have been painted by today’s so called “prophecy experts.” But preterists gladly sacrifice modern-day “prophets” for the emphatic time statements of the NT.

As with all viewpoints of eschatology, preterism is not without its pitfalls. But one cannot lightly push it aside by simply saying “that’s crazy,” or “its heretical.” One of the problems with preterism is NOT with the plain meaning of texts like Matthew 16:27-28, 10:23. All other forms of eschatology generally struggle with texts such as these. A preterist just simply affirms that before the last apostle died, Jesus indeed did come into His kingdom.

Basically, the problem with all NT eschatology is a struggle between what to do with the time statements and the nature of Christ’s return. For example, one has to choose between the following:

1. The time statements are literal and Christ’s return is physical.
2. The time statements are literal and Christ’s return is spiritual.
3. The time statements are symbolic and Christ’s return is physical.
4. The time statements are symbolic and Christ’s return is spiritual.

A futurist commonly must pick #3 or #4. Most, of course, pick #3. The time statements are said to be “God’s Time,” or they are said to be written so that “every generation of man would expect Christ’s return.” Also it is emphasized, “no man knows the day nor the hour.” Therefore, the futurist likes to call himself a “literalist” concerning the nature of Christ’s return, but when faced with the time statements of the NT, they are clearly not literalists. It is common, because of their expectation of a physical return of Christ, to have to explain the time statements. Thus, the NATURE of Christ’s return in their eyes determines the TIMING.

A preterist commonly must pick #1 or #2 above. Most, of course, pick #2. The nature of Christ’s return is said to be “seen” or “fulfilled” in the destruction of Jerusalem of 70 AD by the Romans. This is strongly suggested in the Olivet Discourse of our Lord in Matthew 24, Luke 21, Mark 13. Therefore, a preterist likes to call himself a “literalist” with regard to the time statements, but when faced with the nature of Christ’s return, they are clearly not literalists (i.e., physical in this case). It is common, due to their understanding of the timing of the return of Christ, to have to explain the nature of the event in a different way. Thus, the TIMING of Christ’s return in their eyes determines the NATURE.

Now we all know that both views, of course, cannot be correct. Each side has its “proof texts.” Clearly neither side would deny the Lordship and Deity of Jesus Christ, or His bodily resurrection. Nor does either side of the equation differ very much or at all on salvation issues. Therefore, neither can call the other a heretical view. One may be more popular than the other, but popularity does not constitute truth.

The question a preterist would ask a futurist is, “Was the NT expectation of the return of Christ true?” Then he would probably proceed to show the futurist that if the NT writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit to expect Christ’s return in their lifetime, then the expectation was real and had to be fulfilled, or else we are left saying that they taught false doctrine. This denies the Divine inspiration of the NT and makes its writers out to be false prophets, something with which no Christian can live!

The question a futurist would ask a preterist is, “If Christ really did return in 70AD, then what about this, and this…?” Questions are so incredibly numerous and hard to answer. What about resurrection? What about the New Heavens and New Earth? Is this all there is? What’s left? Etc., etc…

However, if given half a chance, preterism will challenge the most adamant of its opponents, and rightly so, for it is firmly based on logic and simple understanding of the time statements of the NT. If Jesus said it would all be fulfilled in one generation, then so be it.

If anything, preterism will make a Berean (Acts 17:11) out of you!

If this is new to you, check out these key texts and start searching! Some will be quite challenging. For a real treat ask your pastor! Also note that none of these say that the coming of Christ COULD happen in their lifetime (as today’s “prophecy experts say”), but rather that the coming of Christ WOULD happen in their lifetime. Big difference!

Scripture References:

Mat 10:23; 16:27,28; 24:34
Mar 8:38-9:1; 13:29-31
Luk 9:26,27; 21:20-22,31,32
Joh 21:21-23
Act 2:17-21
Rom 13:11,12; 16:20
1Co 7:26-31; 10:11
Phil 4:5
Heb 1:2; 9:26-28; 10:37,38
Jam 5:7-9
1Pe 4:5-7,17
1Jo 2:8,17,18
Rev 1:1-3; 22:6,7,10,12,20

Witnessing to "the Witnesses"

Witnessing to "the Witnesses"

By Ed Decker

It’s a rare door that hasn’t felt the knock of the Jehovah’s Witnesses more than once and it’s an even rarer Jehovah’s Witness who has heard the gospel message at one of those doors from the resident Christian.

The reason is simply that it is a far from simple task to witness to a Witness. It’s easier to just close the door and avoid the difficult task of sorting through a maze of confusing doctrines. Let’s try to make it a bit simpler.

There are five important facts to remember about the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Organization.

1. They have accepted the Organization as the Prophet of God.
2. They have accepted the Organization as God’s sole channel for His truth.
3. They believe that to reject the Organization is to reject God.
4. They believe that only the Organization can interpret the Bible; as individuals they are unable to do so.
5. They believe the Watchtower Magazine contains God’s truth, directed by Him, through the Organization.

What does the Organization and Watchtower Magazine teach that is in conflict with Orthodox Christianity?

1. That Jesus is a created being/a creature.
2. That Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel
3. That Jesus was not resurrected bodily, but as a spirit being.
4. That Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 (secretly to the Organization)
5. That Jesus was only a man when on earth, not the Word Become flesh.
6. That the Holy Spirit is only an active force, not the person of God.
7. That Hell is simply the grave.
8. That Heaven’s doors is open to only 144,000.
9. That the majority of Witnesses must remain on earth.
10. That salvation is found only through the Organization.
11. That it must be maintained by energetic works for the Organization until the end when one may merit eternal life on a paradise earth.
12. That Satan is the author of the doctrine of the Trinity.
13. That Jesus cannot be given worship, but only honor as Jehovah’s first creation.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe or teach some of the very basic tenets of Christian doctrine.

