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Meta
off to Scotland
Published by bryan | Filed under journal entries
August 23rd.
After a day in New York, going back to the Met and walking around Central Park, I’m off to Scotland for a much-needed vacation. I will be joining friends there to attend a week-long retreat focussing on contemplative prayer. I’m looking forward to the time with God as much as I am looking forward to the time with friends. For reading on the airplane, I picked up the new Karen Armstrong book “Jerusalem, One City, Three Faiths” I’m just into it a few pages, but am looking forward to a better understanding of the conflict in that part of the world. An interesting quote from the front matter of the book:
“In the United States, the Christian Right has also hardened its position. They have long believed that the final battle off Armageddon will be fought outside the city, and that Jews must be present in the Holy Land in order to fulfil the ancient prophecies (even though all the unbaptised Jews will be massacred by the Antichrist.) During the Cold War, Christian fundamentalist regarded the Soviet Union as the Antichrist; since September 11th, they have come to believe that Islam will fulfill this role. Their apocalyptic views undoubtedly have an influence on American policy in the Middle East.”
I’ve not read any of the end-times literature being published by Christian houses, but found myself wanting distance from that kind of thinking. I am not certain why any Christian wouldn’t desire peaceful negotiations. I don’t think we are Nihilists, are we?
An interesting note: Karen Armstrong, the books author, is a Nun.
Don
August 24th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Don, I echo your question about why any Christian wouldn’t want peaceful negotiations in this area. But this also makes me question why Christians would be more interested in the end times than sharing the love and salvation of Jesus. Given that there is a great deal of human guessing into what exactly is prophecied about the end times, shouldn’t we focus more on what we know to be true, namely the love of Jesus Christ our Savior?
I hope that your vacation is restful and fulfilling to your Spirit!
August 24th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Armstrong’s book is quite provacative. I’ll be curious to hear your response to her take on Jerusalem. An interesting note: Some of the greatest women I’ve ever met are nuns. Peace, jess
August 24th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Armstrong’s book is quite provacative. I’ll be curious to hear your take on her insight.
An interesting note: Some of the most fascinating women I’ve ever befriended are nuns.
Peace,
jess
August 25th, 2006 at 3:41 am
The Karen Armstrong book sounds interesting! I just took an exegetical Greek book study on Revelation. So challenging! We did talk a bit about the misconceptions about the timing and location of the “end times” and how that has played into our support of Israel and our focus on the Middle East. I think ultimately God will win the Victory in Christ and the when & where matter less than our participation in the Kingdom of God on earth as it unfolds now. I was challenged, invigorated, amazed, humbled and surprised by the last book in the N.T. It is more beautiful and glorious in its genre, which is not as a history. It is putting words and images to the character of a God who will ultimately be victorious. It is not giving Christians some secret knowledge or timeline for the end. For John’s readers it was an encouragement during a time of persecution to remain faithful and today it is a challenge to us not to marry our faith with the power of the state…
August 25th, 2006 at 9:02 am
I don’t believe people ignore sharing the love of Christ to guess about the end times. We are eternal beings and it is natural to be excited about the end times. Revelation 1:3 says that a person will be blessed if they read and about the end times and take it to heart.
In this thread, the word “peace” or “peaceful negotiations” has been mentioned. Look back in history and review how peace is achieved. Peace is achieved through violence. Typically, there is a winner and a loser. Christ defeated death and sin through violence. God’s precious word is filled with violence. Peace is not the absence of war, but most often a result of war. Don’t try to be the smartest in the crowd on this subject. It is common sense!!
August 25th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Karen Armstrong is a former nun. She talks about why she left in her book “The Spiral Staircase”.
August 25th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
Wow…am thinking I am not computer literate when it comes to your website, and posting/and or asking a question, OR just posting thoughts.. Very difficult, and I’m NOT stupid nor unformiliar with the Internet.
Obviously THE WebMaster is quite brilliant
August 26th, 2006 at 1:08 am
It is my understanding that most Christian fundamentalists see antichrist coming out of Europe, not the middle east. I believe it is the West, America and the European Union, which will ride in and restore peace to the region through diplomacy and military maneuverings, and at the same time usher in the age of the tribulation and whatnot. Anyway, that is how I understood it to be amongst the American Christians. Whatever happens, I’ll see you up there and we can watch it unfold together. God bless!
August 27th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
I want to go to Scotland…
September 11th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
I can’t figure out why anyone would even bother trying to predict who the anti-christ will be or where it comes from. Wether or not we get it right, the anti-christ is coming. All we can do is focus on God, and ask Him to give us the strength we will need to show as many people the way as we can before the time comes.
Besides, I really dont think a bunch of fundamentalists telling the world that Islam will spawn the anti-christ will do much for a peaceful solution to this whole mess…
September 13th, 2006 at 10:29 am
I was raised in the Southern Baptist church, although I now do not lay claim to any particular denomination at the present time (not to say I won’t in the future), and I learned from the DTS perspective of end times. I believe I was taught that the Anti-Christ would come from a revived Roman Empire from the 10 Nation Confederacy (believed to be the EU). I’ve NEVER heard of Christian fundamentalists believing that Islam is now fulfilling the role of Anti-Christ. Although, I suppose that there are fundamentalists outside of the Baptist/DTS community. Perhaps this is their view!
Either way, I don’t think the details should be my concern at this point. My mission is to know Jesus and make Him known in places He is not known.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
I can totally relate to the desire to distance ones self from the teachings of many fundamentalists on the end times. It seems that they all tend to be zionists, and they seem to teach it as if it were a teaching that had been around since Jesus rather than a relatively “new” concept…..any way, my Pastor just taught a very informative 3 part series on the subject of the middle East in response to a lot of “is the world ending” type questions. He broke it down into past, present and future, and Don, you will probably agree with his take on the future. I would love to send you the 3 cd’s if you are interested in listening….I attend a church in Nashville Tn…..not that it matters, it just seemed like I should tell you…oh yeah, Love the books!!
October 20th, 2006 at 10:05 am
This relatively new dispensationalist interpretation of the Bible, which dictates all of this End Times battles everyone has been discussing, is an American phenomena created by Darby and popularized by Scofield’s Reference Bible.
If you want to distance yourself from it, simply embrace the historic understanding of the Church that Revelation is symbolic, as are all visions in the Bible. This is the view of the reformed church today.