Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Feb/75

Contributor - Henry Van Essen

Title - Eschatology - Teachings about that which is yet to come

Topic - Eschatology

MEANING OF THE TERM

You may never have come across the word "eschatology" and yet have heard about the second coming of the Lord, about prophecies being fulfilled with regard to Israel. Eschatology gathers together everything that is taught concerning the last days, the end time. In the New Testament the Greek word "eschatos" is found 46 times when meaning "last", as in Matthew 19: 30, "But many that are first will be last, and the last first." It is however, from such expressions as "the last day" (John 6: 39, 40, 44, and other places), and "the last days" (Acts 2 : 17, 2 Timothy 3 : 1, Hebr. 1 : 2 and other places) and "the last time" (1 John 2: 18, Jude 18) that the term "eschatology" takes its meaning: teaching about that which is yet to come, according to the Scriptures. Eschatology may therefore deal with a whole range of subjects. Usually however such subjects as the millennium (thousand year reign by Christ on earth), the second coming of Christ the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the rapture (being caught up with Christ in the air) stand out; while the Bible books of Daniel and the Revelation to John play important roles.

ESCHATOLOGY AND THE REFORMED CHURCHES

It is a fact that most reformed Christians know little about eschatology. Even our doctrinal standards say very little about it. The Heidelberg Catechism asks (Q. 52) "What comfort(!) does the return of Christ 'to judge the living and the dead' give you?" Only the comfort of it is important, nothing is said about the "how" or "when".

The Belgic Confession in Article 37 confesses: "Lastly, we believe,, according to the Word of God, that when the time, ordained by the Lord, will have come (a time unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect will be fulfilled, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly as he went to heaven (Acts 1 : 11) with great glory and majesty, to declare himself a judge over the living and the dead, burning this old world with fire and flame to purify it. And then all men who have been from the beginning of the world to its end, will personally appear 'before this great judge, men, women, and children, summoned with the Archangel's call and with the sound of the trumpet of God (I Thessalonians 4: 16). For all the dead will rise from the earth, the soul joined and united with its own body in which it lived. As for those still living, they shall not die as the others, but be changed in a moment and from mortality become immortal. Then the books (that is, the consciences) will be opened and the dead be judged (Revelation 20 : 12) according to what they shall have done in this world, be it good or evil (II Corinthians 5 : 10), I tell you, on the day of judgement men will render account for every careless word they have uttered (Matthew 12: 36), the utterance of which the world but regards as child's play and amusement; and then the secrets and pretentions of men's hearts will be publicly uncovered before all. For this reason, the thought of this judgement for the wicked and ungodly is justly dreadful and awful and for the godly and the elect very desirable and comforting, because then their complete redemption will be fulfilled and they will receive the fruits of the labor and the troubles they have borne. Their innocence will become known to all and they will see the dreadful vengeance God wil execute on the ungodly who have tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world. These will be convicted by the testimony of their own consciences and become immortal but in such a manner that it will be an immortality of pain of the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25 :41). Contrariwise, the believers and the elect will be crowned with glory and honour. The Son of God will acknowledge their name before God the Father (Matthew 10 :32) and the elect angels, every tear will be wiped from their eyes (Revelation 21:4), their cause, which is now condemned by many judges and authorities as heretical and godless, will then become known as the cause of the Son of God. And for a gracious reward the Lord will give them such a possession of glory as never entered into the heart of man. We therefore look forward to the great day with a great longing to enjoy to the full the promises of God in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Liturgy and Psalms, R.C.A., 1968, pp. 457, 458).

Living at a time in which Christians from various quarters have become "experts" in expounding the structures and even timetables of the prophecies of Scripture whereby they are able to tell us precisely how everything is taking place and will happen from the Present until the final completion (I Corinthians 15 : 28), we may well ask why in the past so little attention was given to eschatology in Reformed Churches. The following reasons may be considered.

1. Bishop Augustine

Since emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire encouraged the Christian religion from 312 A.D. onward, there came about the so called Augustinian view of the millennium, which, by the way, is only mentioned in the Bible in one place, Revelation 20: 4 (see also vss. 2 & 3). Bishop Augustine (354-430, A.D.) saw the millennium as the time between Pentecost and the return of Christ. The Church would get more and more influence, the nations and peoples would become more and more Christianized and civilized. This view is still held to some extent, (un)knowingly, by many people today. Maybe the world is not getting more Christianized, although in Indonesia and in Africa it is a different story; yet many believe that there will not be a separate millennium.

