159 | TE003 | Transcending Eschatology | Part 3 | Carrying the Torch

Transcend HumanTranscending Eschatology

Apr 24

Written By Daryl McMullen

Date: April 24, 2023

Welcome back to our series on Eschatology - the study of End Time events. Here’s where we’ve been so far:

Episode 1: The Doomsday Clock - We discussed our social and cultural beliefs about the End of Time. Typically based on science and entertainment
Episode 2: The Flip Side - We dove into End Time beliefs that are based on spiritual or religious belief systems. And we looked at some of the major world religions

Today we move to Christianity - the faith tradition I grew up in. And we start the process of defining what End Time beliefs are held within this religious tradition.

Today's Topic: Transcending Eschatology | Part 3 | Carrying the Torch

The Olympic Connection
Levels of Complexity
What's the Value Proposition?

// CHAPTER 1: THE OLYMPIC CONNECTION

The Olympics have always fascinated me. I can remember as a small child watching them with my parents. Mainly the Winter Olympics - as my parents were from Canada - and sports like hockey, skiing, curling and figure skating hit pretty close to home.

But I never stopped. I've watched them throughout my life. And even today - my wife and I - who are cord cutters most of the year - have to figure out what level of cable we need to pay for in order to watch the Olympics each year.

Tammy grew up more interested in the Summer Olympics - so together we watch them all. Every two years now we get to enjoy the spectacle that is the Olympic Games.

But it's not the games I want to talk about today. It's a tradition that takes place leading up to the games. The Olympic Torch Relay.

The tradition started in 1936. The idea was to take a flame from the birthplace of the Olympics - Olympia, Greece - and carry it all the way to the site of the Olympics for that year.

And while there have been some variations along the way - this tradition is still held leading up to the Olympic Games.

New torches are designed for each of the games. and these torches are carried and passed from one person to another - eventually entering the main venue the night of opening ceremonies. The flame is then carried to the large cauldron built for that years games - and is used to light the cauldron that will remain lit throughout the games.

On the surface - it's just a fun little thing we associate with the Olympic Games. And we only get to see the last few handoffs that occur during Opening Ceremonies.

What we don't see is how it started. And the hundreds upon thousands of people who carried and passed the torch in order for it to reach the Opening Ceremonies. All the planning, the team that oversees the relay, the countries that have to sign off on it, the crowds that gather to watch it go through their town, the logistics of getting it over large mountain chains and over large bodies of water. And the fact that the torches either have to be swapped out or refueled to keep the flame lit along the way.

It's a big deal.

And that's how I want to start our conversation about Christianity, and ultimately Christian Eschatology. As a flame that has been passed down since the beginning of time.

Now I understand - the idea of the beginning of time means different things to different people. The same way the Bible is viewed differently be different people.

Within Christianity there are people who view the world as being created by God anywhere from 4-6,000 years ago. And there are Christians who believe that the world has been around for millions of years - based on scientific research and dating methods. And there is probably a spectrum of belief in there as well.

But for many - their belief about the age of the earth is based on the way they view the Bible.

And that's a sticking point for me. In fact the episode I did just before we started this series is called "Transcending Inerrancy." Where we took a good look at the Bible and how it's viewed these days.

And I was pretty transparent about the fact that I'm not sure where I stand right now. I was raised to believe that the Bible is inerrant - not a single thing wrong with it and not a single contradiction. But I can't say I adhere to that position any longer.

On the other side of the coin there are Christians who view the Bible as nothing more than a collection of short stories. Meant to be uplifting, and inspiring on some level - but little else. And I don't think I fit into this camp either.

So where does that leave me? Somewhere in the middle. Viewing the Bible as important - and full of factual information - but not without its problems and contradictions.

A pretty tough place to be when you grow up in the very black and white world of traditional Christianity...

But that's the foundation I'm going to set for this series on End Time events:

I'm going to stick with the belief that God created the Earth somewhere between 4 and 6,000 years ago
And I'm going to use the Bible as our guide - but with the understanding that it was written by flawed human beings, translated by flawed human beings, canonized by flawed human beings and is often interpreted by flawed human beings

That said - let's return to our illustration of a torch being passed down since the dawn of time.

