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Category Archives: Afterlife, The
Surprised by Hope: 2 Peter 3:10-13 — Spiritual Bodies
As our transformation — our becoming new creations — anticipates God’s re-creating the heavens and the earth at the end of time, we need to take a look at what Paul says about our resurrection. Paul’s most detailed description is … Continue reading
Surprised by Hope: 2 Peter 3:10-13 — A New Creation
We can’t read “new heavens and new earth” and not recall Genesis 1, where God created “the heavens and the earth.” Obviously, this phrase is intended to refer to a re-making of the first creation. Or is it a replacement … Continue reading
Posted in Heaven, Uncategorized
Tagged 2 Peter, All, new earth, new heaven, Surprised by Hope
22 Comments
Surprised by Hope: 2 Peter 3:10-13 — On Reading Figurative Language
As we work through the passages dealing with the end of time, we need to keep a few things in mind about how to read figurative language in the scriptures. Let’s start by clarifying how we speak of such things. … Continue reading
Surprised by Hope: 2 Peter 3:10-13 — The New Jerusalem
Now, to really get the picture, we have to go way back into the Old Testament. (Isa 65:17-25) “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to … Continue reading
Posted in Heaven, Uncategorized
Tagged 2 Peter, All, new earth, new heaven, new Jerusalem, Surprised by Hope
2 Comments
Surprised by Hope: 2 Peter 3:10-13 — Introduction
In the summer of 2008, I wrote a series of lessons called “Surprised by Hope,” based on a book by N. T. Wright, and I taught these lessons to a Sunday school class. Now I’m teaching the same material to … Continue reading
Surprised by Hope: Justin Martyr and the Didascalia Apostolorum
Back in the summer, I wrote a series of posts around N. T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope, regarding the nature the end of time. Wright argues — quite convincingly — that the Bible teaches a bodily resurrection in a … Continue reading
Surprised by Hell: Evangelism
I think the disproportionality of the traditional teaching of hell unconsciously hurts our evangelistic efforts. To teach Jesus, we feel the need to teach the need to be saved. From what? Well, from hell. But an everlasting hell of conscious … Continue reading
Posted in Hell, Uncategorized
Tagged All, annihilationism, conditionalism, Ed Fudge, eschatology, evangelism, The Fire that Consumes
1 Comment
Surprised by Hell: Thinking About Justice
The Mosaic idea of civil justice, that is, justice as administered by the government, was that the punishment should fit the crime — (Lev 24:19-21) If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: 20 … Continue reading
Posted in Hell, Uncategorized
Tagged All, annihilationism, conditionalism, Ed Fudge, eschatology, The Fire that Consumes
1 Comment
Surprised by Hell: Evaluating the Evidence (extended)
It helps, I think, to take a step back and try to absorb the evidence in the context of the scriptures and Christianity. We have two views: * The traditional view, at least as old as Tertullian (writing from 197 … Continue reading
Posted in Hell, Uncategorized
Tagged All, annihilationism, conditionalism, Ed Fudge, eschatology, N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, The Fire that Consumes
Comments Off on Surprised by Hell: Evaluating the Evidence (extended)
Surprised by Hell: Plato and the New Testament
Fudge points out that the question of immortality was a favorite of Greek philosophers. The seminal work on the subject was Plato’s Phaedo, a dialogue on the question that was well-known among First Century Hellenistic people. The debate Plato writes … Continue reading
Posted in Hell, Uncategorized
Tagged All, Cebes, Edward W. Fudge, eschatology, Eschaton, eternal punishment, gehenna, hell, Phaedo, Plato, Socrates, The Fire that Consumes
2 Comments
