by. ryan.moffat
For some of you Bible College/seminary people you’ll appreciate the following description: Quite a few nerds hanging out in a classroom, a professor who is ridiculously smart is teaching our Senior level eschatology class. As seniors we’re stoked- We’re finally here! We made it and we even get to talk about the end times, what could be better? From this point forward things go downhill quick. Charts of pre-mill, post-mill views along with pre-rapture, post rapture debates. Weird diagrams of Daniel 9 that make absolutely no sense to anybody in the room besides the dude in the first row who doesn’t shower because that takes away from his study time (ie the same dude that walks around the campus flipping his Greek and Hebrew flashcards to “maximize his time”). My thought process goes something like this: “Is the point of eschatology to chart out timelines and try to figure out something that Jesus Himself didn’t even know? If this is the summit of a Biblical undergrad education than I am severely disappointed!”
Fast-forward 2 years. I get a hold of Randy Alcorn’s “Heaven” while I’m hanging out with him and his wife for a Monday night football game. I remember Nanci screaming for the packers (she loves the cheeseheads, sorry Nanci about Brett). I also think this was the evening that Dan Stump (Randy’s son-in-law and my best friend) and myself took Randy on in a debate. Quick side note- Never debate Randy Alcorn. It’s kind of like a toddler challenging Chuck Norris, it ain’t gonna be pretty! The debate: Homeschooling- Good or Bad? I won’t tell you what side I was on I’ll just say that Randy won the debate but didn’t change my mind. So anyway I got heaven, started reading and what I found was food for my soul. I found a theology that was based in actual spiritual transformation as I sought to “set my mind on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” This was vastly different than the nebulas charts that I memorized to pass my class. Okay so this is my intro to the following question: What should be the point of our eschatology and how do we approach and understanding a Biblical eschatology? What is the proper place of charts and positions in our eschatology?
Reminder: Randy Alcorn will teach on Heaven at the conference and will do 2 different Q and A sessions Saturday May 10th. Check it out!