They deny what The Bible Teaches as Truth...

1. That God exists in a Trinity of three eternal and coequal persons:

Father: "To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be Saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:7)

Son: "Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)

Holy Spirit: "Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3,4)

"For there are three that testify" (1 John 5:7)

2. Jesus is no less than God in human flesh

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity

lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9)

3. God, the Holy Spirit, is the third member of the Holy Trinity

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," (Matt. 28:19)

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." (Acts 13:2)

4. Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave

"The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body." (John 2:20,21)

"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." (Luke 24:39)

5. Jesus is visibly coming again to set up His Kingdom on earth

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." (Matt. 24:30)

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

"Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen." (Rev.1:7).

6. Salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ and comes through faith in Him.

"They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household."(Acts 16:31).

7. It’s the work of God for man, not a work of man for God

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:4-6).

8. Jesus was and should be worshipped

"A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn.20:26-28)

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." (Matt. 2:10-12)

"Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matt. 14:33)

Witnessing to a Witness.

We need to remember that anyone who denies the full divinity of Jesus Christ and carries the heavy burden of a false, religious spirit is going through a lot of highs and lows. True believers, empowered by the companionship of God, the Holy Spirit have a constant presence of the Lord about them that seems to act like a magnet at times.

When a Watchtower member comes to your front door and you open it, what are they thinking about? What do they think when you talk about Christianity? First, it’s impossible to offer them any hope of heaven

It doesn’t matter what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe about Jesus. One day, every single one of them, including every leader who perpetuated this gross heresy, will have to meet the Master. On that day, "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Whether it’s at the banqueting table of joy or at the great white throne judgment of the damned, every knee will bow.

Our prayer as Christians is that God would open up the hearts and minds of these people who are ensnared in this foolishly created, man-made system and organization, as they believe the lie and try to earn their salvation through the watchtower, apart from Jesus Christ. We pray that they would come to know the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who loves us and desires that we come into a personal relationship with Him. We pray for the lost members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, people ensnared by lying leaders.

The Word of God says : "Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray." (Isa. 9:16) The King James Version says that they are destroyed. What an ignoble end for a misled people who only seek to serve God. What a tragedy.

We thank God for Jesus Christ, who took our sin and nailed it to the cross and covered it with His shed blood as the infinite payment, the eternal lamb of God once for all time. We thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit, who comes and lives in us and gives us new life. To God be the honor and glory and praise.. We worship Him alone and we thank you, Lord we love you, Lord. "Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

Note from Ed: This study is excerpted from my book, Fast Facts on False Teachings, written with my friend and great Christian apologist, Dr. Ron Carlson. Our full teaching on Witnessing to the Witnesses is available there, with a special method for breaking through their wall of unbelief. This book contains the key to witnessing to 15 such false religious groups. Pick up a copy at Saints Alive online bookstore today

Who is Ed Decker and Saints Alive?

Theological terms and definitions

Theological terms and definitions

______________________________________________

Some of these are grouped in categories. But most of the terms and explanations are listed in alphabetical order.

Apostle- Sent out one, specifically chosen by Christ. There were 2 main categories and as many as 5. Those who were with Jesus from the time of John the Baptizer and witnessed his resurrection. (Acts 1:21-26) Another were seeing the risen Christ as in the case of Paul and others who were sent out as church missionaries.

Anthropomorphisms Throughout the Old Testament there are what is called anthropomorphism to describe God in some function or characteristic. This is figurative language that describes a certain characteristic of God or describes His divine activity from a human perspective and language. The word Anthropomorphism is derived from two words Anthropos = man, morphe = form. This designates the view of God having human features and form. He is described as having feet, hands, mouth, and a heart. Scripture mentions His ears, feet, back, fingers, arms, and hands. None of these should be taken in the solid literal sense that would have us think God who is Spirit, has form as a human creature. These are meant to communicate something of His being or of service, some facet of the invisible God in human terminology. For example, there are the Scriptures such as the eyes of the Lord go to and fro upon the earth. God called a shield, a buckler, a high tower, a fortress. If we took the former descriptions literally, then we would have to think of Him as an inanimate object. He is called a vine, a door, a mother hen, a way, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. These are terms used to communicate something of his nature or purpose to us strictly on a human level.



Bible- Biblios (scroll or book) Scripture-The Old Testament consists of the law (revealed by God through his servant Moses, the prophets and the writings. Which are written in Hebrew with few parts in Aramaic.

The law (revealed by God through Moses from Mt. Sinai that consisted of 613 commands as the whole body of precepts and ordinances. The 10 are the first installment. The O T consists of 49 books written over 1,600 years

The N T. consists of the gospel accounts, epistles and letters written in koine (common) Greek . these were written from approximately A.D 40 to 95 by eyewitnesses or one who interviewed an eyewitness (Luke). 27 books in all by 9 different authors. Christ had risen approximately 30-32 Ad , they waited for 10 years because they anticipated his return. Once the Church was being persecuted it became necessary to write the accounts down. Letters were then written to where the church met and were read aloud. They were then copied and shared by circulation. This copying protected them from being lost. They were copied in hearing rooms and were checked. If a parchment wore out it was destroyed.

Literary content

Gospels are biographical accounts each having a specific theme- written to both unbelievers and believers.

