Eschatology: An Intro And Brief Synopsis

Last year I set out to dig into the theology of the Holy Spirit and decide for myself what I thought Scripture taught as well as what the most denominations taught in regards to the aforementioned. This year I want to do the same thing and tackle eschatology. You all should know that eschatology and I haven't always mixed well. I grew up in a Christian home, but my parents were never shy about talking about the Second Coming. Fast forward to my 18th year and my church went on an "eschatology crusade" to the effect that if you didn't believe Jesus was coming back within the year you were a little ostricized and you clearly didn't know the Scriptures like you should.

Looking back on that time it's clear to see that certain views of eschatology dominate denominations, just like different views of church government, spiritual gifts, etc. What I want to do in the next unnamed amount of posts about eschatology is to unpack the major views, the arguments for that view, and look at what the Bible says about all of them. Also as a fair warning to all, I've been doing my homework on eschatology this past week, and I readily admit the waters get muddy real fast. So if you get confused, please don't fret; it's normal. Yesterday I was researching what Spurgeon's stance was on eschatology, and funny enough, he never really adhered to one, at least not in the pulpit or in print. If you want to check that out more, there's plenty to read on the Spurgeon Archive.

Please don't be afraid of studying eschatology. The end of eschatology is Jesus. The second Advent is about Jesus, not about end-time prophecy or Israel or the Antichrist. Once we understand that Jesus is the center of eschatology can we more fully understand it's place in the Gospel and the glorious reality that this life is not what we're here for. The next post we will dive into the first of four views concerning the end times/millenium views. Have a good day. :)

ryan