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Ken, I was actually just thinking of this verse when I was typing my last response.Originally posted by KenH:
Hey, DD, how do you get around these words of Jesus to defend your idea of a kingdom on this world, this earth -
John 18:36 (ESV)
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world."
Jesus could have set up a physical kingdom right there and then if that had been His intention. He could have had twelve legions of angels instantly at his disposal.
Justification occurs when God declares the believing sinner to be righteous.Originally posted by KenH:
Oh, DD, by the way, do you think a person can be saved and not be a premiller?
Christians are already in the kingdom and are already priests in that kingdom, even while on the earth after Jesus finished His work of redemption.Originally posted by Daniel David:
Further, just for my own knowledge, please tell me why those already in heaven looked forward to reigning upon the earth (Rev. 5:10).
Yep. And it did. You might have noticed that the Roman Empire lost in its persecution of the church.Originally posted by Daniel David:
According to the prophecy of Daniel 2, his kingdom will come in a cataclymic way and will violently overpower and overcome all opposition.
While I disagree totally with the progression you stated, it warms my heart to know that you considered me to be saved and to be your brother in Christ.Originally posted by Daniel David:
Justification occurs when God declares the believing sinner to be righteous.
Christians are already in the kingdom and are already priests in that kingdom, even while on the earth after Jesus finished His work of redemption.Originally posted by KenH:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Daniel David:
Further, just for my own knowledge, please tell me why those already in heaven looked forward to reigning upon the earth (Rev. 5:10).
Yep. And it did. You might have noticed that the Roman Empire lost in its persecution of the church. </font>[/QUOTE]The church did not and has not replaced all opposing kingdoms. There was nothing gradual about Daniel's vision.Originally posted by KenH:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Daniel David:
According to the prophecy of Daniel 2, his kingdom will come in a cataclymic way and will violently overpower and overcome all opposition.
Sure there is. The word "became" indicates progression from a stone to a mountain.Originally posted by Daniel David:
There was nothing gradual about Daniel's vision.
That is early in the book of Revelation before the destruction of Jerusalem and/or Rome(depending on how one interprets the symbolic language in the book) is described. Either way, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. ended the major Jewish persecution of the church, and the destruction of the Roman Empire ended the major Roman persecution of the church.Originally posted by Daniel David:
I am asking you why believers in heaven looked forward to reigning upon the earth.
Taken literally He also said the rest of the dead were the first resurrection.Originally posted by Daniel David:
Ken, you said that verse 4 is about those already in heaven, and verse 5 is about those who had not died yet.
A major problem with that is that verse 5 refers to these people as 'the rest of the dead'. Are you suggesting that John was referring to people who were presently walking the earth as 'the rest of the dead'? That is crazy.
You have given the same word multiple definitions in the same text.
You are just fighting tooth and nail the truth of premillenialism aren't you. This kind of bufoonery needs to stop.
I am a Master of Divinity degreed student from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. I earned a good three fourths of that degree from Duke University Divinity School. Before that I earned a B.A. Degree in Religious Studies from Furman University. I am not trying to brag or set myself up as some kind of ultimate authority here. I am simply saying, that if Daniel David is right, everything I ever studied is wrong. The man needs to read a basic book on Church History. He is not a stupid man, but he is a very ignorant man. At least every scholar in the field of Church History and Historical Theology that I have ever read would agree with my opinion about Daniel David.Originally posted by Daniel David:
I love this discussion. No one doubts that the early church was premillenial.
Amill theology was invented by a fella named Origen. Origen denied the bodily resurrection of Christ. He is sort of like the first Jehovah Witness if you need a present day theology. He sought to find the 'spiritual' meaning behind the text. Why? Because he believed that the earth was carnal and therefore NOT spiritual. I guess you could say he was quite the gnostic as well.
Anyway, with this new hermeneutic, he was able to become the first pimp of the allegorical method of interpretation.
Along comes Augustine. He interpreted prophecy by reading a newspaper. He viewed his present day situation and concluded that he was not living in Christ's kingdom (the way Scripture presents it). He instead figured that the kingdom must be exclusively spiritual. When you combine that idea with Origen's madness, voila, Amill theology.
Now, Origen had already been known as a heretic. Augustine however, helped to introduce ideas that made it so only the church could have the authoritative view of Scripture. You see, when Scripture becomes allegory, its interpretations are as various as the interpreters. The beauty of Augustine is that he had lived during a time when the 'church' and Rome were about to wed. Therefore, his ideas were embraced because it gave the 'church' that much more authority over its people.
Soon, we have the dark ages. That is when the 'church' took God's word from the common man altogether. This lasted for about 1000 years. This is when Amill reigned.
Premillers can laugh when the amillers attempt to apeal to 'church history' as it is really the dark ages they are appealing to.
Anyway, as soon as the reformation began, and people were about to actually read the Scripture, an explosion of ideas came to light again.
Note the connection here: dark ages produced the catholic church which kept people ignorant. The reformation put the Bible back into peoples' hands where truth was loudly proclaimed again.
After such issues as the five solas were settled, other issues such as ecclesiology, eschatology, etc., could be taken on.
Some preferred the same eschatology of the dark ages. Others actually read the Bible and returned to the truth of premillenialism.
It is no coincidence that America, with its history of strong knowledge of God's word, became the center of premillenial theology. America was never dominated by the catholics, like Europe was.
You see, if a doctrine like Justification could NEARLY drop off the face of the earth, why is it so hard to believe that eschatology could be obscured? It isn't.
I want to see just one text that even hints at amill. I know I will be waiting a very long time.