It's my belief that God wants us to understand the truth. He wants us to read, learn and interpret the breadcrumbs He left for us. The things that have been passed down over time. But there will always be things we can't know for sure. And this ambiguity is what provides the following:

The need for faith: That little thing you have to have when there is ambiguity. Not just faith in God as a Christian. But as a scientist - faith in things you can't fully prove to be true - like the Big Bang and the Missing Link. Scientists hate to admit this - but they must have faith in things they can't fully prove in order to believe in the theories they hold to be foundational
Freedom of choice: Without a little ambiguity our freedom of choice would not feel very important. In other words - if God appeared on the world stage and said I exist - and if you don't follow me you will die in three days time. How much faith would you really need? And would you feel like you have the freedom to choose against Him? I mean sure - you could still choose death over life. But when the difference between your options is that lopsided it starts to feel like you really don't have a choice

Next, when we talk about God passing the truth down throughout the generations it's very similar to the way a parent passes truth on to their kids:

Let's say you want to teach you kid to drive
At age 3 - you start by purchasing Matchbox cars and having them in the house so they can play with them
At age 5 - you might start having conversations about the actual car - and how the steering wheel works
At age 8 - you might talk about gas, the engine and how acceleration and braking work
At age 12 - you might actually let your kid sit on your lap and steer the car once and a while
At age 15 - they get a crash course in how the car works and they learn the rules of the road
Around 16 - they get to drive your car with you in the passenger seat watching their every move
Then at some point they get a license and are able to drive on their own

See how that works? We teach our kids how to do things with varying levels of knowledge based on the age they're at. We don't let them drive our car at age 3. But we might teach them what a car is at age 3.

And so it is with God. I believe He is teaching us about truth a little at a time - based on our age and our position in the global timeline.

So let's look at the way the torch was passed since the beginning of time:

Adam & Eve:

The Bible account suggests that Adam and Eve were the only people who got to experience life as it was meant to be
Living in the Garden of Eden with perpetual motion as I call it
You know what this is right?
A machine that can continue to work or run forever is said to be in perpetual motion
And this is how it was in the beginning
Plants, animals and yes human beings were created to live forever
But God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose - and they chose to see what the other choice held
That ended the perpetual motion and ushered in sin and death
Now - people are born and they eventually die - a beginning and an end
And when this happened - God explained some things to Adam and Eve
We don't have the full account of the things He told them
But we do know that He started the process - telling them what sin would do to them
And putting a plan in place for them to show that they still believed in their Creator
God instituted a system whereby Adam and Eve would kill and sacrifice a pure lamb
This death of an innocent animal and the shedding of its blood would be an ongoing practice to show them what was coming
My assumption is that God told them things about death, dying, and that there was a plan for them to be reunited someday - if they took part in the system He put into place

Early Patriarchs:

Think Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham
These men and the people living in these generations continued on in that tradition
Sacrificing animals in order to stay right with God and as a sign of what was to come
We know God interacted with the Patriarchs - but we don't necessarily know how
According to the Bible we know Enoch walked so closely with God that He was taken straight to Heaven without dying
And we know that Abraham either talked to God - or had some way of knowing His will - because he made some pretty big life decisions based on what God wanted him to do

The Prophets:

After the patriarchs came the prophets
People who were God's spokespersons like Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, etc.
God made things known to them - and they took that to the people
Often doing three things:

Reminding the people how God worked in the past
Calling out the inappropriate things the people were doing in the present
And casting vision for the future based on the choices the people would make

The prophets worked to keep the people focused on their religious duties - and the animal sacrifices that kept them right with God

The Israelite Nation:

