First, let me repeat earlier statements in my posts that I know very little about Escatology or the study of End Times. I choose not to do in-depth studies or worry about it, the Bible says it will come and I am good with that. Yet it seems a hot topic amongst evangelicals, so this article provides basic information.
Please note that the views expressed in some of these articles do not necessarily reflect those of FSM.
DEFINITION:
Eschatology. From the Greek word for “last things” (eschata), this doctrine deals not only with final matters such as Christ’s return (millennialism) and life after death, but also broader themes such as the nature of the kingdom of God in the life of the individual believer and the world. A shift toward focusing on these broader themes began in *biblical theology with a reconsideration of the apocalyptic element in Jesus’ ministry. Several Reformed theologians have translated this biblical tension between the arrival of God’s *kingdom and the delay of its consummation into the principle “now and not yet” in *systematic theology. Some notable examples include Herman *Ridderbos’s emphasis on eschatology, not only in the Gospels but also in Pauline literature; Jürgen *Moltmann’s attempts to unpack the spiritual and political nature of hope; and the “realism” found in the political theology of Reinhold *Niebuhr.
Kelly M. Kapic and Wesley Vander Lugt, Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition, The IVP Pocket Reference Series (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013), 49.
FOUR ESCHATOLOGICAL VIEWS
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the pretribulation view of the rapture (pretribulationism)?
Is partial preterism biblical?
The study of end times is most closely associated with the word RAPTURE, which does not appear in the Bible. The following articles examine this concept.
What is the rapture of the church?
rapture (Lat. raptus, “carried off”) An expression of intense religious experience. Also in premillennialism the view that when Christ returns to the earth, believers will be raised from the earth to meet him in the air and thus be spared the tribulation (1 Thess. 4:17). See also premillennialism.
rapture, midtribulational view of the View that the church will endure half a tribulation period predicted in Scripture (Matt. 24:21–31) before being raptured at the return of Jesus Christ to earth. See also tribulation period.
rapture, partial View that some persons will be raptured sooner and others later depending on their state of spiritual readiness.
rapture, posttribulational view of the View that the church will not be raptured at the return of Christ until after the end of a tribulation period predicted in Scripture (Matt. 24:21–31).
rapture, pretribulational view of the View that the church will be raptured at the return of Christ prior to a period of tribulation predicted in Scripture (Matt. 24:21–31).
Donald K. McKim, The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 261–262.
The other Biblical concept closely associated with Eschatology is TRIBULATION.
tribulation period (great tribulation) A term often used in Dispensationalism to indicate a seven-year period of suffering prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the millennium (Matt. 24:21–30). Various views of the church’s relation to the tribulation period have been proposed. See also Dispensationalism; second coming (advent) of Jesus Christ.
tribulational views Differing views in fundamentalism on the relation of the Christian church to the great tribulation period (Matt. 24:21–30). They are pre-, mid-, and post-tribulationism, depending on whether the church endures none, some, or all of the tribulation. See also fundamentalism.
Donald K. McKim, The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 325.
What is the end times tribulation? How do we know the tribulation ...
What is the Great Tribulation?
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