QUESTIONING GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY (3)

Theology March 29, 2022 Leave a comment

HellPMW 2022-025 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

We have been considering the absolute sovereignty of God in this series on postmillennialism. If one holds to a strong (biblical!) view of God’s sovereignty, then postmillennialism cannot be dismissed out-of-hand by claims that it is to difficult. The only credible argument against postmillennialism can be a biblical argument. But many of the arguments are more emotional than biblical.

In this part of the series I have been considering moral objections to God’s absolute sovereignty. I have been showing that there are other doctrines that Christians hold that are equally objectionable on moral grounds, but which most Christians hold. In this installment I will focus on the doctrine of eternal hell. Continue reading →

QUESTIONING GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY (2)

Theology March 25, 2022 Leave a comment

ExclusivismPMW 2022-024 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In this series I am arguing for the absolute sovereignty of God as a foundation stone for the postmillennial hope. If we believe God is absolutely sovereign we should not discount postmillennialism on the basis of it seeming so difficult.

In my last article I began considering the leading objections to the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty. Many evangelical Christians reject predestination and God’s absolute sovereignty because they are so intellectually difficult to grasp. But I pointed out that Christianity has other equally difficult doctrines, such as the Trinity and the hypostatic union of Christ. Yet, they will gladly affirm these doctrines. Continue reading →

QUESTIONING GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY (1)

Theology March 22, 2022 Leave a comment

Spock logicPMW 2022-023 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In my current series I have been focusing on God’s absolute sovereignty as an important foundation to the postmillennial hope. If we firmly believe God is sovereign over all things, it should not be difficult for us to believe those Scriptures that teach the universal conquest of the gospel. Not all postmillennialists are Calvinists. But they should be!

But now we need to consider objections to God’s sovereignty in predestination. As this series continues, I will present the two leading objections to God’s sovereignty: Continue reading →

DISPENSATIONALISM’S EXALTATION OF RACE

Dispensationalism, Millennium March 18, 2022 Comments: 5

Races of worldPMW 2022-022 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Dispensationalism is the bull in the china shop of biblical eschatology. The door needs to be opened and the bull released from the minds of earnest Christians. This will require an expose into the non-biblical nature of dispensationalism. I am continuing a series on the distortions of theology in the system.

A distinctive feature of dispensationalism is that the Millennial kingdom will be fundamentally Jewish in character, even to the point of rebuilding the temple, setting up David’s tabernacle, re-instituting the Jewish sacrificial system, and exalting the Jews: “This is the point: once Israel is restored to the place of blessing and the tabernacle of David is rebuilt, then will follow the third phase in the plan of God. That period will be the time of the millennium, when the nations will indeed by converted and ruled over by Christ” (House and Ice, Dominion Theology, 169; cp. Pentecost, Things to Come, ch. 30). Continue reading →

LEV 10 AS DIVINE PROHIBITION?

Uncategorized March 15, 2022 1 Comment

PMW 2018-037 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

One of the recurring images of the postmillennial advance of the kingdom in Scripture is of the joy exhibited by use of wine. We see this in Isaiah 25:6; 55:1; Joel 2:19; 2:24; 3:18; Amos 9:13; and Zechariah 10:7.

Unfortunately, there are Christians who oppose any consumption of alcohol (even in moderation) and who therefore miss the beauty of this image. And they have several Scriptures they bring to the debate. One frequently cited passage in Leviticus 10:8–11:

The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die — it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations — and so as to make a distinction between the holy and profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.”

Continue reading →

GOD’S COMMANDMENTS; GOD’S KINGDOM

Ethics, Law March 11, 2022 Leave a comment

PMW 2022-020 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Introduction

Postmillennialism expects a day when “the earth will open up and salvation [will] bear fruit, and righteousness [will] spring up with it” (Isa 45:8). It expects the discipling of the nations to teach all the things Christ taught his disciples (Matt. 28:19), which included the continuing relevance of God’s law (Matt. 5:17–19; cp. Rom. 3:19, 31). This is because the law reflects God’s character which is “holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). Because of this, postmillennialists would do well to learn God’s law and its practical applications.

Learning Deuteronomy well is a good place to start. And the structure of Deuteronomy is helpful for reinforcing and expanding the application of God’s law. Let me explain. Continue reading →

1 COR 15:45 & CHRIST’S RESURRECTION

hyperpreterism, Resurrection March 1, 2022 1 Comment

PMW 2022-017 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A Reader’s Question

Recently a reader wrote to me regarding an article by Sam Frost that I published. He commented:

“Thank you for sharing this! Mr. Gentry, I enjoyed your book Before Jerusalem Fell. As far as ‘full’ and ‘partial’ preterism; I have a lot to learn and am still undecided. If Jesus will literally return in a physical body, could you please explain 1 Cor.15:45 to me?”

Thanks for reading. And for writing. I appreciate your studying God’s word. And I certainly hope and pray that you won’t drift away from historic, orthodox Christianity!

The Interpretive Problem

What does 1 Corinthians 15:45 say that might confuse folks and encourage an aberrant movement? The Mormons love 1 Corinthians 15:29; the hyper-preterists love 1 Corinthians 15:45. This passage reads:

“So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

How are we to understand this? Was Paul teaching us that Christ left his material body behind in becoming a non-material spirit-being? And that we also are to anticipate the same? Not at all! Has the universal, historic, orthodox, public, systematic, corporate church been mistaken since its very beginning? Absolutely not! What then is going on here? Continue reading →