Postmillennial Worldview

PMW 2023-063 by Herman Ridderbos

GENTRY INTRODUCTION

The following material is taken from Ridderbos’ important work: Paul: An Outline of His Theology (pp. 44ff). Some of his footnotes have been omitted as unnecessary for my present concern. I highly recommend that my readers study Herman Ridderbos, Geerhardus Vos, and Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. as insightful biblical scholars (even though they are amillennial).

RIDDERBOS EXPLICATION

The extent . . . to which Paul saw the advent and work of Christ as revelation of the fulfilling activity of God in history and as the breaking through of the great time of salvation can immediately be demonstrated on the basis of a number of typical pronouncements from his epistles.

Galatians 4:4

What is said in Galatians 4:4 of “the fullness of the time” and in Ephesians 1:10 of “the fulness of the times” is surely of special important:

“but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son.”

“the mystery of his [God’s] will …, unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon earth.” Continue reading →

PMW 2023-062 by Greg L. Bahnsen

GENTRY INTRODUCTORY NOTE
I am currently researching material for a new book. I will be dealing the two-age structure of redemptive history. I will be explaining its significance, not only for understanding the Olivet Discourse properly (due to Matt. 24:3), but even the whole New Testament.

I am seeing several Christians writers who are publishing materials showing that they do not understand the concept of “this age” and “the age to come” in the New Testament. This has led them to make serious errors in their theological ramblings.

In this posting, I will be presenting a snippet from Greg Bahnsen’s book Victory in Jesus (131–32). My interest is in Bahnsen’s affirmation of the two-age structure of redemptive history, which recognizes (as do most biblical scholars and Greek lexicographers) that “age” (aion) can be interchangeable with “world” (kosmos). Continue reading →

PMW 2023-059 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In my last posting I opened a brief series on John’s method of presenting his material in Revelation. Therein I noted that John is presenting his material as a drama. Though it is not intended as an acted drama, it is designed as a oral one — as I noted in my last article. Now we focus a little more tightly on the method of his drama.

Revelation’s Forensic Tone

Revelation is a moving drama with a specific theme: it is a courtroom drama employing language and images appropriate to the “lawcourt” (Caird 17–18). Witherington (14, 265) notes that “the judicial or forensic tone of Revelation has often been noted” by scholars — even in the seven oracles (Revelation 2–3). And “the majority of the book of Revelation . . . involves forensic rhetoric.” Fiorenza (1998: 47) provides more explanation: “the description of God’s judgment takes up such a large space in Rev. that its whole eschatological presentation culminates in judgment and salvation. Just as the seven visions of the plagues and the ‘small scroll’ climax in an announcement or a portrayal of judgment, so does the whole book.” Fekkes (78) agrees: “The subject of judgment is the single most dominant interest in Revelation, and accordingly the use of thematic analogues from the OT likewise finds its greatest development in this area.” DeSilva (2009: 89) points out that “Revelation’s focus on God’s judgment and the narration of the process of that judgment predisposes these scholars to see the text as forensic discourse. This is a story in which books are opened, witnesses step forward, charges are voiced, and justice meted out.”
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PMW 2023-054 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A reader had a question arise regarding a previous article (“Every Mountain was Moved”). I thought his query worthy of a bit more reflection than usually offered in a comment response. He noted regarding Revelation 16:19 that I stated “the cities of the nations” represents Gentile cities, setting them over against Jerusalem. He writes:

MY READER:
“They are distinguished from ‘the great city,’ showing that they are Gentile cities.

But which Gentile cities fell in AD 70? This is clearly simultaneous with the siege and fall of Jerusalem, taking place well after the year of the four emperors (Rev. 16:10-11) and the gathering of Roman troops (Rev. 16:12-16). So it can’t be referring to the Roman civil war. How was this fulfilled?”
Continue reading →

PMW 2023-053 by Geerhardus Vos

Gentry Introductory Note:
I am continuing a three-part presentation of Geerhardus Vos exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5. He wrote this in opposition to the arising of the new (in his time) liberal view that Paul’s theology changed over time. He originally believed in a physical resurrection of the dead, but eventually began to believe that at the moment of death believers received their new resurrection body as a spiritual body. This is the third and concluding article in the series. Now to Vos’ argument.