Matthew-Jesus the Messiah the king of the Jews

Mark- Jesus the Messiah the Servant of Yahweh

Luke- Jesus the Messiah the Son of Man

John- Jesus the Messiah the Son of God

Book of the Acts of the Apostles is Church history (following specifically Peter to the Jews, and Paul to the gentiles). It is the deeds of the apostles as they conduct Church government and spread the message of the gospel. Written to believers, to those who have already heard so they can have a fuller understanding of the truth.

Epistles letters- Consists of doctrinal teachings and practices and refuting error.

All other letters are personal- 1 and 2 Timothy, Philemon, 2nd & 3rd John.

Both the OT and NT are 66 books written spanning over 60 generations from 6 different parts of the world. Written by people from all walks of life. Kings, priests, prophets, soldiers, shepherds, fisherman, doctor, tax collector, a tent maker and farmer, all which are in agreement on who God is and the nature of man.

The scripture is diverse literary forms. Historical, narratives, biographical, in poetry, drama, songs, and letters.

Revelation –Is apocalyptic written in symbolism describing literal events. Much of what is spoken of in the O T for Israel and the tribulation are found as its theme from revelation 6-19 It reveals Christ and the end of the age .

Q-Quelle- which means source. A hypothetical document that is believed to be the common source for the gospels.

Three terms used to describe the gathering together of the canon (Scripture)

Homologumena= all books accepted by the entire church (the Pauline epistles next were the 4 gospels in one work, then Acts 1 Pt., 1 Jn., Revelation all these were accepted in both the East and the West).

Antilogumena= books accepted by some of the church (James and Jude, 2nd and 3rd John, 2nd Peter, Hebrews which were disputed books because they were not familiar with them these 6 books were accepted later).

Notha= writings claiming inspiration but were false.Their were false books circulating by authors who claimed to be an apostle or penned an apostles name. They were considered false because it contradicted the writings previously delivered Ex: The 1st miracle of Jesus was that he did miracles as a boy .

Bible- John Wycliff in 1400 AD., made the bible in the language of the people in England. The Guttenburg press ran the Bible as the first book ever printed. In 1550 Robert Stephens divided the scriptures into chapter and verses. The Geneva bible was the first Bible in 1580 with a completed work of chapter and verses.

Voltaire the French philosopher boldly declared, 50 years from now the world will hear no more about the bible. Exactly 50 years later the Geneva bible society used his house and the same printing press to print bibles. Over 7 billion copies have been printed in 1808 languages and dialects.

Church- Who owns the Church 2 Thess 2:7 It is called the church of Christ Mt.16:16 , church of God 1 Cor. 1:2, body Eph. 1:23 Assembly of Christ. There is the church universal body but rather to a plurality of local churches--Rom. 16:16 Scripturally we find the church is not Israel but a separate entity under an entirely new covenant. Israel is called the wife of Jehovah while the church is called the bride of Christ showing distinctions in how God relates to each.No matter where anyone is in the world, those who confess Jesus as Lord, God the Son and Savior, become part of the Church, which is an invisible living organism of which Christ is the head.The true church is built on the confession of who Jesus is,Mt.16:16-18 .

Covenants- A covenant is an agreement between 2 parties, one is God the other man. There are two different types of agreements in scripture. Conditional and unconditional.

Conditional – base on man keeping the agreement by cooperation. If you will I will.

Unconditional.—Is based on Gods promise by him fulfilling his part. I will even if you disobey .

Covenants in sequential order (most recognize there are only two basic covenants, the mosaic and the New covenant)

Edenic covenant conditional Gen.2:15-17 resulted in spiritual death.

Adamic covenant-conditional Gen.3:14-21 resulted in physical death.

Noahic covenant-Unconditional Gen.9:1-19 still in effect resulted in worldwide flood.rainbow as the seal or token.

Abrahamic covenant- Uncondional Gen.12:1-3 to Abraham for Israel seal of the covenant Gen.15:1-21 circumcision as seal Gen.17:1-29.

Mosaic covenant-Conditional Ex.19:3-8 Between God and Israel only. Sign and seal of Cov. Ex.24:1-11 Sabbath as the seal.

Land covenant-Unconditional Deut.29:10-15 30:11-20 God gave to Israel the title deed to the land, still in effect.

Davidic covenant-Unconditional 2 Sam.7:4-17 seed of David. 1 Chron. 17 : 10-1,4 still in effect.

New covenant – Jer.31:31 - Karnei Diatheke the last will and testament. based on the blood of Christ .The revelation of the holiness of God in the righteous son who empowers those who receive him to become sons of God Jn.1:12 Heb.8:7 Gal.3:19 'until the seed should come' which is Christ.

The Cross- First known practice of crucifixion was by the Persians. Alexander and his generals brought it back to the Mediterranean world - to Egypt and Carthage. The Romans apparently learned the practice from Cartheginians.There were 4 different crosses used by the Romans.There was the upright pole a stake as well as an x shaped, which was rarely used outside Italy. The two common forms used in Our Lord's day was the Tau cross (shaped like the Greek letter Tau or like our T with the titulus, the crime written on the plate below his feet or above). The upright portion of the cross (or stipes) could have the cross-arm (or patibulum) attached two or three feet below its top known today as the classical form of the cross with the titulus, or small sign, with the victim's crime written above it

In the summer of 1968 a team of archaeologists discovered four Jewish tombs near Jerusalem, where there was an ossuary containing the only extant bones of a (young) crucified man, dating from probably between 7 and 66 AD, surmised from the Herodian pottery found there. Roman historical accounts , and experimental work have shown the nails, were driven between the small bones of the wrists and not through the palms. The young man’s arms (not his hands) were nailed to the patibulum, the cross-beam, which might indicate that Lk. 24:39; Jn. 20:20, 25, 27 should be translated ‘arms’. The weight of the body was probably borne by a plank (sedecula) nailed to the simplex, the upright beam, as a support for the buttocks. The legs had been bent at the knees and twisted back so that the calves were parallel to the patibulum or cross-bar, with the ankles under the buttocks. One iron nail (still in situ) had been driven through both his heels together, with his right foot above the left. A fragment shows that the cross was of olive wood. His legs had both been broken, presumably by a forcible blow, like those of Jesus’ two companions in Jn. 19:32.

