Critical Theory and "By What Standard" Video

Today's thought is from George Lane

The answer to Critical Theory may sound shocking to some, but the answer is simply, ‘get over it’!  You have to get over it. I have to get over it. We all have to get over it. Let it go and you will grow! No one moves forward until they forgive and move on. 

I’ve said this for years. Every victim, and we have all been victimized by someone in some way, all victims have to at some point decide they will pick up the pieces and move on with their life, choosing to grow and rise above and in every instance it only truly happens when they choose forgiveness. You must move on. Otherwise, you’re a slave to your pain, your anger, your suffering. 

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the critical theory movement, the only satisfactory solution to social injustice and inequality is an exchange of power. The oppressor must become the oppressed in order to satisfy their debt. And this is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus teaches that greater are the least. Blessed are the meek, blessed are the oppressed, but these critical theorists have no interest in being blessed; they want power. 

It doesn’t matter who is oppressed or powerful, we are all sinners. We all fall short of God’s glory. We all need Christ’s blood to wash us clean. However, the fact that I am a white male speaking deafens the ears of some. They can not hear the truth of the Gospel unless I first give credit for my ability to be heard to white privilege and inequality, but  that then would give those credits supremacy over the Gospel negate the message.

We, the church, have to stop this foolishness. Y'all want to be equal? I’ll tell you how we are equal: we are all sinners. Just like race does not affect the Gospel, no sin is lesser than another. We have to stop identifying each other by our sins. While it is important to know that ministering to people of different backgrounds, experiences, and positions require varying approaches, just as healing requires varying treatment programs, our cultural need to label and segregate each other cannot be allowed to define us. 

Society dictates that people find their identity in their sin and be proud and celebrate their brokenness. But just like it doesn’t matter what race you are, regardless of your sin you need the blood of Christ. It doesn’t matter if you identify as gay or straight, agnostic or atheist, indulgent or frugal, we all need Christ. All of these labels or measurements of sin and the corresponding judgements on the level of sin are mere distractions from the reality of our total depravity without the Salvation in Christ.

Concerning labels such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and more, all identities aside from one’s identity in Christ is death. 

Even within the church these labels are meaningless. There’s no gay Christian, there’s no black Christian, there’s no adulterer Christian,  there’s no feminist Christian, no conservative Christian. There are only saved and dead. Forgiven and damned. Period. Our identity is Christ or nothing. We are set free in Christ or we are defined by and held captive to our sin. We cannot appropriate today’s culture of critical theory into the Church. It is not the Gospel.

George Lane

Pre-trib, Post-trib, or Pre-Wrath (A Lesson in Learning)

The Rapture and Tribulation

  

Three Views

The issue of the relationship of Christ’s return to a complex of events is known as the great tribulation. In theory, all premillennialists hold that there will be a great disturbance of seven years’ duration prior to Christ’s return. The question has been whether there will be a separate coming to remove the church from the world prior to the great tribulation or whether the church will go through the tribulation and be united with the Lord only afterward. The view that Christ will take the church to himself prior to the tribulation is called pretribulation; the view that he will take the church after the tribulation is called posttribulation; and a lesser known view that Christ will come for His chosen people just before the terrible, Wrath of God, at the end of the tribulation is called pre-wrath. In practice, only premillennialists, who tend to devote more attention to the details of the end times than the advocates of either postmillennialism or amillennialism, draws these distinctions.

1.    Pretribulation

Pretribulationists emphasize the uniqueness of the tribulation, while recognizing the church has gone through many tribulations throughout its history. It will be quite unparalleled to anything experienced before. The tribulation is not to be understood as a period of time for disciplining believers or purifying the church.

A second major idea of pretribulationists is that of the rapture of the church. Christ will come for the church just before the tribulation period begins as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The pretribulationist notes that in this verse we see Christ not descending all the way to the earth, as he will when he comes with the church at the end of the tribulation. By this they maintain there will be two phases in Christ’s coming. There will also be three resurrections. The first will be the resurrection of the righteous dead at the rapture, for Paul teaches that believers who are alive at the time will not precede those are dead. Then at the end of the tribulation there will be a resurrection of the saints who have died during the tribulation. Finally, at the end of the millennium, there will be a resurrection of unbelievers.

This all means the church will be absent during the tribulation. They can expect deliverance because Paul promised the Thessalonians that they would not experience the wrath which God will pour out upon unbelievers (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9).

But what of the references in Matthew 24 which indicates that some of the elect will be present during the tribulation? Pretribulationists believe that Matthew (24: 29-31) was taught within a Jewish framework because the disciples were asking what would be the sign of Jesus’ coming and of the end of the age. They feel Jesus, speaking of the “elect” ,was speaking of the Jews not the church, thus the distinction between Israel and the church is determined to be crucial to the thinking of the pretribulationist. The tribulation is viewed as being the transition from God’s dealing primarily with the church to his reestablishing the relationship to his original chosen people, Israel.