The prophets spent their time working with God's people - the Israelite Nation that grew out of the line of Jacob - and his 12 sons
Each son became the leader of one of the 12 tribes of Israel
And this was really the birth of the Jewish tradition - Judaism
The prophets worked to keep this large group of people together - and doing the things God asked of them
From Moses - helping them escape slavery in Egypt
To Jeremiah and his warnings during the time of Nebuchadnezzar
The prophets kept pulling them back to God's law, and the sacrificial system used to show that they were right with God
As a religious group - the Israelites did have prophecy - beliefs in future events that would benefit them
The biggest was a belief in a Messiah - someone who would come and save them from the governments of the world and people who sought to do them harm
During this time prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel were also writing down things about the future - content that eventually became books of the Bible - books that included a lot of information about things that had not happened yet

The Life of Jesus:

If you are Jewish - this is where your story ends - because Jesus was not accepted as the Messiah
But if you are a Christian - Jesus was the Messiah the Bible prophets foretold
Jesus is believed to be fully God and fully man
God's son - who came to save His people by living a perfect life and then dying on a cross
The animal sacrifices that had been the key to people remaining right with God could now end
Because the animal sacrifices weren't the real plan
They were just a reminder to the people what was required - and an illustration of what Jesus would come to do some day
So Jesus lived His life and added to the collective knowledge of the people
He helped explain things, and He told the people what was coming
The words in the Bible attributed to Jesus include conversations about the End of Time
Yes - Jesus believed in prophecy - He believed in this idea that the world would come to an end someday
It was part of His teachings while He was one Earth
After His death He arose from the grave and appeared to many people - proving that His life meant they would have the same ability
If they just believed in Him

The Bible:

The church has always had the oral traditions handed down
But along with that came sacred texts that had been written down
Even in Jesus' day - they went to the Temple and read from the scrolls
Sacred books passed down within their religious tradition
Books from Moses, and the prophets and eventually books by men who saw Jesus and spent time with Him
And at some point many of these sacred texts were assembled into one volume called the Bible
And regardless what you believe about the Bible - and it's importance
It is very interesting how it came to be - and very interesting how powerful it is

The Catholic Church:

The Christian Church that emerged after the death and resurrection of Jesus eventually organized into one large church
The Catholic Church
Catholics believe Jesus started their church - though it wasn't officially recognized as such until 313AD when Constantine legalized the practice of Christianity
Not everyone who believed in Jesus became Catholic - there were many groups that remained true to their beliefs and hid from the Catholic Church in order to worship the way they believed to be true
The Catholic Church was very demanding and brutal during these years - going on the Crusades to force people to believe as they did
Then, in the 16th Century a major event happened
People in the church stated to see that there were some inaccuracies in the church teachings
Some very big ones - so they read, researched and determined that the church needed to get back to the Bible - and the clear teachings of Jesus
This group simply wanted to make the church better - but quickly realized that wasn't going to happen
The church burned some of these men at the stake
And used the threat of death to keep them from pushing these new ideas
But eventually the group grew large enough - and split off from the church
This was called the Protestant Reformation
And was the birth of the many Protestant Religions we see in the world today
But before we leave Catholicism - we should probably touch on their view of Eschatology - after all that is our topic for this series...
According to simplycatholic.com Catholics believe the following:

Humans are made up of a physical body and a soul - which doesn't die
At death the soul leaves the body and has three options: Heaven, Hell or Purgatory
Purgatory is a temporary state - and based on things people do for you - you may be able to move from Purgatory into Heaven
We have a lot of control over our destiny in that we can do the following:

Attend Mass
Get baptized
Confess to a priest
Take the Eucharist
These are all things that help forgive you of your sins
However, when someone dies - the living can still do things like pray, fast, serve, give to the church, etc.
And in doing so - you can help your loved one move into Heaven

And finally - Heaven isn't the end according to Catholic teaching
Heaven is a temporary state of existence that will go on until Jesus returns
When that happens we will all return to Earth in physical bodies and live with God forever
In terms of the End of Time - here are 4 things Catholics believe will happen:

The gospel must be preached to the entire world
The Jews will also recognize Jesus as the Messiah
The Antichrist will appear and try to lead people away from the church
There will be a final passover and a day of judgment

Protestant Christianity:

