Lecture 14-1 Eschatology

Question 1

Defining Eschatology I

Answer 1

a. Common Definition: the doctrine of “last things”
b. Adrio König’s Definition: the doctrine of “the last,” Jesus Christ
c. History is the arena of God’s providence. History includes the past, the present, and the future.
d. God inhabits eternity, which is above and beyond history, and in which history (including future history) is comprehended.

Question 2

Defining Eschatology Eschatomania

Answer 2

i. Frantic and all-consuming speculation concerning the events of the Second Coming
ii. Cf. The passion for Dispensationalism in the 20th Century

Question 3

Defining Eschatology Eschatophobia

Answer 3

i. Aversion towards considering the events surrounding the end of the world
ii. Cf. The absence of Eschatology among young evangelicals

Question 4

Defining Eschatology Eschatophilia

Answer 4

i. Understands that the Second Coming must neither keep one from evangelism (vs. Eschatomania) nor keep one from proclaiming the end of all things (vs. Eschatophobia), but is a cause for encouragement
ii. “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4.18)

Question 5

People have interpreted the Bible’s eschatological texts in different ways, especially with regard to the prophetic passages in Revelation

Answer 5

i. Futurist: the events are in the future
ii. Preterist: the events described are in the time of the writer only
iii. Historical: the events have and will occur in the history of the church
iv. Symbolic: the events described are symbolic of timeless truths

Question 6

Defining Eschatology A/NY

Answer 6

i. The end is both “already” and “not yet”. Eschatology is both realized and futurist.
j. “Already”/Realized
i. Matt 12.28; Acts 2.16; 2 Cor 5.17; 1 John 2.8
k. “Not Yet”/Futurist
i. Mark 13; 2 Pet 3.10-13; 2 Cor 1.14; Rev 19-22 (21-22)

Question 7

Four Current Eschatological Debates

Answer 7

a. The Millennium
b. The Timing of the Rapture
c. The Intermediate State
d. The Meaning(s) of Hell

Question 8

The Millennium-Post

Answer 8

i. Kingdom of Christ comes after the 1000 years. 1000 years brought about through the mission of the church. Church rises up and establishes rule over the earth. Killed by WWI and WWII.
ii. Strength is its impetus toward missions – Sees missions as a way to bring about the kingdom of God. Good way to get Christians to”work”.
iii. Weakness is its weak scriptural basis

Question 9

The Millennium-A

Answer 9

i. The millennium is a mystery and wants to focus on life now. Millennium gets treated like it is going on now. Is not a literal 1000 years but rather a length of time.
ii. Strength is its emphasis on church life now
iii. Weakness is that it conflates OT Israel with NT Church, then downplays Israel’s re-grafting (Rom 11)

Question 10

The Millennium-Pre

Answer 10

i. Holds to literal tribulation.

ii. Strength is that it is the most natural reading of Revelation 20 in the context of the book

Question 11

The Tribulation

Answer 11

a. Tribulation: suffering of humanity
b. “tribulations” vs. the Great Tribulation
c. The 7 years of divine judgment on the earth
d. Tribulation correlates with the appearance of Antichrist
e. 1 Thess. 4-5, Your view will depend on which chapter you take as your key. 5 = Pre-Tribulation, 4 = Post Tribulation

Question 12

Pre-tribulational Rapture

Answer 12

i. Classic Dispensationalism (Ryrie) holds to pre-tribulation rapture. Its strength is that the Second Coming is kept as a surprise.

Question 13

Post-tribulational Rapture

Answer 13

i. Historic Premillennialism (G. Ladd) holds to post-tribulation rapture. Its strength is that the Second Coming is kept manifest.

Question 14

The Intermediate State

Answer 14

a. The Christian Life: 1st birth -> 2nd birth -> 1st death -> Intermediate State -> 1st resurrection
b. Body and Soul created to be together -> Soul temporarily without Body due to death -> New Body for the Soul at the Resurrection

Question 15

The Meaning(s) of Hell

Answer 15

a. Luke 16.19-31
b. Sheol: OT abode of the dead: 2 chambers?
c. Hades: the place for the unrighteous between death and judgment
d. Gehenna: the place of eternal punishment after the judgment

Question 16

Seven Essential Eschatological Doctrines

Answer 16

a. Jesus Christ, ho eschatos
b. Death
c. Resurrection
d. Parousia (Second Coming)
e. Final Judgment
f. Eternal Condemnation
g. Eternal Glory

Question 17

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos I

Answer 17

a. Jesus Christ Himself is:
i. the Alpha and the Omega
ii. the First and the Last
iii. the Beginning and the End
iv. He is the one through Whom all things were created, in Whom all things subsist, and by Whom all things will be judged
v. Rev. 1.8, Rev 1.17-18

Question 18

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos II

Answer 18

b. Ego to Alpha kai to O, ho protos kai ho eschatos, ha archa kai to telos.
c. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 22.13).
d. Protos = Lord; Archa = Source
e. Eschatos = Completion; Telos = Goal

Question 19

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos III

Answer 19

f. “…Jesus Christ occupies a central place. If the gospel is about him, so too is its message about the end. If he is the one around whom the whole New Testament revolves, then he is the one, too, around whom God’s plans for the world revolve.” Adrio Koenig, The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology: Toward a Christ-centered Approach, 1.