VOS’ PRESENTATION CONCLUDED

The difficult verse 3. We must now look for a moment at the passage as a whole, and in connection with this at the difficult verse 3. We do this in order to grasp the import of the entire section, and thus to gather in the fruit of our somewhat laborious exegesis. The passage connects with 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 by means of “for” (gar): “For we know that in case our earthly tent-house shall have been dissolved, we have a building from God,” etc. In 4:17–18 the “affliction” in the body works out an eternal weight of glory. This is likewise to be enjoyed in the body, since there, in the body, the “affliction” was borne. The future body thus appears from the outset as the bearer of an eternal weight of glory. The knowledge that such a new body shall be ours is basic for the hope of possessing and enjoying the certainty of this eternal glory. Without such a center the glory could not exist. Especially the description of this new body as a “house” admirably fits into this train of thought, because a house is not a mere place of shelter, but has attached to it the aesthetic conception of a center of manifestation for the glory of its inhabitant.
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PMW 2023-052 by Geerhardus Vos

Gentry Introductory Note:
I am continuing a three-part presentation of Geerhardus Vos exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5. He wrote this in opposition to the arising of the new (in his time) liberal view that Paul’s theology changed over time. He originally believed in a physical resurrection of the dead, but eventually began to believe that at the moment of death believers received their new resurrection body as a spiritual body. This is the second in the series. Let us hear Vos!

VOS PRESENTATION CONTINUED

“Our habitation from heaven.” A contact for the idea of pre-existence has further been sought in the closing words of 2 Corinthians 5:2: “our habitation from heaven.” But this “from heaven” is simply another form of statement for what is called in verse 1 “from God.” The resurrection-body is from heaven because it is in a special supernatural sense from God. Heaven is the seat and source of the Pneuma by which the resurrection-body is formed. [1]

On the other hand, the word ependusasthai, in this second verse is distinctly unfavorable to the view that Paul looked forward to or weighed the possibility of receiving the new body at or immediately after death. Endusasthai means “to put on,” and ependusasthai signifies “to put on one garment over another garment.” The preposition epi effects this plus in the meaning. The latter word expresses the same thing, which in 1 Corinthians 15:53, Paul calls endusasthai. There the subject of the act is the present earthly body: “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Here in 2 Corinthians 5, on the other hand, the subject is the self, the incorporeal part of the believer. It is conceived as already clothed upon with its present body-garment, and desiring to put on over this, as some over-garment, the eschatological body.
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PMW 2023-051 by Geerhardus Vos

Gentry Introductory Note:
I am currently working on an edited version of some of Geerhardus Vos’ eschatological writings. In this work my friend Bill Boney and I are editing Vos’ technical, Dutch-impacted style of writing, as well as updating some of his early 1900s features (use of Roman numerals, long sentences, very long paragraphs). We are doing this to make his writing more easily accessible in the current environment.

In this and the next two articles, I will be posting Vos’ insightful exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5, which has been so abused by some in the current eschatological debate. Vos is rebutting the view that Paul’s eschatological developed over time, allowing us to trace his changing outlook on the basis of the dates of his epistles. We begin citing Vos where he engages the innovate liberal view of his day that argued that Paul began to believe that believers received a spiritual resurrection body at the moment of their death. So, here we go!

VOS’ PRESENTATION BEGUN
Let us discuss the alleged third stage in the evolution of Paul’s resurrection-belief. This is the stage in which the Apostle is supposed to have moved forward the endowment with a new body to the moment of death in case the death of his earthly body should occur before the parousia. This view is not ascribed to Paul as a firmly established conviction. Rather, it is a more or less contingent eventuality, which nonetheless he seriously reckoned with. The passage on which it is chiefly based is 2 Corinthians 5:1–8, a context extremely difficult of interpretation. This is partly as a result of some uncertainties in the text. These, however, may themselves have arisen from a desire through emendation to remove exegetical or doctrinal obstacles. Paul writes:

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling, so that by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:1–8)

The best method of dealing with the passage seems to be as follows. First, give first a cursory exegesis of the successive clauses, paying particular heed to their syntactical coherence. Then sum up the results obtained in a brief paraphrase. This would be so that the exegesis may be conducted with the greatest degree of discrimination. Thus, it is desirable to place clearly before our minds the traditional understanding of the words.

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