2. Jan Van Leiden

That does not mean that the idea of millennium was never advanced. All through church history there have been groups expecting a sudden return of Christ and the coming of His thousand year reign - but the Reformers rejected the millennium as a reality on this earth, particularly after the Anabaptists (the "rebaptizers", who re-baptized those baptized in infancy, after they "came to faith"), "established" Christ's Kingdom on earth in the German town of Munster with the Dutch baker Jan van Leiden as their spiritual and temporal leader. All those not (re)baptized in this city were given the choice to either be (re)baptized or to get out. The result was that "only" born-again believers were left, no more sinners were there, it was heaven-on-earth, no more sin. Therefore you could do what you wanted, since you were not a sinner, and since sin was removed. Needless to say this sensual and mad interpretation of the millennium turned-off most Christians.

3. Inward Salvation

Another reason for neglect of eschatology is found in the theology of Methodism and pietism. Here the interest was overwhelmingly directed towards the inner life of the believer. The emphasis was on the salvation of the soul. The outward things were of no importance. Actually it was a sort of dualism, that is to say, that the spiritual was good but the material was bad. The soul was good, the body evil. Thus the soul/spirit had to fight against the body. (Here we find the Victorian conviction that sex is evil.) As a result of this dualism the interest in creation, in society, in history, in the cosmos, went down. Who cared about this world, as long as souls were saved? Who then cared for a thousand year reign by Christ on this earth? Or who cared about all kinds of prophecies finding fulfillment in history? This dualism, of course, is unbiblical. God saw the whole creation at the end of the sixth day, and it was very good. Man is created body and soul - and the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that not only our souls, but also our bodies are to be saved! Yet this pietistic thinking also had much influence in Reformed circles, also in The Netherlands (Reveille, Bilderdijk, the separated churches under Scholte, VanRaalte, a.o., 1820 onwards).

4. The Enlightenment

Another development in Western Europe led basically to the same result as far as the millennium was concerned, but from a different starting point. The Enlightenment was a cultural movement. The philosopher Immanuel Kant defined it as follows, "Enlightenment is the escape of man out of his '-being-under-age" which he is through his own fault. Being-under-age (Unmilndigkeit) is the inability to use Your intellect without being led by someone else. It is man's own fault when this happens, not because of lack of intellect, but because of lack of courage and decisiveness, to use it independently. "Have the courage to direct your intellect" is therefore the slogan of the Enlightenment.

The tremendous advance of the knowledge of man himself and of his world made it possible to explain many matters and happenings formerly unexplainable. And as a result much superstition was destroyed - but at the same time the literal understanding of the New Testament began to be questioned, the belief in a literal devil disappeared, while the anti-christ and the, Book of Revelation were also seen as primitive thinking. Through the Enlightenment there came an understanding of man as basically a higher intellectual being, who held his own destiny in his hands. God has created the universe with all its laws, has set it all in motion, and is now watching it run much like a clock-work. Man can observe and enjoy, and live, but God remains in His heaven, and man on earth. All such thinking can be summed up in the term "Deism". It will be clear that in such thinking there would be little room for a literal, bod"yl return of Christ, a millennium, or a physical resurrection. This thinking influenced the Reformed Churches quite heavily.

5. Sects and Movements

Another reason for shyness of the Reformed Churches towards eschatology are the various sects and movements which have appeared since approximately 1870, and who often have strange and/ or unbiblical teachings, considered in disagreement with basic Reformed positions. We may mention here the cults of the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons, and the movements of the Dispensationalists (Plymouth Brethren) and the Seventh Day Adventists.

6. The Church = the new Israel ?

As a last reason I want to mention the theological position often taken in Reformed Churches, that the Old Israel (of the Jews) has ended, and that the new Israel = the N.T. Church (made up out of believers, both Jews and Gentiles) = the Kingdom of God. As a result of this prophecies and statements about the Kingdom of God and about the future are understood to speak of the Church and are spiritualized - we shall have much more to say about this at a later time.

(To be continued)

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.