Now that we're out of the covenants, it's time to move on to other items that demonstrate how anyone's position on end times is driven by presuppositions. Our discussion of the covenants (and some reader comments) brought to light how readily many Christians assume...
Eschatology / End Times
Paul, Israel, and the “Israel of God”
Anyone who has read my series on why the *obsession* with eschatology is a waste of time will recall that one of the big issues is what "Israel" means in the epistles -- and especially Paul's works. This issue is central to any view of eschatology. One perspective...
Rapture or Not? Splitting vs. Joining Slide Video
Finally got around to making a short (35 min) video of my slides that I used in Week 2 of my prophecy series at church. The topic is noted in the title to the post. Since the audio of that session did not record, the video for it was not uploaded. This is a "summary...
Seventy Weeks of Daniel (aka, The Pit of Despair)
Remember the albino from The Princess Bride? The guy who was in charge of the pit of despair? That's who I feel like when asked to talk about the seventy weeks of Daniel. It is a quagmire of ambiguity and obtuseness. And yet so many people hang so much on one...
End Times Questions for Left-Behinders, Part 2: How Everyone Cheats on Eschatology
Thanks to Debra for provoking this post earlier than I had thought! 🙂 ANY view of eschatology is about the presuppositions that are brought TO the text. NONE of the views are self-evident ("I just look at my Bible and there it is--Amen!" Aaarrgghh!). How you...
The Meaning of the Total Solar Eclipse
Honestly, this one's easy: It means that a small group of Christians will succeed in making lots of people think all Christians are dimwits. Again. Articles like this one have been appearing for the last week or so as evidence: BLACK MOON: Does solar eclipse fulfill...
If Only Jesus Had Used Starry Night Pro
Well, the blood moon tetrad season is upon us. Woe unto us. In Matthew 24:3 the disciples of Jesus asked him, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" Jesus told them there would be signs, but...
Satirical Music Video Targeting Nibiru 2012 Mythology
One of the members of the Boston-based rock band, Metaphor for Everything, sent me the link to a new single, accompanied by a note that the song was inspired by my Zecharia Sitchin site. Apparently the site convince one of the band members to leave the ancient...
An Eschatological Spasm: McFall's Chronology of the Prophetic Weeks of Daniel
Well, it took the women in ministry issue to drive me back to eschatology :-). Just kidding. I was reading through the blog comments tonight and was prompted to see if I could find an alternate source for Leslie McFall's fascinating article on the chronology of the...
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 12
Before leaving Daniel 9 I wanted to comment on Peter Gentry's very recent article, as well as two others. All three take Daniel 9:24-27 as messianic (i.e., that the anointed one who is cut off is indeed Jesus the Messiah), though they do not take all elements of the...
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 7
The question to address in this post is much simpler than others: Is there any biblical proof that the 70th week of Daniel = the tribulation period? This equation is critical to the pre-trib, premill vide of the rapture. That is, without this equation, that view is...
Understanding the Christian Fundamentalist View of UFOs and Aliens, Part 5
In the last post, we moved into the fourth element to a Christian fundamentalist view of UFOs and aliens (i.e., that UFOs that are not man-made or other natural phenomena are demonic and alleged alien life forms are demonic). The four elements are: 1. Abductee...
Book Review: The New Christian Zionism
Most Christians are interested (and many absorbed) by the topic of the future of Israel and how, in the wake of the New Testament emphasis on the Church as the people of God (Gentiles included), Israel still matters. The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on...
What Lands Were Promised to Abraham and Israel?
Todd Bolen recently posted two excellent summaries of the opposing views of this question on his Bible Places blog. For those interested in eschatology (especially those who think they have all the answers about end times), these posts are *highly* recommended. The...
Eschatology Spasm
I wanted to post this before year's end, but things didn't work out. I plan to append this post to the eschatology archived threads. Came across three articles that (again) point out certain aspects of eschatology that all-too-often assumed rather than thoughtfully...