watson@uunet.uu.net (Steve Watson) (10/19/90)
Let me begin by making my bias clear: I am a Christian. I used to be a fundamentalist, but am now a moderate (from what little theology I know, I believe 'neo-orthodox' is the closest term for my approach to Scripture). I DO NOT believe that Biblical prophecy can be used in the way many fundamentalists try to use it: to predict Christ's Second Coming, to read divine purpose into newspaper headlines, etc. (BTW, I believe some OTHER fundamentalists would agree with me on that). The time of the end is a mystery known only to God: it could be RIGHT NOW; or not for another 2000 years. I find that it adds NOTHING to my faith to be expecting the imminent Rapture every time there's another Middle-East crisis: my duty to live a moral life, to share the love of Jesus in word and deed, remains unchanged. (And yes, I HAVE read Hal Lindsey, and I used to believe it too :-( ). And I think I can support my position from Scripture. It would be nice if this sort of eschatology was just the harmless eccentricity of a few American fundies. Unfortunately, the tragedy of last Monday (Oct 8) at Temple Mount shows that it could have serious consequences. In case you haven't heard, some Muslims at the mosques on Temple Mount, hearing a rumour that fanatical Jews were planning to come on to the Mount to lay the cornerstone for the 3rd Temple, started to throw rocks at Jews praying at the Western Wall (last remnant of the 2nd Temple). In the ensuing riot 21 Palestinians were killed by Israeli police. The causes of this particular incident are unclear: the Israeli government claims the rumour was planted by a pro-Iraqi Muslim to cause trouble for Israel and possibly fracture the anti-Iraq alliance. The (some?) Muslims have claimed that it was started because of a demonstration by the Temple Mount Faithful (a group of Jews who really DO want to establish a Jewish presence on Temple Mount) on Monday morning. Whatever the cause, the main lesson is that the whole situation is so volatile that anyone with any influence had better be VERY careful what they do. Now I have heard that the 3rd-temple movement in Israel is being encouraged and even funded by some American fundamentalist groups (because of the belief that the 3rd temple is a necessary pre-condition to the 2nd Coming). This illustrates something that I have said before in this space: that this kind of eschatology attempts to pave over the real issues in the Middle-East, and make the whole thing into a sort of 'eschatology game' in which the people there have no importance in themselves, only as players in one's pet scheme of prophecy. If it could be shown that Christian support for the 3rd temple contributed to Monday's tragedy (or to some future incident of the same kind), then IMO the Christians in question have blood on their hands, and need to seriously examine their beliefs and actions before God. -- ====================== disclaimer =============================== "Blame me, not the Company I keep..." - Steve Watson UseNet: mitel!spock!watson@uunet.uu.net
ldh@bessel.eedsp.gatech.edu (Lonnie D Harvel) (10/22/90)
I find it interesting that many people spend hours trying to figure out when Christ will return. I thought the scriptures were very clear that He would come like a "theif in the night" and that none would know the hour of his coming. There are many tasks which God has set for us to do. And the effort to second guess the return of his Son is not one of them. Lonnie ---------------------------------------------------------------- The comments and spelling herein are mine and nobody else lays claim to them. ================================================================ Lonnie D. Harvel | ldh@bessel.eedsp.gatech.edu School of Electrical Engineering | Georgia Institue of Technology | "quisque suis patimur manis" Atlanta, GA 30332-0250 | Virgil