Decree- Gods eternal purpose according to the council of his will, whereby for his own glory he foreordained what is to come to pass. Some things God proposes to do others he decrees. Permitting them to be done he affects good and permits evil. So he is in control of both yet he is not the author of evil.

Disciple- a learner or follower of Christ (not always a believer) Jn.6, Jesus wanted saved disciples, to pick up their cross and follow in his footsteps.

Doctrine- The teachings of scripture 1 Tim.4:13-16 2 Tim.3:16 (fundamentals, practices of )

Effacacious- Gods sovereign work to effectively call people to salvation through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Glorification- to become like Jesus at either the rapture of the Church, or at preceding resurrections. (to become immortal and incorruptible in a permanent state)Rom.8:17; Phil.3:20-21; 1 Cor.15:42-44,49-54

God- One true God, eternal transcendent apart from anything made. Has plurality within his nature as 3 identities simultaneously existing (persons) who are united in the one essence that is God.

The Gospel-means good news referring to the message of reconciliation to God for those who are sinners. Rom.10 1 Cor.15:1-4

Grace- The undeserved favor bestowed upon sinners, a gift from God giving us Christ’s riches which we do not deserve nor can earn. Eph.2:8-10

Hypostatic union- The dual nature of Christ being both 100%God and 100% man dwelling together as one person. Jn.1:14,18 Phil.2:6-8, Isa.9:6 Heb.4, Col.2:9

Incarnation-God becoming flesh the eternal Son who is God (the word) becoming the son of man through the virgin conception. Mt.1:21-23;Isa.7:14

Impute- To place on ones account Christ's righteousness in exchange for our sin.

Scriptural Interpretations

Exegesis- to draw out extracting what is in the text the way it was written. Finding the true meaning and explain the passages of scripture from their context

figurative language- the moon turns to blood (meaning red). look for the literal meaning first before attempting to interpret it as symbolic.

Hermeneutics-The science of interpreting the written word, to find what the text actually meant. What God originally meant it to say. Eliminating what it never could have meant. This includes the whole field of interpretation. The use of tools such as a different bibles (word for word translations and paraphrase), bible dictionaries, interlinear, Greek word pictures and tenses, Concordance,etc.

Hyperbole- Ps.119:20 My soul is crushed with longing. Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." An exaggeration or overstatement not to be taken literally but used to express another meaning.

Idiom- an expression of language or dialect of a people that is not understood outside its culture. A special terminology.

Isogesis-Reading into a text what isn’t there. Interpreting it by different rules than a consistent understanding from the Bible. Using a presupposition to arrive at the meaning, by ignoring the language and culture it was used in.

Metaphor- Jn.6:48 I am the bread of life or eat my body and drink my blood- a figure of speech in which one object is liked to another by speaking of it as if it were the other but in fact is not.

Parable- A figure of speech in a story setting to illustrate a moral or spiritual or heavenly truth. Taken from the peoples everyday experiences. Mt.13 The disciples asked why do you speak in parables. It has been to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given . The principle is (Isa. 6:9-10) to reveal to those who are soft in heart seeking truth , they will continue to be given more . For those who are hard of heart it is hidden until they repent. In Mk.4:13 Jesus explains In understanding this first parable of the sower is the key to understanding them all.

Simile- Rev.1:14 "His eyes were like flames of fire." A figure of speech expressing comparison or likeness, terms such as like, as ,so. ____________________

Inerrant- the teaching of the Scriptures which are free without error, in doctrine, historicity, geographical and science, etc. God breathed C. Hodge- the language expressed the thought God intended to convey with infallible accuracy so that the words as well as the thoughts are Gods revelation to us.

Inspiration-The activity of the Holy Spirit which superintended the writers of scripture to convey what God has said. Using their personalities and styles. Theopneustos-God breathed. 2 Tim.3:16 God's authoritative self-revelation through man.

Israel- Was found in Gen.12:2-3.beginning with Abraham "And I will make of thee [Abraham] a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed . From Jacob came the 12 tribes Hebrew tribes, descended from 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob: Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Issachar, Joseph, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun.

The word Israel is always descriptive of the physical descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. It was Jacob who’s name was changed to Israel and had 12 sons that became that nation. In the N.T. we have three terms used, Israel, Gentiles and the church. The church consists of both believing Gentiles and Jews while it is clear Israel is in unbelief as are the Gentiles. The church and Israel are two distinct groups and God has a different program for each. While there is no difference in salvation for both, Gods plans are different for each. In the book of acts Israel and the church exist alongside each other. The church is never called spiritual Israel or is a new Israel replacing the old. Nor does it say gentile believers become Jews. They are grafted into the covenant with them because of Israel’s unbelief Rom.11.

Jewish-Jew comes from Judah meaning to praise. One who is descended from the fathers line Hebrew means crossed over from the other side from the root eber.

A Hellenistic Jew followed the Greek culture. More modern meanings attribute it to members of the Hebrew tribe of Judah, the ancient territory of which was organized as the Roman province of Judaea in AD 6. The land is called Israel because of the people God gave it to.

