Wednesday 15 November 2017

Thoughts On Preterisms

In the Olivet discourse, Jesus was asked three questions. In the Apostles' minds, all three things may have been thought of us needing to happen together. But did Jesus really answer all three as necessarily happening together? And what does 'happening together' necessarily even mean, in prophetic language? 

Did Jesus' answers really have the type of 'audience relevance' some insist it had? 

Do the so-called 'time-indicating' clauses necessarily indicate the time-frame which some insist they must? 

Did first-century Jews approach prophetic imagery in an always-occurring-altogether sort of way? Did the Apostles even approach prophetic Scripture that way?

Does the grammar itself even necessitate that all things had to happen together? Or are there statements in the text which could serve as bridges spanning two or more time-periods?

What even is a time-period, in Jews' minds, and in prophetic literature, and in the Epistles, and in the mind of God?

To what extent are we willing to redefine already-established concepts (such as the resurrection), in order to make them fit within a timeframe which we insist a certain clause in a passage necessitates?

No comments:

Post a Comment