On the Second Coming of Christ: New Bodies?

(Okay, I know that I promised "2a and 2b—or not 2b!".  But when I sat down to write it, "New Bodies?" came out first.  Don't worry, "2a and 2b—or not 2b!" is still going to be written.)

I Thessalonians describes the moment that we are taken to be with Jesus:

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. ¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

There is great number of things that I want to say here, but in order to keep these blogs short and concise, I will limit myself to one note—an oddity.

I Lift My Eyes Up

(A short break from the “On the Second Coming of Christ” series.  Look for “Part 2a and 2b—or not 2b” soon!)

The opening lines of Psalm 121 are very familiar to us as they have been used in a popular song:

¹ I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
² My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121

Now, it is obvious what the Psalmist is telling us to do: trust in the Lord.  BUT, to is not altogether obvious to our 21st century eyes what the Psalmist is telling us not to do.  Recall that the Bible often judges the righteousness of the kings of Israel and Judah based on how they handled idolatry.  Here is an accounting of Josiah:

On the Second Coming of Christ: The Antichrist

And the second is like unto it…Some of you may cry foul on this blog stating that it is the same reason as the first blog.  I see it as similar but different.   The last blog was about a general readiness for the end times.  Here we get to greater detail.

Both Jesus and Paul go into great detail describing the antichrist for believers.  Here’s an excerpt from Jesus’ Olivet discourse:

On the Second Coming of Christ: Be Prepared??

I plan to write a few blogs describing my thoughts on Christ’s return.  If you are a non-Christian, you are welcome to read on, but realize that this is an “in-house” debate.  By that I mean that I’m not trying to be persuasive to nonbelievers but addressing believers directly.  Ok now that that is out of the way…

The average Christian today believes in a plotline that would closely mimic that of “Left Behind” for the second coming of Christ.  I don’t.  I happen to believe that the rapture is the resurrection and that the resurrection is coincident with Christ’s physical, bodily return to earth after the Tribulation has occurred.

A Social Media Conversation on Abortion

A few days ago I saw an article describing a woman who aborted twins late during her pregnancy because they were girls.  I linked to that article and posted an argument with abbreviate words due to Twitter's 140-charater limit.  Below I’ve rewritten the post without the original abbreviations:

Killing a human without proper justification is wrong. Abortion kills a human without proper justification. Abortion is wrong.

My Twitter account is linked to my Facebook account.  Here is a copy of the conversation that followed from this post:

Samson a Terrorist?

A recent caller to Greg Koukl’s Stand to Reason radio show asked if it was ever okay to commit suicide in order to kill your enemies.  He then went on to draw comparisons between Samson and the 9/11 hijackers.  Such an argument can deliver much rhetorical force.  Indeed there are several similarities between Samson and the hijackers.  First, they both prayed before the onset of their actions.  Both took actions knowing that their deaths were certain.  Both killed around 3,000 people with their actions.  Yet Samson is viewed as a hero while the hijackers are viewed as villains.  What gives?  Is this a case of a double standard?

The weakness of the above line of reasoning is common.  In fact, many make the same mistake when comparing the religions of the world.  They assume that if a few things, people, or systems have some commonality then they are basically the same.  All too often, however, a vast gulf of differences divides the things, people, or systems being compared in spite of the similarities.  It is the differences that count.

In the case of Samson, his nation was at open war with the Philistines.  He was a prisoner of that war.  He was already tortured (in the real sense—not how we use that word today) by having his eyes burned out.  The men and women who were killed were his captors and his open enemies.  Samson’s actions were therefore justified.  In fact, they would fall in line with Code of Conduct used by men and women of the armed forces today.

On the other hand, the hijackers were not at open war with America.  They were not captives but free men.  They had not be tortured or wronged.  The men and women they murdered were innocent civilians.  There can be no justification for their actions.

Do not be deceived by a few similarities.  It is the differences that count!

Post Script:  One must be careful while reading the Bible not to turn a descriptive passage into a prescriptive passage.  Whether it is ultimately right to pray for God's help during a "suicide mission" isn't answered by the account of Samson in the book of Judges.  This account simply describes what happened.

"Good" Nontheists?

A new advertising campaign by the Coalition of Reason (CoR) began recently in Little Rock.   These ads are a part of a nationwide campaign that has used the same and similar ads on buses and billboards across America.  The Little Rock ad asks, “Are you good without God? Millions are.”  The statement seems simple enough on the first read, but clarity is needed.  What is meant by the phrase “without God”?  It is possible that CoR uses this phrase to convey “without a belief in God who does actually exist”.  It is doubtful, however, that this interpretation is correct.  “Without the existence of God” is more likely what is intended.  If that is the case, then further questions need to be asked.  What does CoR mean by “good”?  Who gets to decide what is “good” and what is “bad”?  Their website (accessed on 12 October 2011) states that the ad campaign’s purpose is simply to make those of a nontheist* persuasion aware that there are others of like mind in their area.  If this was truly the only purpose for the campaign, one must ask why they do not simply use another version of their ads that states “Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone.”  The use of the Little Rock version indicates that CoR is also attempting to make a statement to the general public.  CoR’s ad is making the claim that nontheists abide by a recognized standard of ethics.  In order for this to mean anything worth saying, this recognized standard must be substantive, not merely a changeable standard of preference.