THE APOCALYPTIC VIEW OF HISTORY

Adam’s fall

– Old Age

– Past & Present World History

– Evil & Unredeemable

Establishment of the Kingdom of God

– New Age

– Future Rule of God

– Good and Incorruptible

THE COMING OF GOD’S KINGDOM

n The basic pattern:

– There are two ages

– The new age is near

– Evil will increase as that time approaches

– God will suddenly & unexpectedly intervene to overthrow evil

– The faithful will be saved

CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC WRITING

Apocalypse = an unveiling

n Chronological Dualism = history is divided into two time periods

n Ethical Dualism = humanity is divided into good and evil people

n Cosmic Dualism = ontological dualism; the universe is divided into good and evil powers.

CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC WRITING

n Exclusivism = we’re saved, you ain’t!!! - potential for violence

n Eschatological preoccupations = concerns about the “end time” - use of cryptic symbols; focus on suffering and terrifying visions

n Prophetic = eschatological events are predicted

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

n Key themes:

– affirms Christianity’s original hope for an immediate transformation of the world

– assures the faithful that the destruction of evil and the advent of Christ’s universal reign is about to be accomplished

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

n Key themes:

– presents an apokalypsis of unseen realities in heaven and on earth

– places government tyranny and Christian suffering in a cosmic perspective

– conveys a message of hope in cryptic metaphors and symbols typical of apocalyptic writing

REVELATION

n Author: John of Patmos

n Date: approx. 95 c.e.

n Christian crisis:

– persecution by Domitian

– Jewish hostility

– government tyranny

– imprisonment and execution

– public suspicion

VISIONS AND SYMBOLS IN REVELATION

n TRIBULATION = plagues, famine, disease, earthquakes, war visited upon human kind (Rev. 6:1-8)

n Dragons, Beasts, Anti-Christ = different personifications of Satan torment corrupt humans (Rev. 12:1-17; 13:8; 12:9, 13:11-17)

VISIONS AND SYMBOLOS IN REVELATION

n ARMAGEDDON = the military and ideological battles that mark the endtimes (Rev.16:16)

n BABYLON = a metaphor for the corrupted culture and people who have fallen away from God (Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 18:2; 18:21

VISIONS AND SYMBOLS IN REVELATION

n REDEMPTION = the belief that the Messiah will return to redeem the chosen and curse the damned (Rev. 20)

n MILLENNIUM = new time, a new heaven and a new earth transformed by supernatural action; paradise (Rev.21)

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISIONS IN REVELATION

n The Contemporary-Historical view:

concerned with the circumstances of the author’s time (95c.e.) This is the academic approach.

n The Continuous-Historical view:

prophetic summary of the History of the Church from the 1st century to the present (2000c.e.)

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISIONS IN REVELATION

n The Futurist View: apocalyptic; describes the last days and, guess what? IT’S NOW!!! 1843, 1844, 1874, 1914, 1975, 1984, 2000? All were all “end-time” years.

n The Mythic-Symbolic View: author’s purpose was to teach religious truths, not predict the future

REVELATION: interesting facts in our time

n 40% of U.S. adults believe the world will end as foretold: in a Battle of Armageddon between Jesus and the Antichrist

n 19% of Americans, and nearly half of all those who accept Biblical prophecy, believe that the Antichrist is on earth now

REVELATION: interesting facts in our time

n 18% of American adults believe Jesus will return to earth during their life-times.

n 68% of American adults believe they will go to heaven when they die.

n 3% plan on going to hell (pack a bathing suit!!)

TWO PICTURES OF JESUS

The Apocalyptic Jesus

– God’s chosen instrument to announce the imminent end of history

– eschatological focus

– compels the Kingdom’s arrival through His voluntary death

– overthrows the present evil world order and ushers in the New Age

TWO PICTURES OF JESUS

The Jesus of REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY

– For Christians, Jesus’ Kingdom is the inward realization of apocalyptic hopes

– Jesus preaches spiritual rebirth and calls all Christians to an awareness of God’s presence their individual lives

– 2nd Coming unnecessary

JESUS, ETHICS, AND ESCHATOLOGY

n JESUS AS AN APOCALYPTIC ESCHATOLOGIST

– ushers in the New Age; old, evil, ethically-corrupt age will be destroyed

– his Kingdom represents a new heaven and a new earth

– ethical dualism - the good go to heaven; the bad to hell

JESUS, ETHICS & ESCHATOLOGY

n JESUS AS AN ETHICAL ESCHATOLOGIST

– Jesus’ ministry presents a radical call for ethical transformation

– Humans must give up their inherent selfishness and remake society based on equality, justice, righteousness, fairness, peace, love and harmony

– the current social order must change

GENERAL LETTERS ON FAITH AND BEHAVIOR

Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles

n General theme = protecting a new religious movement!

n Key Point = God’s revelation through Jesus is FINAL AND COMPLETE!!!

HEBREWS AND THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES

n letter writing as a Pauline tradition of instructing and encouraging the faithful; directed to congregations.

n forms a special unit between Paul’s letters and Revelation; 8 books in all.

n Hebrews and the Catholic or universal epistles are the last books accepted into the biblical canon.

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES

n 1 & 2 PETER

n JAMES

n 1, 2 & 3 JOHN

n JUDE (7 books in all)

HEBREWS

KEY POINTS:

n represents the longest sustained argument in the Bible; most eloquent writing by a brilliant early Christian thinker

n expresses the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice in heaven to early ritual sacrifices in the Jewish Temple

HEBREWS

n Reason for the letter = Christians were on the verge of giving up the faith and returning to Judaism.

n Hebrews argues that Jesus is superior to the prophets even Moses

n Jesus’ priesthood is the Priesthood of Melchizedek (Gen.14:18-20) which is superior to Aaron and the Levitical priesthood of the O.T.

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES:
Key Themes and Purposes

n 1 Peter: to encourage believers to promote Christian ethics; he urges the faithful to live blamelessly so their lives reveal what it means to be a Christian

n 2 Peter: defends the Parousia doctrine with a theodicy (3:1-18); calls for Christian love in all debates.

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES:
Key Themes and Purposes

n Jude: a short letter denouncing some unidentified group of heretics

– uses invective in his argument

– threatens the heretics with apocalyptic punishment

– ends with a famous doxology

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES
Key Themes and Purposes

n James:

– A Theodicy: God is not responsible for society’s evils; it is all caused by human selfishness (1:1-17)

– Respect for the poor (2:1-13)

– Works are the ONLY MEASURE OF FAITH (2:14-16) compare to Galatians 3

– Warnings against spiritual ambition (4:1- 5:6)

LETTERS OF JOHN

n Scholar’s view: John, the Elder, wrote all 3 letters, but he is not the author of the Gospel nor is he the Apostle John.

n Key themes: all 3 letters offer a defense against the influence of Gnostic teachings in the early Church.

LETTERS OF JOHN

n 1 John: asks Christians to “test the spirits” of Christian experience for truth in 2 ways:

– DOCTRINE = Jesus the man and Christ (God’s Messiah) were one person in the flesh;

– BEHAVIOR = God is love; love reveals true Christianity (4:8-9)

LETTERS OF JOHN

n 2 John: a true letter of only 13 verses; warns of the anti-Christ; don’t invite “renegades” into Christian homes; let love be the community’s sole guide

n 3 John: a private note to Gaius; asks him to extend hospitality to Johannine missionaries led by Demetrius