Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mitel!spock!watson@uunet.uu.net (Steve Watson) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Christ's 2nd Coming? Message-ID: Date: 20 Sep 90 07:11:42 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. Lines: 72 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Excerpted from recent postings on talk.relegion.misc & soc.religion.christian: In article <1990Sep13.143545.18782@swbatl.sbc.com> kamphau@oktext.UUCP (Mark Kamphaus) writes: >Postmillenium is not a total christian concept. It was originated >by a unitarian minister reconciling different beliefs. ................... >If you want to look at the timing of the >new age movement and the postmillenial revival, then you can draw your >own conclusions. and: >From: ccicpg!cci632!dls@uunet.uu.net (Darren Swartzendruber) ..... >I, too, did not feel led to pray in agreement for a peaceful solution in >the Middle East with the "New Agers", not because of who I'd be in company >with, but because we should be praying for God's will to be done. As part >of any prayer that I pray that His will be done, I also pray that He prepares >me to accept His will, because lets face it, we may not like it. ..deletions... >current Middle East events all point to the Lord coming soon! The above postings exemplify some of the reasons I no longer belong to a fundamentalist church. 1) The quoted part of the Kamphaus posting is pure inuendo: why can Christians never just *disagree* with each other? Why must they always insinuate that the opposing viewpoint is part of some satanic plot? I now belong to a mainline liberal church (United Church of Canada). I don't always agree with what goes on there, but I find it much more pleasant that people don't have this whole doctrinal agenda which one is expected to accept lock, stock & barrel, or there's something wrong with one's faith. ( :-) I would make a lousy Roman Catholic, too. :-) ) 2) As for praying for peace in Iraq: I assume that the God who commanded "Thou shalt do no murder", who "takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked", and (especially) "...who so loved the world, etc." does not, in his perfect will, want the death and agony brought by war. He does of course, frequently ALLOW it because he allows us free will. But I object to the idea of refraining from prayer for peace because one thinks that war is part of the prophesied Armageddon/Tribulation/2nd_Coming or whatever. Interpretations of prophecy seem to vary so widely (right, Mr. Kamphaus?) that they have lost all credibility with me. I therefore find it appalling that Christians set aside what I see as fundamental ethical issues in favour of their pet scheme of prophetic interpretation. As another example, prophecy is used to justify whatever the State of Israel does (against the Palestinians for e.g.) because Israel's existence is necessary to some people's eschatology. I don't want to get into a major debate on the Palestinian question: granted the PLO are terrorists, the Palestinians aren't saints, but they ARE real people who have been conquered & displaced, and continue to be exploited and kicked around. They deserve justice. Looking at events only in terms of prophetic interpretation degrades the people of the MidEast into ciphers in an eschatological game: not people whom God loves and for whom Christ died. I believe Jesus' teaching about the 'thief in the night' indicates that we are *not* to know about his coming, or spend a lot of time combing the Bible for every verse that might let us second-guess the divine time-table (and then dis-fellowship everyone who did the same thing, but came to a different conclusion!). No, we are to make ready for the Lord by doing our duty: 'do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God' (Mic 6:8). Whether he comes today or in the year 3000 is his problem, not ours. IHN, -- ====================== disclaimer =============================== "Blame me, not the Company I keep..." - Steve Watson UseNet: mitel!spock!watson@uunet.uu.net