| Theological Studies: Eschatology
Alvin Shaul TH454, Oord Paper #10, Eschatology April 14, 2006 What are important beliefs about eschatology? Having grown up in a church that spoke very little of the end times, I find myself now battling wave after wave of new ideas that may or may not be true concerning the book of Revelation. Was it written solely to the people of the first century, its metaphors and mythical language being easily interpreted by the people then in relation to then current events? Is the book a warning for all humankind throughout all of time of the devastating reality of what the earth will �soon� become? Am I supposed to be helping in some one thousand years of righteousness so that Christ can return, or is Christ going to return and then there is going to be a thousand years of rampant evil? Will I live here as Christ rebuilds his kingdom on earth? Or will I be miraculously lifted �up� into the clouds with Jesus in a great rapture that will leave all the unforgiven to the torture of the devil? In the midst of so many questions, one more question arises: should I be asking so many questions about one book of the New Testament and nearly forgetting about the rest of the Bible when I am doing so? Although I am not satisfied by simply dismissing the bulk of Revelation as metaphors and mythical language, it does seem plausible that I should consider how such passages and certain interpretations might interact with other biblical passages. In Jesus Christ we find an omnibenevolent Savior. For Christ, the ultimate end (or purpose) to all of his decisions is love. If love cannot be seen through the decision, then the decision was wide of the mark. Therefore, with Christ being the focal point of nearly all theories of �end times eschatology,� any theory which does not have as its purpose a loving act or conclusion should be eradicated. The result of such a standard brings us to what Oord calls �realized eschatology�: �The end (purpose) of life is the attainment of a life lived well with God here and now.� Nevertheless, it is unfathomable to me that so many Christians, regardless of their theological heritage, will stake their entire belief system in what they believe will happen at the �end of the world.� This I do believe strongly, that we were not created as beings set here on earth whose purpose in life was to get to heaven. If this was the purpose to life, then there would be no purpose at all. If God just wanted all of us in heaven with him and our life here had no relevance, then I suppose we would all be angels, because that is what they are, eternal beings who are forever with God. But the fact remains that God did create us here on earth and we thus must have a purpose to fulfill. Wesley believed that we as Christians are temporal agents who should seek further states of growth by responding to God�s grace. |