[Peace-discuss] RE: The Christmas He Dreamed for All of Us

[C. G. Estabrook]

Of course you know, John, that the dispensationalist theology
that you describe here is a recent and minority view in the
history of Christianity, set out only in the 19th century by
John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) and spread in America by the
Moody Bible Institute et al.  

I heard a sermon recently in a Champaign church by a pastor
who described "rapture theology" as heresy.  (He meant of
course material heresy; formal heresy is a conscious choice
against what one knows to be true and is therefore in a
serious matter sinful -- like supporting the death penalty for
votes when you know it's wrong.)

The theme of "total depravity" -- also a minority (largely
Calvinist) view -- has a slightly longer history, but you seem
to modify it a bit in your last paragraph, away from a
quietist position. 

But it seems to me that the relevance of Christianity to human
behavior is primarily a matter of politics: it's concerned
first of all with the structures of relationship within which
people live.  It's true that we've recently emerged from an
era in which Christianity has been thought to be primarily
about "individual salvation," and era in which the good news
of Christianity was held to be only about the soul, a private
and interior world, and to have only an accidental concern for
the body and the public political world.  Very few Christians
of our time would subscribe explicitly to this view, but it
has left a number of attitudes and assumptions that affect us
often without our noticing.

Despite the Rube Goldberg mechanisms of dispensationalist
theology, it was on to one important thing, however
inadequately: to be a Christian is to know that one can take
the meaning of one's life not just from the world around us
("world" in the New Testament is almost always a political
term), but from the world to come, the kingdom that was at the
center of Jesus' preaching.  And that of course frees us to
work while there is light.  

As Camus said, we must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Regards, Carl


>On 29 Dec 2005 "John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote-- 
>  ...
>Christians fortunately have the hope of heaven, and also of a
transformed 
>earth when Jesus returns to earth to rule for a thousand
years following a 
>period known as the tribulation.  Many Christians believe
that we are now 
>in what is called the "last days" - which, if true, will mean
a period of 
>great suffering preceding the millennial reign of Christ.
>
>As a born-again fundamentalist Christian, I interpret the
Bible to mean 
>that man CANNOT, through his own efforts, bring about a
better world.  Sin 
>- encompassing ego, selfishness, narcissism, greed, pride,
etc. - is far 
>too pervasive in man.  This, incidentally, is one of the
principal tenets 
>that differentiates Judeo-Christianity from every other
religion and belief 
>system of which I am aware.  And my study of history
corroborates this 
>Biblical perspective.  Man keeps doing the same old tired
things over and 
>over again.  I'm aware of very little in the way of human
"evolution" away 
>from brutishness and toward truly enlightened behavior. 
Certainly far less 
>than the technological evolution that we've all witnessed.
>
>Nevertheless, Sisyphean though it seems most of the time,
while I'm on this 
>earth I believe I am called to try to live as Jesus lived. 
"What would 
>Jesus do?" is more than a cliche; it's something I'm supposed
to ask myself 
>constantly as I journey through life.  Some of you who think
you know me, 
>and who think you know yourselves, will scoff since I fail so
often, but I 
>do try.
>
>I also believe that, if we work very seriously at living as
Jesus lived, we 
>can each make a small positive difference in that portion of
the world 
>which we impact, and perhaps in the world as a whole.  That
would apply 
>also, I imagine, if we genuinely lived as Buddha lived, or as
Confucius 
>lived, or as the Dalai Lama lives.  I'm not at all sanguine
about our 
>creating an earthly utopia, because as I said, there is far
too much sin 
>both within the church and without it.  But we can make the
earth a 
>slightly more hospitable place through the power of love. 
That is what I 
>strive to do.  And I see no conflict between Biblical
Christianity and what 
>has been termed "social justice".  I believe that if we are
truly living 
>the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are not only preaching a "pie
in the sky by 
>and by" Christ, but as stewards of the earth we are actively
working to 
>make our little corner of the planet a more loving, peaceful,
equitable and 
>sustainable place.
>
>John Wason