Visitors of the BibelCenter website will have noticed that I have not written any English studies for a while, and that in particular there have been no studies on the topic of "eschatology / prophecy". Some may have wondered about this. I would like to address this briefly in this preface to the "Eschatology" section of the page with biblical studies and arcticels with this personal note. There have been several points and concerns which I have had over a number of years in regards to this topic. Furthermore, I am not ashamed to admit that my previous understanding of the scriptures about the so-called "second coming" and return of the Lord and all related events has been rather unsatisfactory to me.
Sure, I know many or most of the doctrines and teachings propagated in Christian circles about the return or coming of the Lord, and I have for many years taught that all these events are still in our future, as most of Christianity teaches. However, for many years it has bugged me and I have not had an answer to explain how the coming of the Lord and all those related events are to be still future now when throughout all the NT scriptures we are given the impression in rather clear words that the Lord would come "soon" and those things would happen "in this generation", and that not all those believers would die before the coming of the Lord, etc... and yet the vast majority of Christians (including me over many years) believe that all that did not happen as of yet and that the coming of the Lord is still in the future?
It's interesting and somewhat perplexing that those Christians who believe in a yet and still future coming and return of the Lord also believe that the early Christians in the first century AD believed in an imminent return of the Lord even in their lifetime. Only, what happened? How can it be that those Christians then were correct in their believing, and yet what they believed did not come to pass? Isn't it remarkable that the teachers of a yet future coming of the Lord really never answer this question but rather ignore it or contradict themselves? I am no longer satisfied to continue to do so. If I want to believe and teach that the coming of the Lord is still a yet future event, and on the other hand admit that we are taught in the NT that the believers then were taught and believed that the coming of the Lord was imminent and would happen before some of them died, then I should have an explanation how such contradictory ideas can both be true and in harmony with each other. It cannot be that both are true ... except, something happened then which drastically changed the situation and subsequently changed the revelation that had been given to and taught by Jesus and his apostles. But, is that the case?
On the other hand, could it be that the apparent contradiction between what we read in the NT scriptures about their expectation of an imminent return of the Lord and the generally accepted teaching of today that the return of the Lord did not happen in almost 2000 years and is still future has its roots in a wrong understanding? If so, what is being wrongly understood? Do we not understand correctly those sections of the Scriptures which seem to teach that the coming of the Lord is still future? Or do we not understand those sections of the scriptures which seem to teach that the coming of the Lord was to happen "soon", "in this [the then living] generation", during the 1st century AD?
I too consider myself to be in the postition of one who is searching and seeking to correctly understand the word of truth and to correctly teach it. I will publish some studies about certain aspects of this topic here in the near future, hopefully in a clear and easy to understand way, so that readers can get a clear picture of what the writers of those sections of Scripture may or must have meant. Then it is up to the readers to check and search the Scriptures in order to evaluate what I have written and after careful consideration of the material arrive at their own conclusions and understanding.
These studies and articles are therefore not "doctrinal dessertations" and are not meant to be a sermon or teaching in which a conviction is set forth; rather, these studies are part of my personal research of the topic in which others can take part via these articles. Sometimes there may be more questions than answers, sometimes answers will become evident from the questions asked, sometimes question may remain open ... It is no shame to not know something and to have unanswered questions. I would deem it better to have an unanswered question and to continue to carefully search for a logical and conclusive answer than to be satisfied with an illogical or even unreasonable "answer" when the opportunity presented itself to learn more and correct one's misunderstanding.
Interested readers who would like to contact me concerning any of the points set forth in these articles and studies, can do so by e-mail ... contact the BibelCenter editor
Please note
During my studies, I have found much helpful material on various websites which are concerned with "preterism" (for example: "The Preterist Archive") or where authors have written and published articles on biblical topics from a preterist perspective (for example "Devoted to Truth"). Due to the similar nature of the topic and perhaps similar general approaches to interpreting the Bible, passages of my studies may be similar to other passages in other sources. If there are direct refences, quotes, etc., I have noted these with source; where the same interpretation is arrived at and/or a similar method of interpretation is used, I trust that no copyright violations have occurred.