POSTMILLENNIAL FAILURE TO ENGAGE CULTURE?

Culture, Optimism, Worldview August 12, 2015 Comments: 2

Christian educationPMT 2015-087 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A PostmillennialismToday reader is concerned that he sees postmillennialists withdrawing from culture rather than engaging it. Here is his question:

J.W. writes:

“I appreciate and have enjoyed much of your work. In fact, it was largely due to Edwards, you, and a few others that I saw postmillennialism as the midst rationally biblical option. That actually drove me into one of the most liberal cities in the US, but I find many PMers to be fleeing cultural engagement and implantation as much if not more than others. Why do you suppose that is a characteristic of many PMers but that I seem to be understanding it differently?” Continue reading →

HIDE US FROM THE WRATH OF THE LAMB

AD 70, Objections, Revelation August 3, 2015 Comments: 3

Jerusalem cavesPMT 2015-093 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In my last article I noted the moving mountains in Revelation and how they do not speak of a literal tectonic movements. That passage is easily applied to the Roman warfare method during the Jewish War. But similarly, the calling upon the mountains to fall also speaks of the circumstances of the Jewish War.

Rev 6:17 reads:

“They said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”

Men hiding in caves is easy enough to understand in a literal fashion. But we need to realize how important a feature this becomes in the Jewish War. Its appearance in Revelation is not a simple matter of local color; it was an issue of great significance. Continue reading →

OBAMA, SIN, AND POSTMILLENNIALISM

Dispensationalism, Objections, Pessimism July 10, 2015 Comments: 13

Obama antichristPMT 2015:017 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Most evangelical Christians recognize and lament the widescale cultural collapse America is witnessing. This seems to better fit the dispensationalist’s gloomy outlook on the future. How can one hold to the postmillennial hope while witnessing the demise of the Christian influence in America?

But this question has a deeper significance. A leading objection against the postmillennial hope of gospel conquest is the fact of man’s inborn total depravity. In this blog posting I will explain how postmillennialism may offer an optimistic outlook on history even though we live in a world of depraved sinners. Continue reading →

THE SEVEN “LAST” PLAGUES?

Revelation, Uncategorized July 8, 2015 Comments: 2

Seven bowlsPMT 2015-082 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Rev 15:1 opens a scene in heaven which introduces the seven plagues. John’s opening statement is: “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished” (Rev 15:1).

His statement that these are “the last” because “the wrath of God is finished” leads some commentators — especially futurists — to see these as occurring in our distant future, at the end of history. While I believe history does have an end, I don’t believe that John’s vision looks to that consummate end. Rather something else is going on here. Continue reading →

THE HEAVENS FLEE AWAY

Revelation July 5, 2015 Comments: 6

PMT 2015-081 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In Revelation 20 we have the one section of Revelation that extends beyond the near-time indicators. John speaks of the “thousand years” in which Christ reigns with his martyred saints (Rev 20:4–7). In 20:11 we read of the Great White Throne of God. John informs us that “the heaven and earth fled away” at the setting of the judgment scene.

But what does the fleeing away of the heaven and earth mean? This is the question I will answer in this blog article.

In Rev 20:11 John adds a description regarding the enthroned one. He states that he is the one “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” According to Scripture, the physical universe will be physically transformed through fiery cleansing to make way for the consummate new heavens and new earth (2Pe 3:10–12; cp. Ps 102:25–27; Isa 51:6; Mt 5:18; 24:35). Continue reading →

PRETERISTS WHO ADOPT A LATE-DATE

Preterism, Revelation July 3, 2015 Comments: 3

Past DuePMT 2015-080 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Milton Terry underscores the significance of the question of compositional date when interpreting Rev: “The great importance of ascertaining the historical standpoint of an author is notably illustrated by the controversy over the date of the Apocalypse of John. If that prophetical book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, a number of its particular allusions must most naturally be understood as referring to that city and its fall. If, however, it was written at the end of the reign of Domitian (about A.D. 96), as many have believed, another system of interpretation is necessary to explain the historical allusions.”

“Preterism,” as you well know, is the view that Rev deals with events that are in the near future — when John writes, but now lie in our distant past. Admittedly most preterists who see a large focus on the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 generally tend to adopt the early date. In fact, this becomes an integral part of the argument in that they prefer internal evidence over external.

However, despite common suspicions and confident complaints, such a commitment to the early date is not absolutely necessary for a preterist analysis. Continue reading →

WHAT VERSION DID JOHN USE?

Revelation June 17, 2015 Comments: 6

Revelation in HebrewPMT 2015-073 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Revelation is the most Old Testament oriented book in the New Testament. It exceeds both Matthew and Hebrews in its alluding to the Old Testament. But an intriguing question arises regarding this extremely OT-influenced work: What is John’s specific OT version? We know he did not use the King James Version, despite many KJV-Only enthusiasts.

J. B. Lightfoot states that John’s allusions “are so free that we cannot say whether they were taken from the Hebrew or the Greek.” R. H. Charles disagrees, expressing his position dogmatically: “John translated directly from the O.T. text. He did not quote from the Greek Version.” Steve Moyise surveys the following noted Hebrew-source advocates in addition to Charles A. Vanhoye, C. G. Ozanne, A. T. Hanson, J. Fekkes, F. D. Mazzaferri, J. P. M. Sweet, and L. P. Trudinger. I would also add S. Thompson and B. Witherington. Continue reading →