Justice- Getting what you deserve from Gods hands, a righteous perfect judgement, rewards and punishments. 2Cor.5:10; Rev.20:11-12

Justification- a legal declaration giving one right standing before God pronouncing a sinner righteous because of Christ's merit,(not making them righteous)Ro.5:1,18 Isa.53:11 Rom.4:5

Kenosis- The voluntary emptying of Christ by him taking on an additional nature while not setting aside his divine nature and attributes became a servant obedient to the Father. Phil.2:5-8; Jn.1:14

Law of Moses- Considered a unit of 613 laws. civil, ceremonial, moral all interconnected. Its purpose was to reveal God's holiness; The law was made to increase sin Rom. 7:9-11. 1 Cor.15: the strength of sin is the law." To expose the sinfulness of man and to make man sin more Rom. 5:20. It brought wrath Rom.4:15 , To reveal the Messiah and bring one to faith in him to be saved. (Gal.3:23 -25, Rom.8:1-4). The law was temporary = Gal 3:19 .

Man- A direct creation of God. Made in his image to express God nature and bring glory to his creator. Specifically to have a relationship with God as a child to its parent.Created in holiness knowing only what is good until the fall, then gained knowledge of what is contrary to God.

Masoretic text- Before 1947 the oldest Hebrew manuscript was the Masoretic dating to 900 AD. The Dead sea scrolls were found at least one piece preserved from every OT book except Esther dating back to 100B.C. In Isaiah only one word was changed.

Mercy-Is withheld punishment for judgement,Gods mercy provides the need for sinful man in Jesus sacrifice.

Millennialism

Millenium- A literal 1,000 years of Christ reigning on earth.(Gr. Chiliasm=1,000 years, mentioned 6 times) The church was pre millennial the first three centuries of the church. His return was considered imminent.

Amillennialism- Teaches there is no literal millennium before or after Christ returns to earth. Uses a allegorical or symbolic approach to prophecy. (major proponents are Covenant theologians)

Dispensational pre-millennialism- The 2nd coming occurs in two stages first the rapture of the church then after 7 years Christ returns with his church to rule on earth. Uses a literal interpretation of prophecy.( used by pretribualtionists)

Historic pre-millennialism-The rapture and the 2nd coming are simultaneous events as Christ returns to earth, before the millennium.

Post milleniallism-Christ returns after the millennium, there is no distinction between the rapture and 2nd coming, it one event. _______________________

Motif- The underlying theme or the main element in a literary work.(held by many covenant theologians and reconstructionists)

Personification-

Pharisees-keepers of the written law. They believed in angels demons and the afterlife Mt.7 They were the pious and added many laws to Gods law giving priority to their laws over what God had said.

Providence- God working all things to the purpose of his will Isa.40:28; Ps.139:13; Rom.8:28

The Rapture- The resurrection of the saints and those who are alive when Christ comes for his church are simultaneously taken up and changed to immortality.1 Cor.15:51-52 ;1 Thess.4:16-17

Redemption- to buy back out of slavery of sin. One is liberated from sin being their master because of the complete payment of Christ’s blood. Gal.3:3; Eph.1:1;Rom.3:24-25

Reconciliation-To make man who was once an enemy of God have peace through Christ’s atoning death . A change of relationship between God to man from hostility to harmony. Reconciliation does not necessarily equate salvation, it renders all men savable. Rom.5:11; Col.1:20-21; 2 Cor.5:18

Regeneration-the new birth by the Spirit-implanting of the divine nature by the word of God, and will of God and Spirit of God through faith 1 Pt.1:23; Titus 3:4, Jn.3:5; Rom.10:17; Eph.3:17.

Saducee’s- A group of Jews that held to a strict literal interpretation of then laws of Moses and used only the first 5 books of Moses. They rejected the supernatural, angels and demons and the afterlife. They had control of the temple and the priesthood in Jesus day. Mt.22:23-33

Sanctification- ( to be set apart) holy-Anything set apart for Gods use can be sanctified Days.Gen.2:3, places and things. The progressive work of the holy Spirit in a (saints)believers life conforming them to the image of the son . 2 Thess.2:13 Phil.2:13 . sanctify is used in numerous forms in the O.T. 106 times and 31 times in the N.T.. Holy is used 12 times in the N.T of believers. The word saint is used of Israel 50 times and 62 times of believers. Everyone who experiences the new birth is a saint . The father, the Son and the holy Spirit are involved in the sanctification process. The Father 1 Thess.5:23 the Son Eph.5:26, Heb.2:11;9:12.The Spirit Rom.15:16 2 Thess.10:36

Salvation-To believe the Gospel by faith and be born a new by a spiritual birth Jn.3:5-8; Eph.1:13,3:17 ; Rom.8:2; Eph.2:8-10

Sanhedrin- A group of 70 men who were a religious political body for Israel ( a Jewish supreme Court) made up if 24 chief priests (Saducess) 24 elders (Pharisees) 22 scribes and one high priest overall (71).religious men who dictated how people were to worship God and practice Judaism

Scribes- copiers of the law ( a branch of the Pharisees. They were responsible for safeguarding and copying the scripture. They wrote mainly on parchment which consisted of dried up and polished skins of calves and sheep rolled up into scrolls. They had a meticulous Job of cross-checking the letters for any mistakes. Each letter was to be a hair breath away from the next. They would have counters to count all the words to see if there were any mistakes.If they found an error the scroll was completely destroyed. They had memorized immense portions of the O.T. scripture and often argued with Jesus on its meaning.