Question 20

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos IV

Answer 20

g. Having a beginning and an end create the picture of time as linear.
h. “With the beginning and the end distinguishable, a straight line connecting the two points becomes a suitable symbol for the movement of history” (Robert Elinor).
i. The Son of God rules the Beginning (Creation), the Center (Cross & Resurrection), and the End (Judgment).

Question 21

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos V

Answer 21

j. The Word was with God in the beginning (Gen 1.3; John 1.1; 1 John 1.1-4) and will rule at the end (Rev 19). Thus, Christ is central to the two terminals of history.
k. However, the Word became flesh, and thus also became the Center of history (John 1.14).
l. Jesus Christ gives meaning to all of history: From His Creation of All to His Cross of Redemption to His Consummation of Judgment
m. Christ as the Beginning, Mid-Point, and End of History

Question 22

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos VI

Answer 22

n. The Beginning (Creation) -> Mankind (Adam) -> Israel -> The Remnant ->
o. Christ (Second Adam) -> The Apostles -> The Church (The Remnant) -> Redeemed Humanity ->
p. The End (New Creation)
q. The end, with regard to the “last days,” begins with Jesus Christ.
i. Heb 1.1-2; 1 Pet. 1.20

Question 23

Jesus Christ, ho eschatos VII

Answer 23

r. “In each phase of [Christ’s] history, he fulfills the covenant – God’s creation goal – in some particular way:
i. for us, especially during his earthly ministry;
ii. in us, in his work through the Holy Spirit;
iii. and with us, particularly at his second coming.” Koenig, vii-viii
s. “Thus, one cannot understand God’s ultimate purposes unless one understands that God’s purposes find their goal and content in Jesus Christ.” Moore, 859
t. “Israel is Jesus of Nazareth” Moore, 907

Question 24

Death

Answer 24

a. Gen. 2.16-17
b. Rom. 6.23
c. Heb. 9.27
d. Rev. 20.6, Rev. 20.13-14
e. First Death: Physical Expiration
f. Second Death: Eternal Condemnation

Question 25

Resurrection

Answer 25

a. An Old Testament Promise
i. Isa 26.19; Ezek 37.12-14; Ps 49.15
b. A New Testament Reality
i. Mark 12.24, Mark 12.26-27; Acts 23.6
c. A Triune Work
i. Rom 8.11; 1 Cor 15.12-14; Col 1.18
d. A Bodily Resurrection
i. Rom 8.11, 22-23; Phil 3.20-21; 1 Cor 15.44; 2 Tim 2.18
e. 1 Cor. 15.22-26: Threefold
i. Dan 12.2; John 5.28-29; Acts 24.15
f. Resurrection of Jesus Christ
i. John 20.24-29
g. Resurrection of Christians
i. 1 Cor. 15.35-49
h. Resurrection of Enemies/The Rest
i. Rev 20.4-6, Rev. 20.11-15

Question 26

Parousia (Second Coming)

Answer 26

a. Jesus Promised to Come Again
i. John 14.3
b. Only the Father Knows When
i. Acts 1.7; Mark 13.32-33
c. His Coming is Imminent and Unexpected
i. Matt 24.45-51
d. His Coming Will Be Personal and Visible
i. Acts 1.11; 1 Thess 4.16
e. He Will Come as a Conqueror
i. 1 Thess. 4.16, 5.2-3; Matt 24.29-31
f. Dispensationalists perceive a 2-stage coming of Christ
i. A coming for the saints: parousia (=“rapture”)
ii. A coming with the saints: apokalypsis and epiphaneia
g. Historic Premillenialists perceive a single coming of Christ
i. parousia = apokalypsis = epiphaneia
ii. 1 Thess. 4.15-17
iii. Matt 24.27
iv. 2 Thess. 1.6-7
v. Titus 2.13

Question 27

Final Judgment

Answer 27

a. It will be a Future, Catastrophic Event
i. Acts 17.31; Rom 2.5
b. Christ will be the Judge
i. Matt 25.31-46; John 5.22, John 5.27; Acts 10.42
c. All will be Judged
i. Rom 14.10
d. Judgment will be on the Basis of What We Did
i. 2 Cor. 5.10; John 5.29; Rev 20.11-15
e. All Judgment will be Final
i. Matt 25.46

Question 28

Eternal Condemnation

Answer 28

a. Ainios = eternal
i. eternal life
ii. eternal punishment
iii. Ainios must mean the same thing in both cases
b. Matt 25.41, Matt. 25.46
c. Mark 9.43-48
d. Phil 2.10-11
e. Rev 14.10-11
f. Rev 21.8

Question 29

Eternal Glory

Answer 29

a. Revelation 21-22
i. A New Situation for the People (Rev. 21.1-8)
ii. A New City (Rev. 21.9-21)
iii. A Visible Presence of God: Our Light and
iv. Our Life (Rev. 21.22-22.5)
v. Get Ready! He’s Coming Quickly (22.6-21)