Post by jaybee on Jul 21, 2016 0:50:09 GMT -8
The following is a rough draft of one of the school papers I am working on. I thought I would post it here before I go to bed. Maybe somebody can pull something interesting to discuss from it if anybody wants to read it. Unfortunately my footnotes do not copy and paste over as well, so those are missing, but I don't think it is too detrimental.
Gaining a Modern Eschatological Understanding From the Book of Acts
Jason Barrett
TH545: Book of Acts
July 20, 2016
Introduction
I believe it necessary to offer some preliminary considerations before diving into the body of this work. First to be addressed, is that upon starting this project I was concerned as to whether or not I could find enough eschatological material to even fill this minor paper. What happened was that I discovered much more material than I could study completely let alone fit within the confines of these pages. Thus, what follows is a limited treatment of only a few select eschatological points from Acts. I lay no claim that this paper even nearly exhausts the possible eschatological material in Acts.
Eschatology, the word comes from the Greek eschatos which means “last,” so eschatology refers to the “doctrine of the last things.” As shown by the various factions established in differing end times doctrine, eschatology is a difficult subject to agree upon. The term perhaps creates this issue because it can easily be assumed that whatever falls under the topic must be one of the last things to happen relative to the absolute end of time. In other words, it can be expected that if a passage is eschatological, then it is speaking of things which will be the last things to ever happen. However, this does not necessarily follow since “last things” can simply refer to what closes out any segment of time, and distinct from first things which would open a new segment of time
This is the understanding with which I write this paper, that while all eschatological material refers to “last things” it does not necessarily mean those last things must be placed at the end of time. There are many last moments to be found across a timeline, the end of a nation, close of an era, and perhaps eventually the end of time. Eschatological passages must be reviewed to know of which end they are referring to, the end of all time or the time of an end. As an amillenial, partial-preterist, I believe most of what is called eschatology does apply to last things, but much of it was related to the last things to happen in an era ending at the destruction of Israel’s temple in 70 AD.
While some passages considered further in this work will help to support my view, I do not suppose to properly defend my base understanding here as that would consume too much space from the topic at hand. I will let it suffice to say that my view can be traced back to at least Tyconius in the fourth-century, and has subsequently been held by many knowledgeable and reputable theologians over the centuries. Thus, I stand on the claim that my eschatological belief is reputable and backed up by many minds much more brilliant than my own.
Eschatology in Acts 1:3-11
Several considerations related to eschatology arise from this passage, the first is a sign of how murky the topic was for even those closest to Christ, the apostles. As Christ is wrapping up teaching his apostles about the things of God’s kingdom and tells them of the things to come, they ask him if he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel at that time. Apparently the apostles were still not clear on how things were to progress despite having followed and been taught by Christ. Thus, eschatology is not a very clear subject for the human mind to grasp, even when presented from Christ’s own mouth.
As it relates to eschatology, it should be noted here that when the confused apostles ask about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel Christ does not affirm that physical Israel will ever have a kingdom restored to it. Christ’s words simply redirect the apostles’ attention to what he wants them to focus on, the coming anointing of the Holy Spirit and their mission as witnesses. In his redirection, it could be said that Christ is making a subtle eschatological statement by replacing the apostles concern with Israel with concern for their mission to the entire world.
The second consideration to be taken here is the prophesied, and subsequently fulfilled, arrival of the Holy Spirit, marking the start of a new age. While the Spirit’s arrival to make Christ’s apostles his empowered witnesses to the end of the world signifies a new age, the apostles as empowered witnesses under the influence of the Holy Spirit is also a sign of the end of an age.
In Matthew’s Gospel, worded for a Jewish-Christian audience, the temple destruction in 70 AD is prophesied by Christ. Matthew tells us that the apostles accompanying Christ recognize the temple destruction as the “end of the age” and ask for the signs portending its coming. Christ tells them that one of the signs that the end of the age, marked by the temple destruction, is coming is that they will be his witnesses under the guidance of the Spirit.
