I struggle with Eschatology, I struggle with all the different views, I struggle with the word itself (The study of the end times), and I have a feeling that most Christians do. It is so confusing, in my life I have probably been convinced that the end was coming 3 or 4 times, but you may have noticed, it has not happened yet. When I was a kid, the big bad was the USSR, now I think it is Iraq, or possibly North Korea, but most likely the USA... It all gets so confusing.
One thing I have learnt however is that the predominant view on eschatology is not a good thing, and to me it seems to hold elements that are contrary to the gospel and what Jesus called us to do in this world. If you have read any of the Left Behind series, then you already know the basic outline, it goes something like this...
The world is getting worse, it is getting more heathen, but don't worry, the good guys get raptured just before it gets too bad, and then the poo really does hit the fan. Without a Christian influence in the world, it becomes one big hedonistic orgy, of premarital sex, gay marriages, and abortions. And the anti-Christ will rule this world and see everyone damned to hell. Some will become Christians in this time, but they will have to endure the sin in the world, and the persecution they must face as the anti-Christ tries to eradicate them... finally Jesus will return, smite the wicked with his great big smiting stick and all will be good in the world - I think he creates a new earth, or we all go to heaven for a big party or something, I can't really remember.
What is the problem with this outlook? - well I guess to me it seems to encourage us NOT to act in the world for the good of mankind, not to try to stamp out evil, or see evangelism happen or anything, because the world is getting worse and the less we do the worserer it will become, meaning that Jesus will return quicker - YAY!!! This view is what seems to be encouraging Christians to establish their own little Christian compounds where Heathens dare not enter... our friends are all Christians, we send our kids to Christian schools, our charity goes to the church in the form of tithes, so the church can grow and offer us better resources, so we can have Christian cafes, and gyms, and dating services, and theme parks.
This sort of Eschatology has resulted in the Church circling its wagons and becoming defensive, protecting itself & hanging on till the rapture, meanwhile the Western Church is in decline, because we are seen as ineffective, irrelevant and scared. But this is just more evidence that the end is coming right? - well it is a sort of self fulfilling prophecy really, if the salt stays in the shaker or the light under a bowl then of course things are going to get worse...
Where does Jesus' call for us to go into all the world and make disciples come into it? where does His (and hopefully our) prayer that "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" come into effect, if we are not out there being the Kingdom (I often think that the Kingdom has been relegated to a post apocalyptic reality as well). Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is at hand, yet we are too afraid to reach out and grab that Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God has been instrumental in being salt to the world for hundreds of years, we have seen the eradication of slavery in many nations, education offered to many not just the wealthy, the abolition of child labour... etc, etc, what happened to the salt... Why has the Make Poverty History campaign (that had it's origins in a Christian initiative) been picked up by the secular world, while we sit around with egg on our face playing catch up or worse still denying it's importance...
One thing I have learnt however is that the predominant view on eschatology is not a good thing, and to me it seems to hold elements that are contrary to the gospel and what Jesus called us to do in this world. If you have read any of the Left Behind series, then you already know the basic outline, it goes something like this...
The world is getting worse, it is getting more heathen, but don't worry, the good guys get raptured just before it gets too bad, and then the poo really does hit the fan. Without a Christian influence in the world, it becomes one big hedonistic orgy, of premarital sex, gay marriages, and abortions. And the anti-Christ will rule this world and see everyone damned to hell. Some will become Christians in this time, but they will have to endure the sin in the world, and the persecution they must face as the anti-Christ tries to eradicate them... finally Jesus will return, smite the wicked with his great big smiting stick and all will be good in the world - I think he creates a new earth, or we all go to heaven for a big party or something, I can't really remember.
What is the problem with this outlook? - well I guess to me it seems to encourage us NOT to act in the world for the good of mankind, not to try to stamp out evil, or see evangelism happen or anything, because the world is getting worse and the less we do the worserer it will become, meaning that Jesus will return quicker - YAY!!! This view is what seems to be encouraging Christians to establish their own little Christian compounds where Heathens dare not enter... our friends are all Christians, we send our kids to Christian schools, our charity goes to the church in the form of tithes, so the church can grow and offer us better resources, so we can have Christian cafes, and gyms, and dating services, and theme parks.
This sort of Eschatology has resulted in the Church circling its wagons and becoming defensive, protecting itself & hanging on till the rapture, meanwhile the Western Church is in decline, because we are seen as ineffective, irrelevant and scared. But this is just more evidence that the end is coming right? - well it is a sort of self fulfilling prophecy really, if the salt stays in the shaker or the light under a bowl then of course things are going to get worse...
Where does Jesus' call for us to go into all the world and make disciples come into it? where does His (and hopefully our) prayer that "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" come into effect, if we are not out there being the Kingdom (I often think that the Kingdom has been relegated to a post apocalyptic reality as well). Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is at hand, yet we are too afraid to reach out and grab that Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God has been instrumental in being salt to the world for hundreds of years, we have seen the eradication of slavery in many nations, education offered to many not just the wealthy, the abolition of child labour... etc, etc, what happened to the salt... Why has the Make Poverty History campaign (that had it's origins in a Christian initiative) been picked up by the secular world, while we sit around with egg on our face playing catch up or worse still denying it's importance...
I heard that this interpretation of the end times has only been around for less than 200 years and has been growing in popularity ever since, could it be partly to blame? Could an eschatology that calls us to protect ourselves rather than risk all for the sake of the Kingdom be responsible for the worsening of the world, rather than the anti-Christ?
Anyway, I don't have any real answers here, this is only a bit of an embryonic thought, I can't get into an argument about what view of eschatology I hold, because I just don't know, I just have my misgivings about this one, it seems to stand in opposition to so much of what the gospel teaches us...
what are your thoughts?
Anyway, I don't have any real answers here, this is only a bit of an embryonic thought, I can't get into an argument about what view of eschatology I hold, because I just don't know, I just have my misgivings about this one, it seems to stand in opposition to so much of what the gospel teaches us...
what are your thoughts?
3 comments:
I totally agree!
Eschatology should be the story of the Christian hope - the message of the victory of Christ and the kingdom of God. The end of suffering, of evil, of sorrow and the renewal of earth. The Left Behind view is a dispensationalist construction that we need to abandon.
How did we end up with a view of the goal of the universe that isn't attractive even to us?
I recommend a book called "The coming of the son of man " by Andrew Perriman.
I agree Pete. I think a lot of the problems with our eschatology is that fact that we even have the word in our Christian lexicon. So much of it comes from our the way we read the apocalypses, especially Revelation and Daniel and to a lesser extent Ezekiel. When we read these books as prophecies of what is to come i think we get into serious trouble. We need to relearn to read these books as political polemic...and that probabably sounds a bit high falutin' but what i mean is that we need to relearn how to read them in the context in which they were written. These books were written as a 'veiled' (apocalypse comes from the Gk word meaning to veil) critique of the political culture of the time. And it's so amazing how when you read it like this you can see how all the values of Jesus, which get so lost when people like La Haye interpret them, are all there. Can i suggest a book for you? I'm not sure if I already have, but anyone facing this dilema should read Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther's 'Unveiling Empire'. It's one of the best books I've ever read. Anyway Pete, glad you brought it up.
Hate to jump on the bandwagon but I too agree with you wholeheartedly. It's alleged that some US evangelicals rejoice in environmental degradation because it's seen as heralding a faster return of the King. Along similar lines to interpreting "the poor you will always have with you" as "so don't bother trying to tackle poverty". I don't know how or when the King will return but, whether it's tomorrow or after I die, I want each day of my life to make the world a bit more like Eden. That's the aim, now down to practice........
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