Eschatology, Millennialism, End Times, etc.

 A friend of mine recently made the trek out of dispensationalism into Reformed theology.  A few members in the church I serve also came out of dispensational circles.  These things made me want to study dispensationalism from a dispensationalist’s point of view, so I purchased and read Ryrie’s Dispensationalism (Revised and Expanded).  While I don’t want to give a book review of it here, I’m glad I read it.  After reading it, I’m not at all convinced that it is the most biblical method of interpretation.  In other words, I’m still convinced that the Reformed (covenantal and amillennial) view of Scripture is more biblical.  But that’s a whole different post and discussion!  What I want to do here is recommend a book for those of you interested in the historic Reformed view of biblical interpretation and eschatology.

The book I have in mind is Kim Riddlebarger’s A Case for Amillennialism.  Even though many of our readers may have heard of this one, I believe it is significant enough to keep on our reading lists and book recommendations. It’s not one of those trendy small hardcover books that will lose its appeal in 8 months; this is one you can keep going back to in your biblical studies.

Riddlebarger understands dispensationalism since he used to hold a dispensationalist view of the Bible and history.  After his own intense studies, he became convinced the Reformation got it right.  This means – and he explains these things in the book – OT prophecy and eschatology have everything to do with Christ, covenant, the church, and the already/not yet nature of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

Here are a some other things Riddlebarger discusses (and these discussions are steeped in Scripture): the rapture, the Day of the Lord, the two ages, the church as the Israel of God, Christ’s return (the Parousia), the Olivet Discourse, Daniel’s prophecies, and Revelation 20:1-10 (just to name a few).  Though it technically isn’t a systematic theology text, it is an oustanding supplement to ST topics (hermeneutics, Christology, pneumatology, eschatology, etc.).

A Case for Amillennialism is around 250 pages and well written – most Christians who are committed to studying this topic will be able to read it without much trouble.  I do wish there were footnotes instead of endnotes.  Also, there is no Scripture index, which is very disappointing (though I think the publisher is to blame for that one.  Dear publishers, please put Scripture indexes in books!!!).  In a word, this is a book on my shelves I refer to quite often because it is a clearly written biblical explanation of some important themes in hermeneutics and eschatology.  I believe it will be a great resource for years to come.  If you don’t have it, or have been thinking about getting it, don’t hesitate; you won’t be disappointed.

shane lems

sunnyside wa

Christian Grief: Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son

I’ve been reading through Nicholas Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son.  This book is not a book about grief, it is a book of grief.  When Wolterstorff’s son Eric died at the age of 25, grief and faith spurred him to pen the many musings that are found in this short book.  Thus this is a book wherein Wolterstorff grieves in print as one who does indeed have hope.  This is an educated book, thus the words he uses may not be the words others who grieve might use, but his words so beautifully illustrate how one can grieve while doing so in a thoughtful, intentional, biblical and a reformed manner.  Not every detail will resonate with readers of this blog, but many (indeed most) will.  Here’s an excerpt that I found especially moving:

Elements of the gospel which I had always thought would console did not.  They did something else, something important, but not that.  It did not console me to be reminded of the hope of the resurrection.  If I had forgotten that hope, then it would indeed have brought light into my life to be reminded of it.  But I did not think of death as a bottomless pit.  I did not grieve as one who has no hope.  Yet Eric is gone, here and now he is gone; now I cannot talk with him, now I cannot see him, now I cannot hug him, now I cannot hear of his plans for the future.  That is my sorrow.  A friend said, “Remember, he’s in good hands.”  I was deeply moved.  But that reality does not put Eric back in my hands now.  That’s my grief.  For that grief, what consolation can there be other than having him back?

In our day we have come to see again some dimensions of the Bible overlooked for centuries.  We have come to see its affirmation of the goodness of creation.  God made us embodied historical creatures and affirmed the goodness of that.  We are not to yearn for timeless disembodiment.

But this makes death all the more difficult to live with.  When death is no longer seen as a release from this miserable materiality into our rightful immateriality, when death is seen rather as the slicing off of what God declared to be, and what all of us feel to be, of great worth, then death is – well, not friend but enemy.  Though I shall indeed recall that death is being overcome, my grief is that death still stalks this world and one day knifed down my Eric.

Nothing fills the void of his absence.  He’s not replaceable.  We can’t go out and get another just like him.

Pgs. 31-32.

I’m finding myself recommending this book to anyone who is grieving when they ask for something to read, not in place of books of grief like that of Paul Tripp, but in addition to them.  Though Wolterstorff’s words are not inspired scripture like the cries of the psalmists, they do seem to articulate what many feel in a way they cannot do themselves.  Grief is a complex thing.  Hopefully this book will benefit those who face its complexity.

_____________
Andrew

Go to Hell, Death!

  There are few things I hate worse than death.  Though the thought of it doesn’t fill me with terror, I hate it with every fiber of my Christian being.  Death is just not right; it is not the way things should be.  I can’t wait for the day when Jesus comes back to destroy death once-and-for-all (1 Cor. 15.54-57).  I’ll sing that death-taunting hymn with all my might: “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?!”  On this topic of death, I trust you’ll appreciate these words by R. C. Sproul as he comments on Rev. 1.17-18.

“Yes, there is a Devil.  He is our archenemy.  He will do anything in his power to bring misery into our lives.  But Satan is not sovereign.  Satan does not hold the keys of death.” … Jesus holds the keys to death, and Satan cannot snatch those keys out of his hand.  Christ’s grip is firm.  He holds the keys because he owns the keys.  All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.  That includes all authority over life and death.  The angel of death is at his beck and call.”

