Doomsday Eve or I Predict May 22nd

Hey it is May 20, 2011 or Doomsday Eve according to 89 year old Harold Camping. I tried to recall today how many times in my life I have heard predictions of the rapture or Judgment Day and those predictions have been wrong, but for the life of me I could not get a number because there were so many to remember. I know one thing though everyone of them has been wrong.

In part, people keep doing this because everyone wants to know when and it is desire that causes people to have some whacked out interpretations of Scripture to justify their belief in setting dates. WeCanKnow.com is a great one for this May 21st, 2011 thing and if you scroll to the bottom they will give an explanation that some can know because they are not caught unawares like other Christians by the thief in the night. So lets add another motive to these people. Spiritual pride, they can't be wrong and they are more spiritual than the rest of us Christians.

My response to this is very simple. There is a great leap of logic from saying some will not be caught unawares to setting a date. The watchman on a wall is not caught unawares, not because he knows the date of the enemies coming but because he stays alert at ALL TIMES. There is a great difference between this and coming to the wall when on the day you have determined that the thief is coming.

The final thing to say is Matthew 24:36 - "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." What still boggles my mind is how many date setters ignore this. On the We Can Know website there is no mention of this verse. I know I looked and if your going to make such a claim you better have this verse up there to explain it away to prove your point, and low and behold, it is not on the homepage at all.

For me the open theist, I do not sweat this stuff anymore. Mostly because I don't believe prophecy works like a crystal ball. I also take 2 Peter 3:12 seriously about 'hastening the coming of the day of the Lord". In short God does not have a calender in heaven with doomsday circled. He is watching things relationally and the day will come simple when he decides the time is right and some things are not in his control like how humans react. Like a farmer watching his crops he will wait till all is ready and all have had a chance to reject him or accept him and he sees no other options for people to be saved then he will send Christ. He is looking for a situation, not a day. There is something Peter says we should be doing and none of it has to do with setting a date and sitting in room and waiting for his return. "Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless." (2 Peter 3:13). That's everyday, not just the day before you think he is coming

It is also interesting to note 2 Peter 2 is entirely about false prophets which Peter condemns in the harshest language. Basically if you look at Deuteronomy 13 and 18 the tests for a prophet there are two things that make one a false one: 1) what he predicts does not come to pass or 2) he counsels the people to worship idols, he is to be put to death. Can't really do that these days but we should treat Mr. Camping as if he was dead because he has done this one before predicting Jesus' return on September 6, 1994. He was wrong so why anyone is giving him credence this time around is beyond me.

One thing that has been fun to watch is the entrepreneurs who will be the only real winners on this one with all the bumper stickers, t-shirts and other stuff with 'May 21, 2011 Judgment Day' on them. I predict that on May 22nd they will be laughing their way to the bank and only regretting that the day came so they can't make more money.

OK. Here is the throw down: Mr. Camping predicts that Jesus is rapturing the saints on May 21, 2011. I predict that the sun will rise on May 22nd, 2011 and nothing will have happened. Let's see who the real prophet is.

Marriage and the Bible - Part 34 - Paul's Image of Christ and His Bride

As we switch to Paul one thing seems to stand above everything else in Paul's understanding of marriage. That being that ultimately marriage is supposed to be a reflection of some thing higher: Christ and His Church. The best place to see this is Ephesians 5:22-33 as not only is the imagery of Christ and his bride used it is practically applied to the marriage between a man and woman in this world.

Paul's presents marriage as something that is supposed to be a witness of what the relationship between Christ and his bride is. In other words, the way we live our married lives as Christians is supposed to be a reflection of the relationship that is also supposed to exist in Christ's marriage to his bride the church.

Christ is the groom and in ancient eastern societies that meant the center of attention. In our culture, the bride is the center of attention but not in the east, the groom takes center stage. In addition, husbands are reminded to act like Christ does toward his bride. Love being the centerpiece word. Self sacrificing for her, cherishing her, to love his wife like himself as his own body. Christ is to be reflected by the man in marriage.

The Church is the Bride and in eastern societies the issue for women was humbleness before their husband and that leads to a couple words: respect and obedience. Now it must be noted that neither of these things can be forced on a woman, she must choose to do them for her to fulfill this. So a man thumping his chest and telling his wife to obey is a waste and violates the image of Christ a man is supposed to uphold. The real issue for women is that they are to act toward their husbands the way the church is supposed to act toward Christ. The church is supposed to respect and obey Christ. Both are choices a woman must make based on how committed she is to her marriage, husband and ultimately Christ.

Colossians 3:18-19 hits the same practical advice but without the detailed imagery and it is shorter and to the point.