Shekinah glory- A physical manifestation of God as a cloud, light, fire or darkness . It is not God himself, but when it appeared, he would often be within it. Ex.3:5, 13:21-22, 19:16-20, Lev.9: 6-7, 23, Acts 9:3-8

Sin- Transgression of the law, to violate Gods perfect standard or a command given. A moral inclination to do evil to go against ones conscience. The source of sin is inside us, our fallen nature Rom. 5:13-14 explains sin was in man and the world before the commandments.

Theophany- A physical manifestation of God as a person or messenger (angel) a pre incarnate appearance of Christ in human form, called "the Angel of the Lord." Gen.16:13, 17:1-3,18:1, 32:30; Ex.3:2

Eschatology

The Great Tribualtion-The time Jesus warned of as Jacobs trouble Jer.30:7, the ending of the age. Book of Revelation 6-19 and part of Mt.24and 25.70th week of Daniel Dan.9:27,day of the Lord.1 Thess.5:2.

Preterism-fulfilled eschatology- belief that the date 70 AD all was fulfilled that Jesus spoke of in Mt.24

The Tribulation teaching is in reference to the rapture and resurrection of the saints

Pretribulationist- believe that the Church will not go through the tribulation but will be raptured away to heaven and the tribulation is specifically to break the will of Israel and save them as a nation .also to have the world repent in the judgements found in the book of Revelation.

Mid- tribualtion- a mid 70th week rapture. The church will be taken out before the great tribualtion occurs which is when the antichrist goes into the temple and declares himself God approximately 1,260 days before Christ comes back.

Partial rapture-Only those who are watching and waiting, making themselves prepared will go.

Pre- wrath- A ¾ view which has the church go through much of the tribulation to purify and perfect the bride.

Post-tribualtion- Christ comes back at the end of the tribulation and those who are alive through it are raptured. There are 4 views within this position as well. Classic, semi-classic, futurist, dispensational.

Vicarious- to take a place of another as a substitution. Jesus took the place of sinners place vicariously on the cross. Mt.20:28

Introduction to Worldviews. . .

