I will begin the article by defining what may be Christian jargon for some. I do not do so as if I am standing on an intellectual pedestal & I am feeding the lowly masses. Familiarity with terminology is no measure of intelligence. That is why I dislike the slang phrase dumbing down. So one never heard a term before or it is not a routine part of one’s vocabulary–that would be uninformed or unaware, not dumb.
Doctrine–A collection of beliefs that are supposed to be based off the word of God. A doctrine may encompass several supporting scriptures from different books & chapters of the Bible. Sometimes the label for the doctrine is based off an older language; also the label is used for brevity. Thus, one may not find the verbatim label for the doctrine in scriptures. For instance the rapture is used instead of the, “…caught up” (1 Thess 4:17). That label is derived from an older language. Another example for brevity is the harrowing of hell. Not all doctrine universally agreed upon via interpretation, but the label is an abbreviated way to highlight a subject for those who already have familiarity.
Eschatology–The doctrine of last things. To say end times is a reference to the same study.
Unsound Eschatology–Unsound doctrine of last things. An unreliable collection of beliefs concerning the end times because the collection of beliefs do not align with the Bible. Doctrine is not unsound or unreliable on the basis that it does not align with human reason or logic. The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is not logical or rational IAW with human reason. That is why I am not a fan of rational faith. The term itself entails cognitive dissonance.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is not going to meet a human endorsed rational or logical cause & effect formula. Some will accuse us of blind faith–which the phrase itself is like saying round circle: “the evidence of things not seen.” Blind faith? Guilty–so what? Not only is my faith irrational–it is exciting. On the topic of logic & reason, many versions of Christian doctrines have been warped via the influence of Plato or Aristotle. The two men wrote some interesting things, but an attempt to glean anything from the Holy Bible on the basis of their writings is error. Christians should be on guard when scholars or theologians routinely toss the terms rationality, logic or reason into the mix.
John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
The existence of giants is not rational by our modern measure, yet God not only speaks of giants, but He also tells how big a certain giant’s bedstead was & that his bedstead was in a particular place at a particular time:
Deuteronomy 3:11 “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.”
The dimensions of the bedstead are in the area of 13 feet long & 6 feet wide. The inference was not that Og owned a huge bed, but Og required a huge bed with strong support (iron). If the inference was luxury–we would have been told about Og’s gold or many possessions. All that being said, the size of Og does not align with modern human rationality. This might shake up some folks, but the giants existed–sound doctrine (Ecc 1:9; Gen 6:4; Dan 2:43). It is unsupported by modern human reason, but supported by the scripture.
All that wraps back around to eschatology. The manner of eschatology is molded by whether one has faith in the word of God or human reason or rationality:
2 Peter 3:3 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
(Compare to Exodus 32:1)
What people believe about the last things, whether they happen 10 minutes or 10 centuries from now–affects our modus operandi here & now. Generally speaking, there are two vastly different versions of eschatology being promoted within Christian institutions. I am not speaking of disagreements like whether the rapture occurs before, during or after the great tribulation. The two general doctrines are night & day.
I speak of one eschatology that involves patience (Rev 13:10) & another that leads to the belief that men will build the kingdom of heaven on earth (tower of Babel–part 2). One mode promotes the word of God & the other mode promotes oppressed & oppressor philosophy. Both camps utilize the Bible, but one in a greater capacity & one in a lesser capacity.
I am going to discuss a severe case of unsound eschatology connected to terrible things from the other camp. Note that the entire other camp may not be near as extreme, but their doctrine is akin to this example:
Notorious communist cult leader Jim Jones once slammed a King James Bible on the floor & exclaimed to his congregation, “My grand-daddy believed this Bible–and he was racist!” Although Jones quoted scripture from time to time; this action displayed the treasure of his heart (Luke 6:45). He obsessively spoke on the likes of diversity, racism & sexism.
Eventually the entire cult packed up, went off to a jungle & through precepts such as equality–they planned on building the kingdom of heaven on earth. As is the routine with communism; the end of the matter was mass murder. Some call it mass suicide, but it was mass suicide at gun point.
I must note this is not about a Church ever addressing items like racism, but rather a question: can there ever be a Sunday or two absent of the mention of diversity, racism, sexism or equality? Can scripture such as Hebrews 1 be about Who it is about or must it somehow be related to that agenda?
Based on frequency, is the focus the Lord Jesus Christ, His return & resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-14) or is it a steady stream of oppressed & oppressor rhetoric which promotes insurrection (Barabbas–Mark 15:7) against the perceived status quo?
The night camp’s eschatology leaves no room for Biblically sound eschatology. Through democracy, diversity, equality, no-borders, socialism–it promotes that men will build the kingdom of heaven on earth, the communist utopia. Where does the world worshipping the beast, the mark of the beast, the return of Christ or the battle of armageddon fit in?
In order to propagate the night camp’s version of events–unsound things are promoted across the board. A classic example is the claim that in the Book of Revelation, the emperor of Rome at the time was the beast. Negative:
Revelation 17:8 “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”
So, “was, and is not; and shall ascend” does not fit the narrative of what would have been at the time the scripture was penned–a current emperor of Rome. Another question along the lines of the night camp’s narrative–when was the mark of the beast? When did people have to get the name, mark or number of a Roman Emperor in their right hand or forehead in order to buy or sell (Rev 13:16-17)?
Thus, the night camp’s claim is that the Apostle John wrote in the apocalyptic style of the day to reflect what was going on the world around him. Take note: there is not a thing about it being the word of God in such a statement. That is a common marker to watch out for with the night camp. They ascribe too much agency to the human pens–inspired like poets instead of God giving them words & visions to write down:
2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
“All scripture is given..” is often confused with “inspiration is given.” The inspiration of God was the vehicle (“by”) for all scripture that is given. The men did not take artistic liberties as if John the Apostle thought, “I think I will write this piece in the popular apocalyptic style of today.” In fact the night camp’s claim alludes that the Apostle John was not shown a vision by God.
This article could become book length. I will wind it down by stating that the night camp’s eschatology is like, “As a community, we are going to build the best city that we can.” There is not anything wrong with building a nice city, but the problem is–that is the end of their religion; to build the best city that they can (Gen 11). It is also a pragmatic religion. They want to see things now, they want to make things happen now. Everything is of a temporal nature. Constant oppressed & oppressor rhetoric imparts bitterness. Frankly, all Americans are force fed enough the same rhetoric from the media, the education system, the entertainment industry…the world.
The day camp’s eschatology is patiently enduring the downward spiral of the world. This is not to state that justice should be ignored where it is in our power to do something. The day camp does not lie–lot’s of bad things are going to happen. At some point the world will break it’s cycle of up’s & down’s and only head down, down, down. Bible believing Christians are going to have zero desire to even breath in that world, but they must endure & have faith that everything will end up how the Bible says it will end up. A rational faith will not do because nearly everything around will be heading the opposite direction of the faith. Rationally, pragmatically, the faith will appear not to be working in the world at the time (Rev 13:7). Most importantly, it must be a faith that resides in the heart:
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
THE EXILE OBSERVER 