Now, this does have some impact of the issue of marriage and it is not small. In a very real way Paul is basing this on Jesus' one flesh teaching and that means the idea of Jesus leaving his bride or the bride leaving Christ does not compute with Paul although we will see later he does have some views on divorce that seem to contradict Jesus.

Some have stated that this puts an end to polygamy. Not really, 1) it does not directly say that and 2) if Jesus has other peoples on other worlds that he has redeemed or vindicated, would those peoples be other brides or all part of the same one? Sorry, at that point we can only speculate. We need to also remember this is analogy and all analogies break down at some point or another including ones from the Bible.

Next: Paul on Divorce and Polygamy

Theology for Dummies - Eschatology

Eschatology - the part of theology that is concerned with the end times and includes the issues of death, final judgment and future history.

Yipe! I do not even want to guess how many theories and ideas are out there when it comes to eschatology. It seems that the more speculative a branch of theology is the more sure people are that their opinions are true. Right now the theories of the end of the world abound from tomorrow to next year (2012) to whenever. There always seems to be some nut on the street corner with a 'the end is near' sign.

However, in theology this is part of the discussion and it also includes doctrines such as heaven, hell and final judgment as well. If it involves the future and the Scriptures, it is eschatology. Just keep your head down when you ask opinions about all of the above.

Time lines abound for the end times and the discussion about final judgment includes such things a purgatory, hell, heaven, the nature of the soul after death. Is the final judgment annihilation or permanent torment by fire. The discussion goes on and on and on.

Here though is the real kicker: nobody but God himself probably knows anything about this and he does not really say much but: "keep you nose clean, do what I tell you and wait till I return". Bottom line this is the only real motivation of even looking at the subject of eschatology: one of expectation, hope and facing the final mystery.

Next: Anthropology

The Book of Revelation - Part 24 - The Whore

Revelation 17 describes Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations on the Earth. While many debate even today who this is I think the people in the seven churches would have known very quickly who this is -- it is Rome. Now I am also going to say it is Rome of the time the book was written not necessarily the Catholic church of today as some have interpreted this passage.

The reason I say this vision and perhaps the whole of Revelation needs to be kept in its first century context is that there is no evidence that it should be applied to any other time period. This woman is symbolic of all Rome stood for at the time and the symbolism is obvious:

1. Scarlet and Purple: Religious and Political power.
2. Rich, powerful and drunk with the blood of saints
3. Seven mountains -- seven hill of Rome.
4. Fornication with every nation on earth. Fornication and the idea of idolatry go hand in hand and it is well known that Rome would accept any worship of any god so long as it promoted the prosperity of the Empire.

I could go on but the fact is the vision practically stumbles all over itself in giving us the identity without saying the simple name - Rome.

One of the interesting things I saw was verse 10 where it talks about seven kings: five who were, one who was and one who was to come. The one who was to come was to remain only a little while.

It has been long held by scholars that the book of Revelation was written during the reign of Domitian under which some of the most heavy brutal persecution of Jews and Christians took place. Domitian revived Imperial veneration and unless a person worshiped he Emperor, they would be killed. For both the Jews and Christians this was a losing proposition.

Before Domitian there were indeed five emperors of note: the four emperors in one year (AD 69): Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. This was caused by the turmoil that followed Nero's death. Vespasian ruled Rome until AD 79 and then his son Titus ruled but was killed in a plague that struck Rome in AD 81. That's when Domitian, who was also the son of Vespasian, took over. When Domitian is assassinated by court officials in AD 96, Nerva takes over but he indeed only 'lasts a little while' and dies in AD 98.

This history fits very well to what is being talked about here in Revelation 17. I suppose other things could fit, but if you look at it from the first century saint's perspective this is a very likely scenario for understanding this vision.

This possibility for the first time offers up an interpretation of Revelation completely grounded in the first century and leads to a possibility that some of these visions are not about future events but symbolic descriptions of past ones.

Another thing this also may do it point to Revelation being a) a prophecy that did not come true because of changing conditions (Nerva's reign is characterized by doing the exact opposite of Domitian and that included an end to persecution of Jews and Christians) or b) does not have the whole world as we understand it as it's focus. Perhaps, only the first century saint's understanding of 'whole world' is meant which would have been the Roman Empire and that which lies just outside it. In any case, this would localize all the plagues of God's wrath and change the interpretation of Revelation entirely.