Introduction to Worldviews. . .
from Bible.org
f you’re sincerely seeking God, God will make His existence evident to you. ― William Lane Craig
Introduction
It used to be that most people in America believed there was a God and that the Bible was God’s word. They believed in heaven and hell, even the Apostles Creed or something to close it. Hurdles to the gospel were apathy, lack of personal response, or wrong views of how to get to heaven. Now all that has changed. Many people now don’t believe in God. They don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God. Now people don’t agree on issues of morality and sin and don’t accept the foundational tenets of Christianity. Now, if you try to present the gospel to someone, you’re more likely to have them say, “That’s just your opinion.” Or, “That may be true for you, but not for me.”2 When one is surprised that you believe in the resurrection of Easter or the virgin birth of Christmas it is likely because they are operating with a different world view than you are. The diversity of world views in America and elsewhere is something critical for Christians to understand if the church is to have some positive impact for Christ in our pluralistic world. How does Christianity fit into the larger contexts of other world views? Is there a God? How do we know? Why is there evil and suffering? These are some questions this lesson is going to try to survey.
Christianity/Theism in Worldview Contexts
To start with, it is helpful to try to understand how Christianity fits into a larger context of world views. These large categories of worldviews can be classified into the larger categories of Theism, Pantheism, Naturalism and Pluralism.
Theism is the belief that there is a personal God outside of time and space who created the universe out of nothing and is involved in events (supernaturally). He reveals himself to man through nature and through the Bible (Christians) or the Tanakh = Old Testament (Jews) or the Koran (Muslims). He sets the rules for mankind. And there will be eternal consequences for breaking the rules. Theism allows for the possibility of miracles since God can act in the world. If one denies that God created the universe or that he acts in human history with supernatural events, it is because they have a different world view.
Deism is a form of theism. God created everything, but is no longer involved in creation. Deism stresses God’s transcendence or distance from creation. To illustrate Deism, one can describe creation as a clock. God made the clock, wound it up and started it running according to its design, but in essence left it after that. 3
There are various forms of the world view termed Panthesim. At its core, Panthesim teaches that everything is god: humans, animals, and plants are god. The world is god and god is the world. God is neither personal nor conscious. God is not a “He” but an “It.”4 The universe is one. Everything material is an illusion. Knowledge is getting in touch with the cosmic consciousness. One of the favorite terms you’ll hear from pantheists is “enlightenment.” History is cyclical and men are reincarnated until they realize their own divinity. This world view is the basis for Hinduism, Buddhism, Christian Science, and New Age teaching.5
Naturalism (or Modernism) takes the basic position that there is no God (Atheism), or the position that God’s existence or nonexistence of God cannot be known or that God is unknowable (Agnostism). The emphasis of naturalism is that there is no supernatural. We live in a closed system in which God is not operating and the world and mankind just evolved. People are the product of their environment. Morality is decided by man. Reason and science are the basis of authority and pursued for the good of mankind. There is no purpose to history; it just happens. When you die, you cease to exist. For example, someone who denies the possibility or likelihood of miracles may be operating from a world view of Naturalism.
Pluralism (or Post-Modernism) is sort of a cafeteria style world view. People mix and match various aspects of the other world views as well as blend in new ideas. Generally, they reject the idea of objective truth and no one view may be considered right. People are suspicious and skeptical of authority. They are in search of identity, not from knowledge, but through relationship. They are on a quest for a meaningful community. They seek transcendence or spirituality, but not religion. They express the “knowing smirk” (= Yah right) at anyone who says they know the truth.6 One may encounter pluralism by hearing something like: there are many ways to God; there is no one truth; or even absolute truth itself does not exist.
Increasingly, we as Christians find ourselves in this melting pot of various world views. But let’s move to a basic starting question. Is there a God? And if so, how might we know?
Is there a God?
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion stated, “we are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”7 Another outspoken atheist, Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great stated, “that which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”8
But is it true that there no evidence for God? Paul states in Romans: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (Rom 1:18-22). These verses say that God is known by all or at least certain aspects about God based on the evidence of the created universe, specifically, his eternal power and divine nature. How powerful must a Being be to be able to create something as large and magnificent as the universe? Think about it. The revelation that God has given in creation makes man responsible to God in honoring him as God and giving thanks. The story is told of Napoleon who while on one of his ships at night heard some of the sailors mocking the idea of God’s existence. As he pointed up to the stars he said, “Gentlemen, you must get rid of those first.”9
Yet why do people reject the existence of God? First one has to say that rejection of God is primarily a moral (sin) problem and intellectual arguments will not solve this. If someone does not want to be morally accountable to God, they will not accept even good arguments. The Bible presupposes a belief in God and much of the Bible is defining who the true God is. The very first sentence of the Bible assumes God. “In the beginning God created . . . .” (Gen 1:1). But do we just have to merely accept the existence of God by faith, or is our belief in God based on evidence too? It’s that old debate of presuppositional apologetics versus evidential apologetics again. God gave Moses signs to prove to Israel that God had sent him and to prove to Pharaoh that the God of Israel was the one true God (Exod 4:1-9). Thomas needed evidence for Jesus’ resurrection when he asked to see the nail prints in Jesus’ hands and spear pierced side (John 20:25).
One way to address the issue of God’s existence is to consider some of the basic traditional evidences for God. These represent apologetic arguments that should not be considered absolute proof of God or without counterargument. These evidences, especially when taken together, lead one to believe that the existence of God is more reasonable than the belief that God does not exist. These arguments can be termed and classified as: 1) the cosmological argument, 2) the teleological argument, and 3) the moral argument.
The Evidence for God: The Cosmological Argument
The basic cosmological argument is that everything that exists has a cause, and since the universe exists, it must have had a first cause. Another way to state it is to stress the inception of the universe. If the universe began to exist then the universe has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore the universe has a cause.10
Sometimes the counter argument is made that the universe was caused by “chance.” But there are two problems with this: 1) chance can’t cause something; chance is not a being; it is just a mathematical probability and 2) when one looks at the odds (what the chances are), it becomes evident that it is not a probability – it is an impossibility. The “Big Bang” presupposes matter/energy before the “Bang” happened but where did this matter come from? What or who caused this? To try to get around this, some say that the universe is eternal. Carl Sagan said, “The universe is all there is, and was and ever will be.” There are two logical problems with the view that the universe is eternal: 1) Scientists have discovered that the universe is expanding (or moving) and if you go back far enough, the expansion (or moving) had to have started sometime in the past. What started this motion? 2) The “Kalam” argument stresses that the universe had to begin to exist a finite time ago. You can’t get to “now” if you start from infinity because “now” never arrives. Only if you have a finite beginning can you arrive at “now.”11
Therefore, it is reasonable that that first cause must be something outside of time and space (since the universe came into being at some time in the past), immaterial (since the universe is made up of matter), powerful enough to “create” everything and a personal agent. For example consider dominos falling. Each domino falling is caused by the one before it, but you fall into an infinite regress unless you have someone pushing that first domino over. That first event is caused by an “agent,” some being who chose to start the process. What would be an adequate cause for the effect of the creation of the universe? Some Being like the God of the Bible would be that adequate cause.
Related to and part of the cosmological argument are the laws of thermodynamics. Simply, the first law of thermodynamics is also referred to as the conservation of energy. It is an established scientific fact. The law in essence states that energy/matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed natural system. Therefore, the existence of matter and energy must have come about by a supernatural event or force outside of the system.12 The second law of thermodynamics simple stated is that is energy is becoming less usable. It is also called the law of entropy. It also is an established scientific fact. Things are winding down, becoming more disorderly, the energy is continually being spread out in less and less usable forms. Since the universe contains highly concentrated energy sources (e.g., sun) it cannot be eternal but must have had a beginning.13 And this beginning must have had a cause.
The Evidence for God: The Teleological Argument
The basic teleological argument states that since the world is so complex and so ordered, it had to have been designed/created by some intelligent being. The design points to a designer, a car points to a manufacturer, a watch points to a watchmaker, an I-Phone points to Steve Jobs etc. The universe and everything in it is too complex, orderly, adaptive, apparently purposeful, and/or beautiful to have occurred randomly or accidentally. Therefore, it must have been created by an intelligent, wise, and/or purposeful being. God is that intelligent, wise, and/or purposeful being.14
The Evidence for God: The Moral Argument
The moral argument states that since everyone has conscience and a concept of right and wrong, this must reflect some higher conscience or higher moral absolute. If God does not exist, objectionable moral values do not exist. Objectionable moral values do exist. Therefore, God exists. Paul states, “For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them” (Rom 2:14-15). Here the Bible says that man’s conscience bears the work of the law on it. C.S. Lewis points out that when someone quarrels, they are not just saying that something the other person did displeases only them. They are appealing to some standard of behavior that says what that other person did was wrong. Where does this sense of fairness come from?15 If survival of the fittest is the evolutionary law of nature why should not stronger nations commit genocide against weaker nations? Why would this be morally wrong?
These three apologetics evidences strongly suggest that belief in a powerful personal God has a reasonable basis to it. One might add that most people in history have been persuaded by the evidence seen in creation to believe in God in some fashion. While these are valid evidences for the existence of God, there are objections. The very existence of evil is sometimes presented as a major objection to the existence of God.
Why is there Evil and Suffering?
If God is good and God is all-powerful then how can there be evil in the world? It may be claimed that since there is evil, there must not be a God. Or if there is a God, he must not be good or he must not be all-powerful. This problem is also called theodicy and constitutes one of the major objections to God’s existence. But there is no logical fallacy in that statement of the problem of evil and the existence of a good God. All of the following statement can be true. God is good. God is all-powerful. God created the world. The world contains evil. Where is the contradiction? What they really mean is this: God is good. God is all-powerful. God created the world. The world shouldn’t contain evil. However, the idea, that the world should not contain evil is just an assumption on their part. One could also respond that objective evil presupposes objective good. It has been said, “Shadows prove the existence of sunshine.” Some additional responses to theodicy can be summarized as follows:
1) Necessary for free-will to work. If it was impossible to disobey God, then we’d never have to choose to obey. We would be like robots. One could also supplement this: for true love to exist it must be reciprocal with a choice made by both parties freely. For those of you who are married, do you want to be married to someone who chooses to be married to you or to someone who was forced to (due to no choice of their own)?
2) Necessary for human spiritual growth. If there are no dangers, difficulties or disappointments in life, how can we gain character traits such as patience or endurance? C.S. Lewis rightly described that pain is God’s megaphone that rouses the ear of a deaf world. When are the times people have grown closest to God? Are they the good times or the hard times? Are they the times of feasting or the times of mourning? James stated: “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything” (Jas 1:2-4).
3) Necessary to promote the greater good and God’s glory. The chief purpose of life is to glorify and know God. It is not human happiness! God’s role is not to make life comfortable for us. However, if we recognize that the evil, which causes human suffering, is leading people to know God, then there is a greater good. There is a good example of this in John’s gospel when Lazarus, Jesus’ friend gets sick and dies. “When Jesus heard this, he said, ‘This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it’” (John 11:4).
4) Temporal suffering compared to eternal glory. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Paul compares the suffering of this life with the eternal weight of glory. Compared to eternity with God the sufferings of this world are a “slight, momentary affliction.” This perspective is critical for Christians who are undergoing suffering.
5) It is too complicated for us to understand. Even if we can see some possible purpose in some evil/suffering, there are events which we can’t understand and we just have to recognize that we are finite creatures who can’t know God’s purpose in allowing those things.
Jesus summarized an important lesson when considering situations of evil and suffering. Luke 13 reads, “Now there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He answered them, ‘Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things? No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish as well! Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish as well!’” (Luke 13:1-5). First, notice that two different types of situations of evil and suffering are presented. The first one refers to moral evil in which Pilate governor of Judea had killed some Galileans. Why they were killed is not known. In the second case, a tower had fallen apparently accidently and killed 18 people. One might call this a natural evil or disaster. The Jewish people might have been asking the question from a theological perspective concerning why this happened. They came to the conclusion that it was because these people who died were sinners. But consider Jesus’ point. He basically says you are all sinners and unless you repent you will perish as well. In other words, do not focus so much on why these evil events occurred but focus on your own relationship with God to make sure it is right.
Summary Thoughts
Sin and evil are not things created by God. They are a deprivation of things created by God. Just like darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat, evil is really the absence of good. This was one of Augustine’s arguments.16 The Bible says: God created the world and it was “good” (Gen 1). However, man sinned and brought sin and suffering into the world (Gen 3). God is in the process of eradicating sin, suffering and Satan and all this will happen in his perfect timing (Rev 20-22). The apostle John writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist . . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist anymore – or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist (Rev 21:1, 4).”
Discussion Questions
1. How could one begin to share the gospel with someone who does not believe the Bible?
2. How did Paul adjust his gospel presentation to the Athenians who did not accept the Jewish Scriptures (Acts 17)? Is there a lesson there for us today?
3. What convinces you that God really exists?
4. Does evolution contradict the Bible? Does it allow for a denial of the existence of God?
5. How would you answer the question of why God allows natural disasters and moral evil in the world?
6. Should American society have a theistic worldview in governmental matters, for example having “In God we trust” on US money?