Putting this single event of empowered witness by the apostles into its two contexts, what Acts reveals in the prophesied and fulfilled coming of the Holy Spirit is the signal that an age is coming to an end and also points to a new age that has begun. Thus, there is an overlap of ages as one is on its way out and another is on its way in, both with the same sign. In other words, one signal – Spirit empowered apostles as witnesses – relates to two ages, a starting one and an ending one, so both ages must be running concurrently at the time of the sign.
One more consideration presents itself in this passage of Acts, and that is the extent to which the apostles would witness. The Spirit empowered witness of the disciples which is a simultaneously closing and opening act for two ages is to reach the ends of the world according to Luke and the entire inhabited earth according to Matthew. And according to Matthew’s telling this must be accomplished before the temple is destroyed.
There is a dilemma presented in this wording, and that is that the temple was destroyed and obviously the gospel had not gone out to every person on the face of the earth, or to the ends of the earth. This means that either Christ’s prophecy was wrong, or there is another way to understand what these exaggerated regional references meant.
To help in determining what is meant by Matthew’s phrasing referring to the entire population and Luke’s phrasing speaking of the end of the earth, other types of regional claims can be looked at. In just the next chapter in Acts, the same type of geographical exaggeration is also found in Acts 2:5, where it is claimed that Jews are present in Jerusalem from “every nation under heaven.” Obviously there were not Jews from literally every nation in the globe in Jerusalem, and the words of Luke are to then be presumed as hyperbolic. Such exaggeration is a common communication style among Semitic people.
The regional exaggeration in Acts 2 obviously means that there simply were Jews from many nations present. Given that the temple was destroyed as predicted, this means for Christ to be truthful his claim that his apostles would preach to the entire population must have been fulfilled. This does not pose a problem when one understands Semitic hyperbole, and the reference to the entire population really referred to a significant number of people. This then translates to the parallel wording by Luke regarding the ends of the earth, and means that the task would really be accomplished by reaching some significant geographical portion.
That the hyperbole is not literally fulfilled does not make it a lie. One must merely understand the idioms of the day. These occasions of hyperbole can no more be understood to be a lie than a wife complaining that her husband “always” leaves his shoes in the middle of the living room, when truly she simply means a great deal of the time. After a hard sales day, a phone salesman might make the claim he called half the country trying to close a sale. He is not lying because he is not trying to be factual, but is expressing by hyperbole how many people it felt he talked to. Going back to the idea of preaching to the entire population to the ends of the earth, given the number of people the apostles preached to and the time they spent travelling, the same might be said for them. Prophetically it could be said it was being expressed how far and to how many people the apostles would feel they reached.
To summarize these points from Acts 1, they are speaking to events in a new age – the coming of the Spirit, empowerment to witness, and spreading the gospel to the end of the earth – but also reflect events foretold in the Olivet Discourse as ones which would happen at the end of an age marked by the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Thus, the end of an age and the beginning of an age are overlapping, and these signs are only “last things” as they relate to preceding the final time of the ending age. Additionally, hyperbolic eschatological statements must not be taken literally.
Eschatology in the Geography of Acts
At this time, it would make sense to briefly review the overall eschatological picture the entire book of Acts paints. Already touched on was the sequence of witnessing recorded in Acts 1:8. Christ tells his apostles that they will move from Jerusalem, into Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Demonstrating eschatological fulfillment, Luke structures the book of Acts to prove that exactly this order was fulfilled.
Eschatology in the Recorded Conflict in Acts
In Acts, Luke frequently records conflict between the accepting and rejecting of the gospel message. One thread of conflict Luke traces is with the Jews who are rejecting the gospel en masse. This thread can be traced several places including Acts 13:46-47, 18:6-7, and ultimately shown to come to a head in 28:25-28. The eschatological aspect to this is the continued and final demonstration of writing off of the Jewish nation as recipients of the gospel.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Luke weaves a thread of Jewish national rejection into his historiography since one of his sources is Mark’s Gospel material. Mark 11:12-14 records Christ cursing a fig tree representative of the nation of Israel. Christ’s curse is that the nation of Israel will not bear fruit ever again. Luke does not include Mark’s fig tree material in his gospel, but rather utilizes other ways of expressing the same cutting off of Israel, such as this thread of Jewish rejection running through Acts.