Next: The Fall of the Whore

The Naked Truth: The Secret to Motivation in Health and Fitness

Most people struggle to stay motivated in any fitness endeavor. When people visit Bodybuilding.com or other sites like it there is always a thing called a motivation gage and people can input what their motivation level is on a scale of 1-10. Mine very rarely drops below 8. It hovers at 9 and hits a regular 10 all the time. I have been asked by some how do I do that.

I wish it could be some psyche-out thing I learned or some mental trick there is I do, but the real truth is I get naked on a regular basis in front of the bathroom mirror. For a while I even thought I was nuts, until I read Jack LaLanne's book called Live Young Forever and guess what he considered to be the number one motivation technique he had ever heard of and knew that it worked? That's right, go to the bathroom, lock the door, take off all your clothes and take a long look in the mirror and then get mad at what you see. Ever time you even feel your motivation slipping, go to the bathroom, lock the door...well you get the idea.

Ultimately the best tool in fitness motivation is not a bathroom scale or body fat calipers, but a mirror. Accountability helps but our human perception has an instinctive understanding when we look at the human body whether it is healthy or not and that includes our own. Ultimately, motivation comes from facing the truth in a mirror and not as James says we do so often:"forgetting what we see". It is facing the truth of what we see that ultimately motivates us to change anything and our bodies are no different.

Now body image is a big concern here as most women and some men still see themselves as fatter than they are and people can a very twisted fun house mirror image of themselves. That aside though, the quest to make your body look good in that mirror motivates like nothing else and that is why it still remains a potent part of any person's focus and motivation in reaching their fitness goals.

That is the naked truth.

Marriage and the Bible - Part 33 - Jesus and Other Marriage Issues

Outside divorce Jesus is not silent. In fact some of the things Jesus hints at can shed some light on other things involving marriage.

1. The Necessity of Marriage:
In Matthew 19 after Jesus gives his teaching on divorce, one of the disciples comments that it would then be better for a man not to marry. Jesus comments that not everyone can accept this statement. He is not saying it is not possible but that only those who can handle celibacy should not get married. Some men are that way from birth, others are made that way by men and others by God, but not everyone can accept this idea. Marriage stays, because honestly without it there would be no sex or children born within the proper boundary God has set. Only marriage can protect these so nothing sinful happens. Without the law of marriage, the legal side, things get real ugly.

2. Marriage as Part of this World, but Not the One to Come:
In Matthew, Mark and Luke all have Jesus being confronted by the Sadducees with the question about the woman who was married to seven brothers (one at a time). Jesus realizes the question is really about the resurrection, but his statement: "There is neither marriage or giving in marriage, but all are as the angels of heaven" have lead some to believe that God will end marriage and the whole male-female equation. In am not sure we can go that far with Jesus' statement because I don't think Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall were 'married' in the sense that the conversation between Jesus and the Sadducees indicates. They were one flesh. Marriage contracts and customs result from sin ultimately and so it is in my mind still possible that relationships of this sort could be possible in the hereafter. Sure there are a lot of questions with multiple partners in life, but that is why we say - 'till death do us part'. Jesus seems to indicate by saying: because they cannot die' that marriage is ultimately nullified in glory because of immortality; but this does not indicate that there is no longer male and female or relationships of some sort between the two.

3. Marriage as a Matter of Society and Custom:
The woman at the well indicates something else. Jesus remarks that she had five husbands and the guy she was living with now was not her husband. The indication is that she was still having sex with the guy but she was not married to him. Marriage cannot simply be copulation based on this passage. There is something more to it than sexual joining. There must it seem also be an acknowledgement by the society and culture that two people are married. You can see the divorce law in action here, but the interesting thing to me is that you can indeed live with two different partners but one you are considered married to because society says you are married and the other you are not because society says your not. In some way then, the acknowledgement of mankind over a couple as to their state of marriage does factor in. Sure, it muddies the waters of the discussion but it is there.

Next: Paul: Bride and Groom / Church and Jesus.

Theology for Dummies - Ecclesiology

ecclesia - 'congregation, church'
ology - 'study of'

Ecclesiology is the theological study of the church and subjects can include everything from how the church started, it relationship to Jesus Christ, leadership, role in salvation and its final destiny.

In many cases, the reasons there are denominations in Christianity is differences in ecclesiology. Sometimes it is about governing structure: Congregational (rule by the congregation), Episcopal (Rule by bishops) or Presbyterian (Rule by elected presbyters), etc. Other times it can be about the churches role in salvation which is the chief dividing line between Catholics and Protestants.

The other subjects are not so much dividing points of disagreement as they are philosophical and theological understandings. These can lead to division as well but are more likely effect an individual's perception of them self inside the church.

When we are talking about ecclesiology we are talking about the church in some way or another.

Next: Eschatology