Apocalypse in both Jesus and Paul

The attempt to separate Jesus from Paul is a commonplace among both heirs of the so-called 18th century "enlightenment" on the one hand, whether secular liberal, nationalist, socialist, or anarchist, and the apologists of Islam on the other--tribes who are otherwise completely antithetical. Hence Muhammad's Isa (Jesus) is a turgid, purely human desert prophet; that of Jefferson a homespun philosopher; that of Gogarten and Grundemann a Teutonic warrior and anti-Semite; that of Carmichael a mid-20th century political radical. Clearly Jesus is an important figure to enlist on one's own side, regardless of how much one hates Jesus' church and the people who confess him as Lord. But it is also clear that people following this path must pare and peel Jesus to shape him to their own expectations. They have turned him into an "undefined banner" (to use Francis Schaeffer's phrase) into which any meaning may be poured.

One of the challenges which Albert Schweitzer offered to early 20th century academic biblical scholarship was his identification of Jesus as an apocalypticist who announced the imminent end of the world as we know it. The picture of a humanitarian reformer prominent from Ernest Renan onwards was no longer tenable to Schweitzer as he focused on Jesus' "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Further, efforts of non-scholars such as Jefferson to turn Jesus into a mere "wise teacher" are also challenged by the importance of coming judgment and renewal of all things found in Jesus' teachings. Schweitzer's century-old observation thus reminds the reader of the New Testament that he is entering a "strange world" where the categories insisted upon by 18th and 19th century philosophers, historians, and exegetes had not been established, and may well face challenges.

Indeed, the Olivet discourse of Matthew 24-25, in which Jesus announces at least the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem (if not of the whole created order) is as important a dominical discourse as the Sermon on the Mount. Its context is the final week in Jerusalem, which occupies roughly a third of the Gospel narratives. It and the Upper Room Discourse appear as the last long discourses of Jesus, underscoring its importance.

Further, no other New Testament figure speaks as much about judgment as Jesus. Even the humanitarian interpreter's favorite passages in the Sermon on the Mount clearly speak of a coming judgment which men must face, especially concerning such issues as murder, anger, sexuality, swearing and oaths, and retribution (throughout Matthew 5). Jesus' model prayer in Mt. 6:9-15 petitions for forgiveness from judgment. The standard of behavior enjoined is one that must seek to please God, who sees in secret, rather than men.

How do Jesus' teachings about eschatology compare with those of Paul?

Again, Paul is another "apocalypticist". In the Thessalonian letters, he teaches a second advent of the Messiah, in which salvation will be consummated in the resurrection of the just and those saints alive at Jesus' coming meeting him in the air. The Man of Sin who exalts himself against God will be destroyed, and Christians will even be with their Lord. Nothing in this contradicts Jesus' teaching.

In First Corinthians 15, Paul also announces that the Gospel he preaches proclaims the Lordship of Christ, and the "beginning of the end". The resurrection of Jesus shows Jesus to be the promised Messiah, and constitutes a promise that in the end, we, too, shall share in the resurrection, when death, the last enemy, is finally defeated. Paul, like Jesus, accepted that the end of the world involves the resurrection of the dead and their judgment.

But understanding this judgment cannot be understood apart from how both Jesus and Paul understood the person of Jesus Christ and his work. Did Jesus indeed preach a religion of merit against Paul's message of grace? This will be our next topic.

On Revelation--The Rider on the White Horse is not Antichrist

I found out that I have a dissident view of Revelation, at least in some Evangelical circles.

During a Bible study on Revelation, I found out that many resources used by others describe the rider on a white horse mentioned in Revelation 6:2 as Antichrist. I have long been under the impression that this rider is none other than Jesus Christ himself.

The text states:

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow, ans a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer (KJV).

Having looked up a number of online resources, I note the following reasons why this figure is associated with Antichrist:

1. He is accompanied by riders who represent war, famine, and death.

2. The passage of the seven seals speaks of the wrath of God against the earth.

Yet, against this, I note that the rider on the white horse appears again:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, he Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:11-16)

How this figure can be anyone other than Jesus Christ is beyond me. The slaying of the wicked by words that are weapons echoes Isaiah 11:4; smiting and ruling the nations with a rod of iron echoes Psalm 2:9. Clearly this is the fulfillment of all of Israel's Messianic hopes of defeating the oppressing nations!

As for Jesus' association with the terrors of the other horsemen of the apocalypse and the trumpets and bowls of God's wrath following Revelation 6:2, this can be understood as comforting a persecuted and pressured church by reminding them that, as Matthew's Gospel assured them, all authority in heaven and earth, including over the terrors the shatter humanity, is held by the risen Jesus (Matthew 28:18). In these disasters, the hope of wicked men perish, but all ultimately ends with the Lord vindicating his people.

The 20th century was one in which contempt for Christ and his Gospel was widespread. It was also an age of uncritical faith in man-made institutions and programs. Yet the dreams of peace unleashed by a League of Nations in 1920 and a United Nations in 1945 have been illusory. The confidence of most "thinking people" (a thundering herd of independent minds, perhaps?) in so-called "scientific socialism" proved a mockery, and a very bloody one after the political murders of over 150 millions in peacetime. These are indeed horrible things to contemplate, but could this not be a case of our Lord shattering like earthen pots the kings of the earth who have gathered themselves against him (Psalm 2)? Is this not a call for us to reconsider the claims of our Lord, as many indeed are doing even now?

Yes, it is terrifying to consider the hand of our loving God in the vicissitudes of history. This may well lead many to hate God all the more. But let us not forget the garment sprinkled in blood in which our Lord Jesus appears. It is not the blood of his enemies, but his own sacrificial blood which he shed to atone for our sins when he, the righteous one, died for the unrighteous to bring us to God (I Peter 3:18). In that is the true refuge from the coming wrath.

RUptured Rapture III

Due to the mysterious disappearance of Uncle Cephas, this blog is now in new hands.---not

...All kidding aside, there probably are people who might have taken my last two posts seriously.

Then again, when my brethren of the Dispensationalist persuasion get all excited about the imminent return of Christ every time a bomb goes off in the Middle East, other good friends of mine foul their breeches every time there are a few more tornadoes touching down this season. They believe we're all going to roast to death next year due to human-induced global warming, even though we're still a long way from being able to raise veggies and milk cattle even in the southernmost parts of Greenland (as the Norse settlers did a scant millennium ago). Other people whom I love believe that dungeons and thumbscrews in the basement of the US Capitol are just another bill away the minute the Jumboes displace the Jackasses as the slightly majority party in either house of Congress. Heck. When I waxed sarcastic and said that as a good Evangelical I was going to enjoyed live liberated lesbian stew instead of roast turkey for Thanksgiving, a learned colleague of mine actually believed me! Well, that's one I'll never try again.

The point of the matter is that apocalypticism is a good way to rally the troops and get them fired up for the next campaign, be it evangelistic or political. It's also a good way to get attention, or skew perceptions of the truth in a way you'd like.

Good job, Harold Camping! You had people talking about you from coast to coast! Now, why not study up on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and give them a little more prominence in your ministry?

After all,
That's what Paul
Would have said to steady
Us and get us ready
One the way
To that great day.