NEW CREATION & NO MORE SEA? (2)

Interpretation, Revelation June 16, 2023 Comments: 3

PMW 2023-048  by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.No more sea 2

In my last article (PMW 2023-047) I opened the question regarding the meaning of John’s statement in Rev 21:1: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” Why is there “no longer any sea?” In the previous article I discounted the literal interpretation as well as the chaos approach. But now, what does it mean?

I believe the idea of the sea here pictures a barrier separating man from God. Let me explain. You have read this far, why not? Continue reading →

THE NEW CREATION & MORE SEA? (1)

Interpretation, Revelation June 13, 2023 Leave a comment

PMW 2023-047 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.No more sea 1

In Rev 21:1 an unusual statement appears at the coming of the new heavens and earth: “and there is no longer any sea.” Commentators have long debated the meaning of the absence of the sea (thalassa) in this text. Is this literal? And if it is literal, why would the sea not be part of the consummate order? Or is it metaphorical? And if so, of what is it a metaphor? Continue reading →

POSTMILLENNIALISM AND THE MILLENNIUM (3)

Uncategorized June 9, 2023 Comments: 5

Christ vs SatanPMW 2023-046 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the third and final installment in this three-part series. If you want anymore installments, you will have to write them yourself. I am weary because I have been up late worrying about next week. I told me wife that I finally decided that I want to be cremated. She immediately went out and got me an appointment for next Tuesday. How do I get in these messes? [1]

CHRIST AND THE POSTMILLENNIAL HOPE

In Christ’s earthly ministry we witness the coming of the prophesied kingdom. For instance, in Mark 1:15 we hear the Lord himself proclaim: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Thus, not only does he declare that “the” time is fulfilled (the prophetically-expected time) and that the “kingdom of God is at hand,” but he also associates it with the proclamation of the gospel. Later in Matthew 12:28 we read him state: “if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Continue reading →

POSTMILLENNIALISM AND THE MILLENNIUM (2)

Millennium, Optimism June 6, 2023 Comments: 21

Glorious sunrisePMW 2023-045 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is part 2 in a three-part series on Postmillennialism and the Millennium. We are now at the place where we must define what we mean by “postmillennialism.”

So now: What is the postmillennial outlook? Why is it called post-millennial? And what are its expectations?

Postmillennialism teaches that Christ will return to earth after a long era of gospel progress and worldwide righteousness. As the gospel wins greater influence the world will witness a long era of social stability, economic development, and international peace. The basic structure of the postmillennial hope is as follows:

First, Christ came into the world in the first century and established his kingdom, the Messianic kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament. We are in that kingdom now (the “millennium,” if you will) (Luke 17:20–21; Col 1:13).

Second, he confronted and defeated Satan while on earth, through his ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Satan is bound from deceiving the nations, so that they are open to the power of the gospel (Matt 12:28–29; Rev 20:3).

Third, he gave the marching orders for his kingdom in the “Great Commission.” This commission is great because it is established on his grant of “all authority,” he command to “make disciples of all the nations,” his directive for us to teach the nations “all that I commanded you,” and his promise that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” to get it done (Matt 28:18–20).

Fourth, he promised to bless his kingdom with growth, likening it to a mustard seed that begins incredibly small but results in a tree that dominates the garden; and comparing it to leaven that leavens the entire bushel (Matt 13:31–33).
Continue reading →

POSTMILLENNIALISM AND THE MILLENNIUM (1)

Millennium June 2, 2023 Comments: 5

John on PatmosPMW 2023-044 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

INTRODUCTION

Postmillennialism and amillennialism are closely related. In fact, they are both “post” millennial in that they believe the current age (the Church Age, if you will) is the “millennium,” and that Christ will return “post” (after) the millennium.

Both Post- and Amillennialists note that the “thousand year” reign of Christ occurs in only one passage in Scripture, Revelation 20:1–6. We further observe that it appears in the most symbolic book in all of Scripture. In Revelation we see a seven-headed beast, fire-breathing horses, locusts with the faces of men and the teeth of lions, a woman standing on the moon, and many more symbolic features. Consequently, we prefer that eschatological discussion begin elsewhere in more didactic portions of Scripture, and that it be controlled by passages other than the apocalyptically-charged, highly-wrought symbolic images in Revelation.
Continue reading →

WHERE’S THE BEEF?

Uncategorized May 30, 2023 Comments: 6

PMW 2023-043 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

PLEASE NOTE: I accidentally posted this article on 4/26/23 before it was complete. Here is the full article I was working on.

A reader’s question:

A reader, Nathan Radcliffe, responded to my posting of Andrew Sandlin’s article “DeMar’s Hidden Views”:

“Where’s the link to the clip Nathan Anderson provided in which Gary denies the future physical resurrection?”

My reply:

The clip is here (at 1:29 mark): https://hyperpreterism.substack.com/p/gary-demar-denies-the-resurrection

Here is Gary’s mocking the historic Christian position on the matter as he derisively interacts with the idea of a future, physical resurrection.

Continue reading →

SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION AT DEATH?

Uncategorized May 26, 2023 Comments: 7

PMW 2023-042 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Spirit bodies

In the universal, historic Christian faith, we have long believed in an intermediate state. That is, the state of existence that we experience immediately upon death and prior to the distant physical resurrection at the end of history. In certain forms of Hyperpreterism, as has been recently so vigorously promoted, there is no intermediate state: you die, are given a spiritual “resurrection” body, and you live in heaven forever.

Another reason many Hyperpreterists deny an intermediate estate is because this system also lacks a consummation. In this unorthodox theology’s view, history continues forever. This is necessarily so since (they believe) all biblical prophecy has been fulfilled in the first century at the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

Consequently, what we are now experiencing — prevailing sin, rebellion against God, the decay of all physical systems, and physical death in history, all which occur in the present operational universe — will continue occurring in history forever and ever and ever and ever. (We are not speaking of the cessation of the eternal, conscious torment experienced under God’s righteous judgment, which is endured by unbelieving sinners while forever constrained in and confined to hell. Hell is a place we cannot access from within the objective universe and which, therefore, cannot impact history or threaten God’s people.) Continue reading →