Eschatology. Introduction. This Week We Have Studied Eschatology,

For this paper I am boiling the redemptive trend hermeneutic down to two components. First is the concept of momentum – asking if an interpretation or application of the passage continues in the spirit of previous Scripture. For example, Webb argues that both testaments “make significant modifications to the institution of slavery relative to their broader cultures” (74), therefore reading a passage such as Titus 2:9, “tell slaves to be submissive,” as pro-slavery would be a contradiction of what had previously been accomplished within God’s people. Second is the concept of now and then (with a shout out to The Blue Parakeet), where the redemptive thrust, projected by the Bible, along with general cultural ebbs and flows, may have changed our contemporary world so much that components of the original text have become confusing, dated, or perhaps even irrelevant.

I was mentoring one of my youth today. We are doing a study called “Jesus Calling Bible Study Series: Experiencing God’s Presence” (Young, 2015). In that book, it asked me to “Close your eyes and picture yourself having access by faith into this grace in which every believer stands. Imagine grace as a throne room, and you are standing there with complete access. Where is Jesus? Where is God the Father? How far away are they from you?” (Young, 2015, pp. 26,27) The Resurrection gave us that right and privilege to have access to the throne room of God. We do not have to imagine. Just asking those questions about “Where is Jesus? Where is God the Father?” shows right there that Jesus is more than just a man, more than just a teacher, and more

In his approach Snyder utilizes seven themes from the Old and New Testament that he say’s help reveal the meaning of the kingdom of God. The themes presented are interrelated and not disconnected or segmented from each other. Rather, each theme is a partial expression of the whole, in other words, the kingdom of God is this, but it is also that. The challenge that the Western (US) reader faces is that one has been conditioned by “National Idealism,” to think that we are a Christian nation. Therefore, as a nation of God, we live out the biblical principles that are important to Christian values. This is important to state, since this type of thinking permeates throughout our churches and is expressed as kingdom living.

Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.

The fundamental theme presented in chapter twenty five and twenty six of David W. Dorries book Spirit Filled Christology maintains that Jesus came, not only as a pathway for salvation, but also to lead as an example of the Spirit’s movements and to empower His church with supernatural abilities to further the ministry that He began. In order to expound upon his statements, Dorries uses historical context.

In the book When the Kings Come Marching In, theologian, Richard J. Mouw goes into depth about the “transformed City” that Isaiah envisions at the end of history (Isaiah 60). Our society believes that “Christ and Culture” are in conflict with one another, but Mouw disagrees with this statement and proposes that the problem is how humans have distorted culture. Mouw goes on and suggests that heaven is and will be a renewed creation that includes embodied existence on earth rather than a spiritual place where creation is apart from the soul. Mouw supports his argument throughout the book by explaining the creation of culture, Christ’s grace towards His creation, and offering a purpose to our existence.

In the book When the Kings Come Marching In, theologian, Richard J. Mouw goes into depth about the “transformed City” that Isaiah envisions at the end of history (Isaiah 60). Our society believes that “Christ and Culture” are in conflict with one another, but Mouw disagrees with this statement and proposes that the problem is how humans have distorted culture. Mouw goes on and suggests that heaven is and will be a renewed creation that includes embodied existence on earth rather than a spiritual place where creation is apart from the soul. Mouw supports his argument throughout the book by explaining the creation of culture, Christ’s grace towards His creation, and offering a purpose to our existence.

The identity of Jesus “is the Son, sent by the Father, and anointed by the Spirit to be the bearer of God’s kingdom to the nations.” In his opening chapter Newbigin paints a very broad and general history of the mission of the Christian church from the time of Jesus until now. The main focus of this is how our current context in the world more closely

We often think and talk about the kingdom of God, resurrection, and eternal life in eschatological terms. Each is relevant to a discussion of eschatology, but all three are about this “age” as much or more than they are about the “age to come.” Each can be described as the Book of Discipline describes God’s reign as “both a present and future reality” (¶102 48). In my ministry, I have seen examples of the present nature of each.

This is a study in contrasts between what will be termed’ worldly authority’ and the authority that is authorized within the Kingdom of God that was ushered in by Jesus Christ over two

With the rise of modernity, a technological shift has allowed our society to be more interconnected than ever. The supercomputers that we call cell phones can connect us to one another, to information, and to cultural developments almost instantaneously. However, also following this rise of modernity is a cultural drift that manifests itself as the fall of Christendom, or the divorce between gospel and Greco-Roman civilization that make them as disconnected as ever. The challenges of nihilism and the historical-critical method appear to have severed the historical ties that the Church once had to mainstream culture. Through the modern framework of a divorce of culture and church, Robert Jenson, in his book, A Theology in Outline: Can These Bones Live?, deconstructs and illustrates various theological concepts in an attempt to answer the greater theological and historical question within his subtitle: is Christian theology a pile of dead bones in today’s society? In an attempt to answer this question, Jenson wields scripture, specifically the overarching narrative of God’s identity, as a gauge of validity that denies, confirms, or modifies various theological concepts that arise out of both historical and social developments. Following Jenson’s central image of the dead bones of Israel, the structural basis, or bones, of Jenson’s body of theology is solely biblical scripture. Through this truth-seeking test of scripture, Jenson vividly and comprehensively illustrates the

The temporal life is the one we live before the second coming of Christ . It is vastly different from the Eternal life we are promised if we live by the word of God. In the temporal life Satan still plays an active role in this world .As a result, , suffering, heart ache and sin don't just exist they are rampant and a common part of life. "His influence is not just seen in human beings by the earth itself"(Rice,1997,pp.344). Everything decays and dies eventually before the second coming of Christ.

At the end of the tribulation, Christ will return and set up his kingdom and will rule for 1000 years. At the conclusion of the 1000 year rule, an outbreak of sin will be perpetuated and the final judgment for the wicked. Then the new heaven and the new earth will then be established for all eternity.

In Preaching Christ from the Old Testament , author Sidney Greidanus offers a contemporary hermeneutical model for preaching Christ centered sermons from Old Testament Scriptures. Following a broad survey of Old Testament preaching throughout the history of the Christian Church, he suggests methods through which Old Testament Scriptures can be seen to lead to a proclamation of Christ and provides a process to use these interpretive tools to develop Christocentric sermons. Although Greidanus provides practical and beneficial tools for ministry, his model should be used carefully and in conjunction with other resources that can serve to balance his position.

Torrance states, “The New Testament kingdom is both present and future” (Torrance & Walker, 2009, p. 404). Understanding that concept is not only perplexing, the idea of articulating it when in conversation with a nonbeliever, or a believer for that matter, is most challenging. The obvious place to begin then is to go straight to God’s Word. Of course, we look to the Gospels, and also the Epistles; Paul’s letter to the Romans in particular, overflows with the hope which undergirds Christian faith and living is the hope of the resurrection and the dead and the renewal of all creation” (Ware, 2009, p. 130). However, critical to the conversation is the fact that this hope is grounded in Old Testament Scripture and, as Ware continues, “ the prophetic expectation of the coming reign of Israel 's God” (2009, p. 130). It begins with the creation, and through the pure acts of God throughout the Old Testament narratives, the emphasis of hope lies in the future (Torrance, 2009). Nevertheless, as this essay will demonstrate, the New Testament emphasis is that of the present and the future, but not yet fully consummated. It will discuss the how the restoration of creation is both a physical existence and spiritual existence, and finally, how these will impact the present kingdom-works of Christians.