JedidiahDavidson

I just shared this passage earlier today in response to a former witch coming to Christ to encourage and support the idea that trying to find answers apart from God are going to put us in circles. Salvation comes from simple acceptance of the truth and faith like a child to make it our own without hesitation. God really did make it simple for us, didn't He?

Say more. I'll need you to unpack that for me. Where is the "imaginary adversary" in what you quoted?

The weird thing about spacetime is that it isn't constant. If you go fast enough, you experience time dilation--less time passes for you than the world around you. It's been clocked by jet fighter pilots who break the sound barrier. Over sufficient time and distance, space would begin to compress as well. Moving at lightspeed will compress space relative to your velocity such that a photon traveling from the sun at near-lightspeed would, if it had eyes, observe our planet to be a disc about 60 feet thick. As it turns out, the material universe is extremely dynamic and relative and not at all the static, constant edifice we thought. The double-slit experiment established how subatomic particles are affected by the observation of the observer. What all of this comes down to is exactly what many of the ancient philosophers already suggested--true reality is beyond the limited scope of finite man to grasp. The Creator of all reality is God, and we hold that God knows the end from the beginning. He has described one possible end as Hell and another as Heaven; Heaven is where He is while Hell is where He is not. David had such faith that God would be with him even in Hell--such faith! Trying to frame those invisible ends of ontological being in geographical terms would be an exercise in futility because the very word "geographical" puts Earth ("Geo") at the center of the premise, precisely where it does not belong. We want to be wherever God is, and thanks to Jesus, our Emmanuel, God is with us, and that ought to be our focus. Wherever the King is, Heaven shall be there also.

Once again, I have to ask why Paul included himself as someone delivered from the coming wrath? His use of "us" creates a context which seems to eliminate an isolated period at the end of the world. How do we reconcile that context with strict Futurism?

If John meant general persecution such as all followers receive, he would not have used the definite article. We know, for example, that John wasn't referring to just any kingdom but to THE Kingdom which Jesus preached by use of the definite article. I know the KJV leaves out the definite article when translating Revelation 1:9 but it is most definitely there. John was referring to THE Tribulation, THE Kingdom, and patience (no definite article) of Jesus Christ. Do with that knowledge what you will. My only point is that the text requires us to acknowledge John as a companion in the tribulation and the kingdom, and those who observe the rule of first mention then infer all subsequent mention of tribulation within the context of chapter 1.

When I approach Revelation, I look very closely at the very first chapter in order to understand the terms and conditions set on the presentation of the vision. Verses 1 and 2 tell us that the revelation/apocalypse is of Jesus, from God, about what must shortly come to pass, and that John bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ by the things he saw. Timelines don't seem particularly important in that opening premise. Verse 3 says those who read and keep the words of the prophecy will be blessed because the time was at hand. Time for what? Verse 6 says that Jesus has made us (includes John the author) as kings and priests unto God the Father. Verse 9 has John including himself as a "brother and companion in the tribulation, the kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ"--yes, the original text has "the tribulation" in the Greek; translations which omit the definite article are in error. Most eschatological positions overlook these very important statements, instead jumping straight into the Christophany or even to the opening of the Scroll in chapter 5. Amillennialism and Idealism may not be perfect interpretations but they do a fine job of accounting for every line of Scripture with nothing wasted.