I have been participating in an interesting (I think) discussion on 2 Peter 3 and eschatology over at the Sola Panel, found here:
The Sola Panel How new will the new creation be?
Two features of discussion are frustrating: on the one hand, the use of Tom Wright as a bogey man (though the original poster says he didn't intend this, this is certainly how some of the posters have run with it) - 'if Tom Wright believes it, it must be suspicious'. This is no way to have a serious discussion about an important issue.
On the other hand, I think at one point we reached a consensus that discontinuity/continuity are a false alternative, and that the proper biblical/theological picture is both of a destructive judgement and a remarkable renewal - but then people kept on insisting that no, there is NO continuity between this creation and the new creation. This despite all the other texts (Rom 8, Col 1 and others) that do teach continuity. AND in spite of a raft of conservative commentators who see that 2 Peter 3 is not utterly discontinuous (Bauckham, et al). I am not quite sure what is at stake...though for me I think that utterly discontinuous view leads to a denigration of the created order and a rather Gnostic eschatology against which orthodox Christianity has always fought...
See what you think.
Showing posts with label eschatology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eschatology. Show all posts
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Peter Bolt's Living with the Underworld
I have just received my copy of my former teacher and colleague's new book, Living with the Underworld (available to British readers here). I will be writing a review for The Briefing.
But, can I say how excited I am by the book thus far. Firstly, here is theology written for a general adult audience that is not insulting to their intelligence but is fast paced and engaging. There are some big ideas in this book, but the writing is crisp and light, and certainly not without plenty of wit. It is a journey into the underworld with Tony Soprano as our guide.
Bolt also touches on a number of issues of how the Biblical cosmology ought to be read by modern readers without having to engage in a wholesale demythologisation programme. So, there is some interesting theological method being developed in the background, too. Go read it and see!
A taster:
It is a pity that moralism has always been so rampant amongst people who say they are trying to live by the Bible. if Christians were to read the New Testament and grasp its central message, they could never join the moralists, and they would be the most sympathetic people this world has ever seen. p. 68
But, can I say how excited I am by the book thus far. Firstly, here is theology written for a general adult audience that is not insulting to their intelligence but is fast paced and engaging. There are some big ideas in this book, but the writing is crisp and light, and certainly not without plenty of wit. It is a journey into the underworld with Tony Soprano as our guide.
Bolt also touches on a number of issues of how the Biblical cosmology ought to be read by modern readers without having to engage in a wholesale demythologisation programme. So, there is some interesting theological method being developed in the background, too. Go read it and see!
A taster:
It is a pity that moralism has always been so rampant amongst people who say they are trying to live by the Bible. if Christians were to read the New Testament and grasp its central message, they could never join the moralists, and they would be the most sympathetic people this world has ever seen. p. 68
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Apocalyptic Amillennialism?
From my RTR article 'Left Behind? Christian Eschatology and Society in the Age of Terror' vol 63, 2004.
...We take issue with the eschatologies of pre- and post-millennialists, Moltmann and the liberation theologians. Amillennialism seems a more biblically satisfactory position, although it has a tendency to over-spiritualise the Kingdom’s presence and to embrace a smug ecclesiastical imperialism.[1] However, the re-emergence of the apocalyptic in twentieth century theology, in the tradition of Luther, has restored balance to the biblical horizon. Apocalyptic literature of both Testaments focuses on the sovereignty of God over the cosmos and history, his vindication of his people (involving resurrection) in righteous judgment and his “supernatural” and dramatic intervention in history to bring these things to pass. There is a radical discontinuity between the present, which features a great struggle between good and evil, and the apocalyptic future. The apocalyptic literature of the New Testament picks up the universalism of other passages which speak of the cosmic scope of God’s redemptive act in Christ (1 Cor 15:22, Col 1:19-20, Phil 2:9-11, I Tim 2:4-6), and at the same time paints a clearly separationist picture which rightly reflects the Biblical vision of God’s eternal justice. A decisive irruption into history is indeed necessary for the fulfillment of the times. Even historicist (and Hegelian) Wolfhart Pannenberg admits:
Nothing less than a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1; cf 20:11 and Isa 65:17) is demanded as a prerequisite for the definitive actualizing of the kingdom of God.[2]
[1] Bloesch, op.cit., p.197
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, op.cit., p.584
...We take issue with the eschatologies of pre- and post-millennialists, Moltmann and the liberation theologians. Amillennialism seems a more biblically satisfactory position, although it has a tendency to over-spiritualise the Kingdom’s presence and to embrace a smug ecclesiastical imperialism.[1] However, the re-emergence of the apocalyptic in twentieth century theology, in the tradition of Luther, has restored balance to the biblical horizon. Apocalyptic literature of both Testaments focuses on the sovereignty of God over the cosmos and history, his vindication of his people (involving resurrection) in righteous judgment and his “supernatural” and dramatic intervention in history to bring these things to pass. There is a radical discontinuity between the present, which features a great struggle between good and evil, and the apocalyptic future. The apocalyptic literature of the New Testament picks up the universalism of other passages which speak of the cosmic scope of God’s redemptive act in Christ (1 Cor 15:22, Col 1:19-20, Phil 2:9-11, I Tim 2:4-6), and at the same time paints a clearly separationist picture which rightly reflects the Biblical vision of God’s eternal justice. A decisive irruption into history is indeed necessary for the fulfillment of the times. Even historicist (and Hegelian) Wolfhart Pannenberg admits:
Nothing less than a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1; cf 20:11 and Isa 65:17) is demanded as a prerequisite for the definitive actualizing of the kingdom of God.[2]
[1] Bloesch, op.cit., p.197
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, op.cit., p.584
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