Sproul moves on by talking about dualism – the teaching that there is an eternal battle between good (or God) and evil (or Satan).  He then explains that,

“Dualism is on a collision course with Christianity.  The Christian faith has no stock in dualism.  Satan may be opposed to God, but he is by no means equal to God.  Satan is a creature; God is the Creator.  Satan is potent; God is omnipotent.  Satan is knowledgeable and crafty; God is omniscient.  Satan is localized in his presence, God is omnipresent.  Satan is finite; God is infinite.  The list could go on.  But it is clear in Scripture that Satan is not an ultimate force in any sense.”

“We are not doomed to an ultimate conflict with no hope of resolution.  The message of Scripture is one of victory – full, final, and ultimate victory.  It is not our doom that is certain, but Satan’s.  His head has been crushed by the heel of Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega.”

“Above all suffering and death stands the crucified and risen Lord.  He has defeated the ultimate enemy of life.  He has vanquished the power of death.  He calls us to die, a call to obedience in the final transition of life.  Because of Christ, death is not final.  It is a passage from one world to the next.”

Well said, Amen, and maranatha! 

FYI, Sproul’s quote can be found on pages 50-51 of Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life.

shane lems

Cynicism in the Church

A friend of mine recently pointed out this book: Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint by Andrew Byers (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011).  As you can probably tell from the quotes I post here on the blog, I’m a cynic to some extent, especially when it comes to the topic of the worldliness so prevalent in many churches.  So I was looking forward to reading this book – and here’s my brief review.  In case you were wondering, Byers defines cynicism like this: it is “an embittered disposition of distrust born out of painful disillusionment” (p. 9). 

The book has two main parts.  In the first part, Byers discusses a few things in the broader evangelical culture that make us cynical.  These include idealism (i.e. americanized views of self and God), religiosity (i.e. spiritual performance, legalism, and antinomianism), experientialism (i.e. mountain top emotional experiences), anti-intellectualism (i.e. mindless Christianity), and cultural irrelevance (i.e. dinosaur churches).  I agree with many of these reasons why some people are cynical; many of these trends in American evangelicalism can certainly lead to cynicism.  I do think this first section was helpful, but he really only scratched the surface of these topics (which could lead some readers to say – with cynicism – “he doesn’t quite get it!”).

The second part is more constructive.  In it, Byers discusses biblical alternatives to cynicism.  Basically, he spends around 100 pages explaining how the prophets, wisdom literature, biblical laments, Christ, and the apostles lead us out of cynicism and give us proper biblical responses to the mess in the church.  The prophet calls out errors and sins but does so with love.  The wise sage is truthful but humble.  The laments in scripture end in worship and joy.  Jesus was a prophet, sage, and lamenter but not a cynic.  And Paul taught the ‘already-not-yet’ paradigm (we are already save but not yet in the new creation, so we cannot expect perfection here and now).  I appreciated this section because Byers did point the reader to scripture, but I believe it could have been shortened up a bit.  I’m guessing the cynics who read this probably know the basics that Byers lays out.  Perhaps he could have done more “application” in this section, giving some more concrete examples of fighting cynicism.  I came away from this section in agreement, but wanting more depth in struggling against cynicism. 

One more note: since Byers did mention several things about the church that make a person cynical, I expected him to return to that topic later on.  For example, I thought he would say, “yes, the church today is largely anti-intellectual,” but then destroy cynicism by showing many areas where churches are not anti-intellectual.  He might have killed cynicism by giving details of churches that work hard to “reach out” without “selling out.”  In a word, I wish he would have not just shown the dark spots of the church, but the bright spots as well.  One thing that has killed cynicism in me is to interact with Christians from different “tribes and tongues” and have them tell me how their church is learning sound doctrine, growing in godliness, and active in solid missionary endeavors. 

Overall, I do recommend this book if you struggle with cynicism and I’m thankful Byers took the time and energy to write and publish it.  It is clear, well written, and biblical; it should be a help for many.  If you’re an older and well-taught/read Christian, it might be too elementary for you, but if you’re younger and still growing/learning, it’ll be right up your alley.  The ideal reader of this book is a serious 20-something Christian who is sick of the silliness in the church and needs help avoiding cynicism and anger. 

After reading Byers’ book, I put this one in my cart for later: Dick Keyes, Seeing Through Cynicism. 

shane lems

sunnyside wa

Where The Focus Is Upon God…

 Here are a few insights from Carl Trueman in a book he wrote explaining why and how the Reformation is still important today:

“We must be aware that the usefulness of Reformation theology lies in its emphasis upon God.  The theologies, the catechisms, and the liturgies which flowed from the Reformers’ pens all indicate that theirs was a piety which was concerned above all with God.  The emphasis of the Reformers was always much more upon the identity and action of God than upon human experience of him.  The two are, of course, inextricably linked, but the accent always falls upon the divine half of the equation.  This, I suspect, is one of the reasons why Calvin’s works give so little insight into the man that he was: he talked little of himself because he was concerned with the proper subject of theology, and that was God.”

After going on to talk about Luther’s emphasis on God, Trueman said, “This is in marked contrast to much of what we witness today.  …One of the elements which most marks contemporary evangelical piety is the obsession not so much with God as with self.”  (I agree – and for the record, I tend to skip sections of Christian books where the authors tell stories about themselves to introduce each chapter or help make their points.  For some books, that means it takes half as long to read!) 

Trueman notes that we also need to contemplate what this God-centered emphasis means for our own churches.

“The question we need to ask is whether this God emphasis which we find in the Reformers is as evident in the life of our own churches as we so often assume that it is.”

In other words, when we rightly criticize others for being self- instead of God-centered, we also need to evaluate our own theology and practice.

Get the book and read this section I’ve mentioned (and of course read the whole thing!): Reformation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.  The above quotes were taken from pages 22-23. 

shane lems