The religious tradition I grew up in
Denominations that all grew out of the Protestant Reformation
There are many common beliefs throughout the denominations - most of which led to the split with the Catholic Church
But then there are also thousands of variations on that theme
Each denomination believes a slightly different thing about one small element of the faith - so they break away and become their own denomination
My parents used to tell me - why do you think there are so many denominations? The answer - It's part of Satan's master plan - hiding a needle in a haystack
If he can create division in the church - and create thousands of different versions of the truth - then people will be confused and probably throw it out all together
After all - how can they all say they have the truth? Not possible...
Now - I'm not going to break down Protestant Christian Eschatology in this episode because it will take a full episode as well
However, now that we've worked our way down to Christian Eschatology - that's where we're going to stay for the rest of the series

// 2. LEVELS OF COMPLEXITY

So I'm sure you're asking, "Why did we just take that long walk down memory lane? From Adam and Eve to Protestant Christianity?"

Well - because I wanted you to see the Olympic Torch Relay:

How God handed Adam and Eve the first torch
How they passed it down through the Patriarchs
How the Prophets held it tightly as they corralled God's people
How the Israelites carried it as God's chosen people
How Jesus came to carry it for a few years
How the Bible still carries the torch for millions around the world
How the Catholic Church picked it up for a while
How the reformers carried the torch out of Catholicism into the new Protestant world
And how we carry that torch to this day

Very similar to us teaching our kids to drive:

God gave Adam and Eve the truth that they could handle at that time
And with each passing of the torch - new information was given
Over time - people began to understand new things and be exposed to more progressive ideas
Bible content that seemed so out of reach for a while is now being studied and interpreted
Almost the way levels are unlocked in a video game
It's as if we need to have enough experience points in order to unlock the next level
Because without the experience - the information just wouldn't make sense

So here we are - living in a time where there is no lack of knowledge. Knowledge flows freely over the Internet, through social media and in never-ending short video clips on TikTok.

And while there is a lot of fake news, and misinformation - there are also thousands upon millions of truth bombs out there for us to find. People carrying the torch and passing along the information they have as we get closer and closer to the End of Time.

So like I said - next week we'll start to really break down the various beliefs about Eschatology within the Christian Church.

But for today - let's start high level and discuss two very important levels of information we have about the End of Time.

Level 1: The oral tradition and plan language:

This is the high level stuff
Stuff we as Christians have been taught since we were kids
Most Christians can tell you the answers to the Big 3 Questions:

Where did we come from? God created us
Why are we here? To love God, love those around us and enjoy a long life on Earth
Where do we go when we die? Well, we have two options - we can go to Heaven with God or we can choose not to - and cease to exist

See what I mean? That's pretty high level
An oral tradition that has been passed down for centuries
These are answers a parent can give their kids when they tuck them into bed at night
And when we start to get into questions about the End of Time - there are also verses in the Bible that provide plain language explanations
Not stories to decode, not fantastical fairy tales we think mean something specific
Just plain old language - explaining that there is an end coming
Here are some examples:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV) “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Matthew 24:40-41 (KJV) “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV) “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
Matthew 24:6 (KJV) “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Mark 13:32 (KJV) “But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
1 Corinthians 15:52-54 (KJV) “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
1 Timothy 4:1 (KJV) “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
Joel 2:28-32 (KJV) “And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”
Matthew 24:21 (KJV) “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

So there you go - just a few verses that talk about the End of Time in plain language
And - something cool about these statements is the way they fit together
These statements were written by different people at different times - and yet they're all talking about and adding clarity about the same thing
What it shows is that there was a common belief about the End Times
Not that they were all 100% sure how it would happen - but they all knew it was coming
And these were just a few of the verses about the End
The Bible is full of plain language verses that tell the following story:

Life exists in a less-than-ideal state
It will get worse - and will eventually come to an end
God will come back at that time to set things straight
Those who believe in Him will live forever
Those who don't believe in Him will cease to exist