1 This lesson is an abbreviated formation of a series entitled “Understanding World Views” (http://bible.org/series/understanding-world-views) Hampton Keathley IV, which was edited and modified by James F. Davis.
2 See Jim Keller, The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World. Audio message from desiringgod.org.
3 Norman Geisler, Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976), 151-171.
4 Norman Geisler, Christian Apologetics, 184-185, 193.
5 Norman Geisler, Christian Apologetics, 151-171.
6 Graham Johnston, Preaching to a Post-Modern World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 26.
7 Richard Dawkins, http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/117 (Date accessed Nov 5, 2012).
8 Christopher Hitchens, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/12042-that-which-can-be-asserted-without-evidence-can-be-dismissed (Accessed Nov 5, 2012).
9 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/newell/romans.ii.htm (Accessed Nov 7, 2012).
10 Norman Geisler, Philosophy of Religion (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976), 172.
11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument (Date accessed March 5, 2013).
12 See Jeff Miller, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=2106 (Date accessed March 5, 2013).
13 See Jeff Miller, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=2106 (Date accessed March 5, 2013).
14 Based largely on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleological_argument (Date accessed March 5, 2013).
15 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (The McMillian Company, New York, 1960), 17-18.
16 Augustine states, “For evil has no positive nature; but the loss of good has received the name evil.” Augustine, City of God, 11.9.
Related Topics: Apologetics, Basics for Christians, Cultural Issues, Engage, Issues in Church Leadership/Ministry, Worldview