The third major idea is the return of Christ could be at any time. Since his return will precede the tribulation, nothing remains to be fulfilled prior to the rapture. Jesus urged watchfulness upon his hearers, since they did not know the time of his return (Matthew 25:13).  The parable of the ten virgins conveys this message. Just as in the time of Noah, there will be no warning signs (Matthew 24:36-39). The wicked knew nothing until the flood came and took them away.

Finally, pretribulationists maintain that there will be at least two judgments. The church will be judged at the time of the rapture. It is then the rewards for faithfulness will be handed out. 

2.    Posttribulation

Posttribulationists maintain that the coming of Christ for his church will not take place until the conclusion of the great tribulation. They avoid the use of the term rapture because:

Ø  It is not a biblical expression

Ø  It suggest that the church will escape or be delivered from the tribulation

Posttribulationists do not accept the notion that the church will escape the sufferings of the tribulation.

While pretribulationists believe the literal conception of the millennium where many prophecies will be fulfilled within the thousand year period, posttribulationists believe in a less literal interpretation. For example posttribulationists do not feel Daniel 9:27 to be speaking of seven years but of a period of time and the millennium is much more generalized in nature, meaning it may not be necessarily speaking of one thousand years in length.

They see the church as being present during and experiencing the great tribulation. Unlike the pretribulationist they see the term “elect” in Matthew (24: 29-31) should be understood in the light of its usage elsewhere in Scripture, where it means “believers”. Since Pentecost the term elect has denoted the church. Posttribulationists see the Lord preserving the church, but not sparing, during the tribulation.

Posttribulationists draw a distinction between the wrath of God and the tribulation. The wrath of God is spoken of in Scripture as coming upon the wicked (John 3:36; Romans 1:18; 1 Thess. 1:8; Rev. 6:16-17). On the other hand believers will not undergo the wrath of God (Romans 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10).  In this Scripture makes it clear that believers will not face the wrath of God but will experience the tribulation. What is spoken in the tribulation of persecution conducted by the Anti-Christ on the saints is to be equated as the wrath of God, which will be sent on the wicked.

While posttribulationists do not deny a distinction between tribulations in general and the great tribulation, they believe that the difference is one of degree only, not of kind. Since the world had experienced tribulation throughout its history, it would not be surprising if the church also experiences the great tribulation.

Where the Bible speaks of believers who will escape or be kept from the impending trouble (Luke 21:36; Rev. 3:10), postribulationists look at this telling them the church will be kept from the midst of the tribulation, not that it will be kept away from the tribulations, being reminded of the experience of the Israelites during the plagues on Egypt.

The postribulationist also has a different understanding of Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 to meeting the Lord in the air. The pretribulationist maintain this event is the rapture, posttribulationists also believe this to be the taking away, by saying this usage of the Greek word “to meet” is used elsewhere in the Bible and each time it is used the picture is going to meet someone and coming back with them. So the meeting the Lord in the air is not a case of being caught away, but of meeting him and then immediately coming with him to the earth as part of his triumphant entourage. It is the church not the Lord who will turn around at the meeting.  

Posttribulationists have a less complex understanding of last things than their pretribulational counterparts. For example there is only one second coming. Since there is no interlude between the coming of Christ for the church and the end of the tribulation, there is not a need for an additional resurrection of believers. They see only two resurrections. The first is the resurrection of believers at the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the millennium and the second is the resurrection of the ungodly at the end of the millennium. They also believe the complex events at the end as having basic unity. They believe the second coming is impending. Their blessed hope is not an expectation that believers will be removed from the earth before the great tribulation, but rather a confidence that the Lord will protect and keep believers regardless of what may come.

3.    Pre-wrath

The pre-wrath name is chosen simply to differ it between the pre and post tribulation positions. Those who hold to this position look at the pretribulationist as being logically invalid and unconvincing. They see the posttribulationist position as being closer to their leaning because of the clear teaching in Matthew 24, the teaching of John in Revelation 12 and 13, and the teaching of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 all which put the elect of God in the heart of Antichrist’s persecution, but see posttribulationist falling short.

Those who hold this position look at Christ’s coming preceding the sign given in the sun, moon, and stars (Matthew 24:29-31). By looking at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Revelation in the New Testament and Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel in the Old Testament all, which speak of the same thing. In the last days, a sign will be given in the sun, moon, and the stars that will initiate the Day of the Lord. This position is the common denominator that makes the biblical truths of both pre and post tribulation positions come together, without contradiction or inconsistency.

