RE: [asa] Eschatology and soon

Dr, Campbell said:
" As the NT writers were taking
up the idea that it would be "soon" from sources they knew were
centuries old, they would not have been too quick to put a date on
"soon" for things still future."

I think that would be a seriously incorrect deduction. That's like saying the JW's would never propose the end of the world in specific dates, many times wrong, because they new the OT and NT in great detail- even quoting and explaining it in detail. However- the evidence is obvious that JW's made repeated false predictions as to the actual, soon, return of Christ.

Sure- you could dismiss the JW's as crazy... but that sure is a large group of "biblical scholars" to write-off. And it isn't just the JW's giving wrong immediate dates... There's Hal Lindsey, Mormons, etc.

Even today it is common for an evangelist to say to get ready- the rapture could happen today or tomorrow (they would be shocked to think Jesus would tarry another 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, or even million years... and we do have the capability to live on Earth for another million years (and even 2x that) if we keep this place clean and the Lord decides to wait).

...Bernie

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of David Campbell
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 10:25 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] Eschatology and soon

Another line of evidence posing a major problem to the claim that the
whole New Testament church was convinced that the second coming would
occur within a few years is the fact that "soon" is used in OT
apocalyptic as well, notably in Joel. As the NT writers were taking
up the idea that it would be "soon" from sources they knew were
centuries old, they would not have been too quick to put a date on
"soon" for things still future.

--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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