The train of thought in Acts regarding the rejection of the Jews – beginning with Christ’s refocusing away from the kingdom of Israel, referenced in a previous section, to closing his work with the Jews walking away rejected one more time – is important eschatological insight. It reinforces the final rejection of corporate Israel in the last days of the ending age, and speaks to the fact that they will never play a role as God’s people in the new age, which was beginning as the old age was ending. Thus, eschatology for today’s current age should not include a renewal of national Israel as a sign of coming last days.
Eschatology in Acts 2:17
Upon the prophesied arrival of the Holy Spirit, the observing Jews do not seem to know what to make of the display of tongues. Peter explains it to them in perhaps the most blatant eschatological passage to be found in Acts. Peter proclaims that what is happening is because they are in the last days spoke of by Joel. Thus, Peter places his day as the time and fulfillment of Joel’s eschatological prophecy.
It might have been difficult to understand, as one may wonder how Peter could call those the last days when life has carried on for almost two additional millennia now. However, when one considers the overlapping ages demonstrated in the last section, it makes clear how an event occurring at the beginning of a new age can also be spoken of as one of the last events of another age.
This further applies to modern eschatological understandings when believers look to know the which signs will signal the end of this age. Peter proclaimed the words of Joel fulfilled in the last days of an ended age. The result is that today’s eschatological students would not have reason to look for any fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy in the future.
Conclusion
The eschatological material covered in this work touch on several differing aspects of end times thought. The first passage covered demonstrated how difficult the topic was even for the apostles to understand. As well, it demonstrated that things can be both last things and first things at the same time as ages overlap. Finally, consideration of the initial passage established that the language of eschatological things sometimes speaks in hyperbole and does not need a literal fulfillment.
The next section of this project pulled in a point from the previous as it considered the eschatological issue of the gospel’s reach. The Olivet Discourse tells that the gospel necessarily was to reach far before the temple would be destroyed. Christ echoed the reach the apostles would be empowered to make with the gospel, and Luke sets up his book outline to record the fulfillment of the gospel’s journey before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
Next, a thread of conflict recorded in Acts demonstrates that Israel was cut off as a people group to no longer be fruitful for God. With the thread of Israel’s rejection, Luke reinforces the forever curse against the nation as found in Mark’s Gospel, and gives no indication of future hope for the nation as a whole.
Finally, Luke records Peter proclaiming that the day of Pentecost marks the “eschatos” days foretold by Joel. Contextually, the last days Peter spoke within were those of an age ending at the temple destruction. Therefore, the words of Joel are applied by Peter to a now bygone era. Peter was also living in the first days of the current age, but that was not the application of Joel’s timing.
Putting this all together into a single eschatological understanding, one comes up with the following points: (1) Eschatology is a confusing matter; (2) There is more than one set of last days to consider eschatological material to apply to – last days of the age ending in 70 AD, and presumably last days yet to come before the end of time; (3) Signs (events) can overlap ages, simultaneously signaling the close of one and the beginning of another; (4) Not all eschatological prophecy needs to be literally fulfilled as some of it is hyperbole; (5) Luke considers the spread of the gospel relating to the ending of the old age to have been fulfilled, so we have no need to try to fulfill those prophecies to usher in an already completed end; (6) The Jews as a nation have been permanently rejected, so there is no need in modern eschatology to look for a national renewal of Israel; (7) The pouring out of the Spirit as prophesied by Joel applied to the last days of the previous age, therefore no fulfillment of Joel’s words need be expected in last days of the current age.
Bibliography
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