When the day of the Lord appears in the heavens (sun, moon, and stars), the persecution of God’s elect at the hands of Antichrist will be ended and the wrath of God against the children of Satan will begin. Simply stated, the persecution by Antichrist during the great tribulation will be the wrath of Satan (Revelation 12:12), not the wrath of God. When the sign of the sun, moon, and stars is given in the heavens, the wrath of Satan against the elect of God will be terminated, the faithful to God will be raptured, and then the wrath of God will begin against the wicked that remain, ending with the battle of Armageddon.

This point of view is also consistent with the writings of the early church fathers (those who had been taught directly by the Apostles or one or two generations removed) that touched on end time events in any detail at all, holding to the same general premise that the church would undergo persecution by Antichrist. One example is an ancient Greek manuscript entitled the Didache or The Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles. The manuscript has been dated between A.D. 70 and A.D. 140. Most scholars believe it to be closer to A.D. 70 due to the book not mentioning the book of Revelation in the final chapter of the Didache. This book consists of sixteen short chapters that fall into two parts. The first being Christian living. The second part is a manual of church order. The early church considered this book, although not inspired, to be very beneficial reading to every Christian living at the time. The entire book is filled with allusions and quotations from both the Old and New Testament. The gospel of Matthew is quoted more frequently than any other part of Scripture, in particular, the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24). The final chapter of this book is both a powerful warning and a sober conclusion. Although not an indebt treatise on end time events, it does speak directly to the subject matter referred in the Olivet Discourse. The Didache in chapter 16 sees the Olivet Discourse as a reference to the second coming of Christ.

Because of the severity of the Day of the Lord, God has promised to first give the world a sign in the heavens announcing that the day of His wrath is about to commence. The book of Joel is devoted almost entirely to the Day of the Lord. Joel 2:30-31 and again in 3:15-16 refers to this awesome day of God’s wrath. The final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, in particular 6:12-17, also predicts this sign given in the sun, moon, and stars as a precursor to the Day of the Lord. John writes in Revelation as this the opening of the sixth seal. The same is seen in Matthew 24: 29-31; Luke 21:25, 26, 28; 2 Peter 3:10-12.

In the pre-wrath position the Scripture clearly teaches that Antichrist’s persecution will be against the elect of God (Matthew 24:21-22). On the other hand, Scripture clearly teaches that the wrath of God will be against the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7); Zephaniah 1:17-18.  Romans 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9 all promise that His children will not see the wrath of God.

Luke 17:22, 26-30 is Christ teaching on when the day of the rapture will begin. These two events the rapture and Day of the Lord are tied together.

The pre-wrath position teaches four concepts:

1. The wrath of God that will be poured out upon the wicked in the end times is called “the Day of the Lord”, “the end”, or “the end of the age”.
2. The wrath of God will immediately follow a sign that He will give in the heavens, in the sun, moon, and stars, warning the world of what is to follow, and telling the saints of God to look up because the time for their deliverance has come.
3. The wrath of God should never be confused with the wrath of Satan, who is the power behind Antichrist’s persecution of God’s elect.
4. On that day, Jesus is revealed, the saints will be rescued (raptured) and God’s wrath will begin against those who remain.

Those who look at this position believe it to be Scripturally sound and see the church going through the great tribulation. Those who endure to the end will be raptured on the same day the wrath of God begins.

Pre, Post or Wrath

By far the most popular Rapture position taught is the pretribulation position. They look for Christ to return before the seven-year tribulation period begins. They do not believe the church will experience the persecution by the Antichrist during that terrible time that Christ specifically refers to in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) and that John describes in the book of Revelation. This position is taught at many Bible Schools and Seminaries, such as Moody Bible School and Dallas Theological Seminary.

A far smaller group of evangelical teachers of prophecy argue that the rapture of the saints will not occur until the very end of the tribulation period, meaning the church will undergo persecution at the hands of Antichrist. This position known as posttribulation is taught at far fewer schools.

An even smaller group of evangelical teachers and pastors hold to the pre-wrath position. It puts together the teaching of both previous positions looking to Scripture, as all three do, but doing so using face-value hermeneutics.  It is said many who are of the pre-wrath position were formally pretribulationists. But, most are fearful of losing their position teaching or in the Church they lead so they keep quiet concerning the pre-wrath position. One recently published article claims that one of the greatest Baptist preachers of the 19^th century, Charles Hadden Spurgeon’s, position was most closely identifiable with that of historic premillennialism in teaching the church will experience the tribulation. This same article states that key features of historic premillennialism are two fold. The first stating the kingdom will be the culmination of the church age and the second is that the rapture will follow the tribulation, with the church going through the tribulation.

All three positions are given in hope that interest in learning more about the different thoughts concerning the tribulation, which all three have agreement, and how each sees the rapture fitting into these positions.   My desire is the reader will research and define their own position.

References:

Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson

The Rapture Question Answered, Plain & Simple by Robert Van Kampen

Translation of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (The Didache) compiled in the book The Apostolic Fathers edited by J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer

The Millennial Position of Spurgeon by Dennis M. Swanson