Level 2: Bible Prophecy

Now this is where most Eschatology enthusiasts live
Because the plain language stuff is good
But prophecy is better - it's exhilarating
It's the wild wild west
Like the gold rush in the 1940s
"There's gold in them thar hills!"
People moved out west to make their millions - because they heard there was gold to be found
Only they had to find it...
And so it is with Bible prophecy
There is gold hidden in parts of the Bible that are very hard to read much less understand
The truth is there - somewhere
But how do you know if you're right or not?
Because there are all sorts of smart people out there reading the same books in the Bible and their explanation is totally different than yours
And so it goes...
This is the world I spent some time in back in my 20s
I was raised with one interpretation
I dated a girl with another interpretation
Then I met people with a third interpretation
And I started to question it all
I was shaken - because I'm very black and white - and I wanted Bible Prophecy to be the same way
But I quickly learned it was not

So let's start by defining what Prophecy is:

Prophecy almost exclusively refers to things that will happen in the future
It's where we get the word "prophet" from
In the Bible there was a very simple process:

God gave important information to the prophets
Then, the prophets shared that information with the people - to help them understand it

And this was the reason - or the goal:

To warn people about the consequences of their behavior
To inspire change in that behavior
To expose common pitfalls in the Human Condition
To help us understand the future
Which should provide hope vs. fear

Like I said - prophecy is jumping into the deep end of the pool.

It's a playground for wild speculation and fantastical ideas.

But it's there for a reason. And I believe we can all take something from it - even if we don't feel like we understand every little detail.

// 3. WHAT'S THE VALUE PROPOSITION?

Like I just said - I think there is something important we can all take from Bible Prophecy.

But what? And why?

What's the value proposition here?

What am I going to get for the time I have to put into it?

We've discussed that there are people who just don't want anything to do with Bible Prophecy:

Some because it's scary
Some because they know it will be difficult
Others because they're busy - and don't have the time
And still others because they don't believe we're meant to understand it in the first place

But what if it is important? What if God inspired people to write these things down for a reason?

What then?

The Bible includes verses that suggest:

It's important to be ready
To understand what we believe
To be able to share it with others
To be aware of the times we were living in
That we won't know the exact day Jesus will return, but should understand the season

And there's a great parable Jesus told to help explain this: The Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids

In Matthew 25:1-13

The story goes like this:

10 bridesmaids were waiting for a bridegroom to arrive
But he was delayed late into the night
5 of the women had planned ahead - and had packed extra oil for their lamps
5 had not
When the bridegroom arrived - the 5 with extra oil were there to meet him and attend the party
The other 5 had gone off to find more oil and missed the party

Now there are numerous conclusions we can draw from this parable.

But I think the one about being ready is the most important.

This parable is found in Matthew Chapter 25. But in Chapter 24 - Jesus is talking about the future - and the End of Time.

So interesting that the next chapter begins with a parable to help them understand it even better.

The suggestion is that as we get closer and closer to the end - it will probably feel like God is late. Like He's been delayed.

But during that time we need to prepare. We need to be ready. In the parable it was bringing enough oil for the lamps.

But for us it might mean focusing on our spiritual life a bit more than our career.

It might mean setting time apart each day and each week to remain connected to our Creator.

And it might mean dusting off Bible Prophecy and taking another stab at understanding what God is trying to say through it.

Let's Land the Plane:

Thanks for sticking with it - I love that you're here and willing to think through some of this stuff with me.

It's not easy stuff - and it can be frustrating. But I know we will look back and be thankful we did this together.

This week - ask yourself the following questions:

What are your thoughts about the torch concept?

The idea that a torch of truth has been passed down from person to person and group to group throughout time?
And that it has been handed to us - at this point in time?

Where are you at with the complexity of End Time events?

Are you still in the oral tradition or plain language phase?
If so - not a problem - the Bible verses in plain language are still a HUGE part of our understanding about the End of Time
Just reading the "normal" parts of the Bible provides a lot of knowledge about our future

Do you believe the Value Proposition?

That diving into Bible Prophecy is important?
That there will be a return on your investment?

The fact that you're here suggests you do! And I love that.

Next week we dive into Bible prophecy - and we start by looking at the variations that exist. How various groups interpret it differently. And what we can learn from each.

Thanks again for being here. Have a great week friends, and until next time, keep Transcending Human!

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