PART ONE

The week between Christmas and New Year is a time for tidying up loose ends. One of these on the Daily Gazelle is discussion of the Left Behind computer game. The Bible Basher has begun to lay a basis for talking about specific biblical texts by describing some principles of interpretation. But, the questions raised by the Left Behind article need to be tidied; so, since we are still in the season of apocalyptic anticipation, we will use the comments from ‘The Trotter’ as the basis for illustrating some principles of interpretation (in biblical-studies-speak, ‘hermeneutical principles’). The Trotter represents, by his own admission, ‘the Rapture Camp’. This is one way of describing the interpretation of so-called prophecies concerning the end-times from the point of view of ‘Dispensationalism’. [For a definition obviously given by a dispensationalist, see Wikipedia ] It is neither our purpose nor desire to deal with the whole framework of Dispensationalist thought. We shall, rather, address its direct application to the biblical texts.

The Dispensationalist scours the whole Bible for any reference to the end of the world, and then tries to piece these references into a single narrative. This is what we have already described (11 November) as a ‘flat-line’ view of the texts, where each text has equal value, regardless of type of literature or era of writing. The fantastic imagery of the apocalyptic books (Daniel, Revelation, and portions of other books), with their oblique references to historical events, and coded use of numbers, is laid alongside words of the classical prophets, and Gospel narrative, and Pauline letters. Together, the whole is viewed as an esoteric puzzle. The surface meaning is insufficient evidence to understand the Bible; rather, there are hidden meanings which can be revealed with the proper key. This is not far from the Bible Code view of Scripture, where all the mysteries of history can be found by re-arranging the letters of the text. In each of these approaches, what is actually written gives way in priority to the hidden, true meaning.

The Trotter will not likely approve of this characterization; but it is my estimation. This flat-line reading can be seen in his first response to the Left Behind commentary. The Trotter said:

The early church Fathers were mostly pre-millennial (as arguably were the apostles!) - it would be interesting to know what Irenaeus and co. made of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 etc. If not the rapture -what?

The question illustrates a common conflation (confusion) of three different biblical texts or concepts into one. The first alluded to is the ‘millenium’, or the thousand-year period mentioned in Revelation 20:1-7, when Satan is bound in the bottomless pit. The second, as presented in this sentence, is that of the Second Coming, or Advent, of Christ described in 1 Thessalonians 4 (and the Gospels, among others). The third is the ‘Rapture’, which is the concept that started all this conversation.

Trotter illustrates this confusion further in the first sentence of his second post:

The ‘Rapture’ camp cannot allow the Bible Basher to dismiss the whole doctrine as an “enigmatic portion of an enigmatic book.� There is more supporting text. Much more.

If the response from the Editor which preceded this post is read more carefully, it will be seen that we were speaking of the ‘millenium’, and not the Rapture. Let us consider the idea of the ‘millenium’.

In the 19th Century the question as to whether Christ would return after the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20 (the view called post-millenialism), or prior to it (pre-millenialism) raged through Evangelical churches, creating a new source of division to set alongside that of the method of baptism. Post-millenialists were optimistic that the gospel of Jesus could so transform the world that it would usher in a period of peace—a millenium golden age—that would culminate in Christ’s own return. Pre-millenialists rejected this because it ignored the apocalyptic pictures of final destruction. World War I put an end to post-millenial optimism, but not before the test of true Evangelical belief shifted from the saving acts of God in Christ Jesus to redeem a lost world to himself, to whether one held to the proper timing of Christ’s return at some future point.

The early Church Fathers (as the Church leaders of the first three centuries after the Apostles are called), were ‘pre-millenialists’ (an anachronistic characterization) insofar as they believed in the Second Advent of Christ, which would bring the resurrection of the dead who would then live during the Thousand Year period of Satan’s binding. Whether the Apostles saw things this way is open to question—since only John the Seer makes any mention of this event. What all the Apostles speak of is the imminent Presence (Parousia) of Christ, his Second Advent. (It is important to grasp the importance of this idea of Jesus’ second advent as his ‘presence; it is the heart of Christian anticipation—his presence, not judgement.)

What none of these early interpreters did was make any mention of a ‘rapture’ of believers, unless they were referring to Jesus’ Advent, immediately followed by the resurrection of the dead.

The term ‘Rapture’ is derived from the Latin Vulgate translation of the 1 Thess 4:17 phrase, ‘caught up’, as in, ‘We who are left will be caught up in the clouds with them [i.e., the dead in Christ who are resurrected] to meet the Lord in the air’. This idea of being ‘caught up in the air’ is placed together with the other texts the Trotter refers to—Matthew 24:36-44 (‘one shall be taken, the other left behind’) and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (‘we all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet’)—to result in the hybrid concept of ‘The Rapture’. In short, according to this view, believers will suddenly disappear from the face of the earth, gathered somewhere in ‘the air’, leaving behind all unbelievers to face all the calamities of the end of the world (the ‘Great Tribulation’ of Matt 24:21), then to reappear to help mop up the mess. This notion is the invention of Dispensationalism—which arises in the 19th Century.

In summary, Christian belief regarding the coming of Christ, through the centuries, has consistently been that Christ’s second advent is directly related to the great resurrection. As in the prophetic vision of the Great Day of the Lord (Amos, Micah, Isaiah, etc), this is a day of rejoicing for his own people, and a day of judgement for those who have rejected him. This is affirmed in the Creeds.

As such, this is ‘gospel’, good news. Granted, non-Christians—and, particularly anti-Christians—do not consider final judgement to be good news, since the blatant inference is that they will be among those facing judgement. But the focus of judgement is on ‘justice’, not on punishment or revenge. The Day of the Lord spoken of by the Prophets is judgement on those who oppress the poor, the widow, and the orphan; the good news of great joy given to Mary is that the Christ will ‘fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich away empty’; the last war of the Book of Revelation is a vindication of innocent blood shed by the oppressive regime of the Serpent, whose prayers rise constantly like incense before the throne.

It is a response to the cries of Darfur. Though they, and we, cannot see vindication, the Book of Revelation shows us the big picture. Their prayers are constantly before Him. They are powerless in the face of violent men and the hand-wringing of worldly powers, but vindication is certain, and it will be just.

This is a far-cry from the computer game’s conceptualization of God’s purposes.