Why Christ has Not Returned

Oldest known image of the Apostle Peter (4th Century)

Why Christ has Not Returned

A Revision of the Predictive Prophetic Model

Critics typically give Christians a drubbing over the fact that the Apostles believed that Christ would return within a generation and he did not and the Apostles never backed off. That kind of drubbing was attempted on this blog within the last two years. While there have been a number of defensive responses that Christians make to this challenge, not well received by critics, Peter Enns has given play time on his website to a new, persuasive and cogent view. The source reference is at the end of this article. 

The Traditional Model of Predictive Prophecy

Prophecy is not always predictive. It takes on many different forms. In general, it refers to inspired speaking or messaging. The topic here is then the subcategory of predictive prophecy. The model for this begins with a person who claims to be a prophet. Typically, the prophet has credentials. He is not just someone off the street but is a part of an ecclesiastical infrastructure that makes him eligible to be heard by the relevant body of followers whether it be the Children of Israel in the OT or a modern church congregation of apocalyptic Millerites. The formula is simple: The prophet proclaims an event to take place in the future and everyone waits for it to happen with various outcomes for the individual and the group. But this is a simplistic to a fault when compared to the more complex Biblical model. 

The Biblical Model of Conditional Predictive Prophecy

The Biblical model of predictive prophecy does not represent a highly systematized process. It originates in the active engagement of God with people and as such may take on many different dynamic features. Initially, the model may seem to be characterized by ad hoc responses. But it is not genuinely ad hoc because “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the Age.” This ad hoc quality, of course, is problematic to legalists and atheists who require a code or body of regulation that rigidly governs the process. Although the model is not highly systematized, a theme that runs through many of the Biblical cases found in this category is that of conditionality. The logical construct is:

If you do A, then B will happen. (Conditional; B is a predicted event)

If not A, then not B. (Denying the Antecedent; B is a predicted event)

A classical example of conditional prophecy is found in Jeremiah 18:5-10. The model has several attributes. Prophecies explain what can happen not what will happen. If you do A, then B will happen. Usually, in the OT context, A is a bad behavior and B is a bad outcome. For instance, “If you worship idols, the Babylonians will conquer you.” But the propositions could be otherwise. Prophecy does not have as its principal goal the prediction of the future. Rather, it leverages the future to effect change in the current behavior of the hearers. And if the hearers repent, like the Assyrians did at the words of Jonah, then we have Denying the Antecedent shown above. While prophecy can be a future agenda delivered with no qualifications it typically is conditional.

Why Christ has not Returned 

The Bible states explicitly why Christ did not return as expected. Peter spoke about this to some Jews in Jerusalem:

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration (apokatastasis) that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21, NRSV)

Also:

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for <and hastening> the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet 3.11-12).

The return of Christ is conditioned by the conduct of the people of God. There are a number of implications that we may draw from this. These words were spoken by Peter early in his ministry. This means that the disciples knew early on that the Parousia was conditional. My guess is that the conditions were such that they also knew that it was likely not to occur as expected. Paul for a while engaged in hopeful thinking but later changed his view. The events listed in Matthew 24 are what God offered if certain conditions were met. The conditions were not met. The apokatastasis has not been inaugurated. (Sidebar: I believe that the events of Matthew 24 can be divided into events that are firmly embedded in determinate chronology and those that do not have a chronological qualification. The fixed events happened in 70 AD. The variable events are yet to occur at an indeterminate date. It takes a spreadsheet to sort this out and I have never done this for fear of contracting Victor Houteff Syndrome.)

In view of Acts 3:19-21, there are some viewpoints that should be abandoned. One is the idea that there are six millennia allocated to human civilization and the seventh millennium will begin the Kingdom of God. No matter who this is attributed to, Elijah or others, it is an abnegation of Acts 3:19-21. No mere tradition of whatever provenance should be permitted to displace scripture. Also, the idea that the Apostles experienced an early version of the Millerite Great Disappointment of 1844 because Christ did not return in their generation is fallacious. Peter and the other Apostles knew what the score was as mentioned above. But hope will burn for a while before it succumbs to experience. Another spurious idea is that imposing conditions implies that God is capricious – he leaves himself an out. This, rather, shows that God has granted a measure of free will to humans and is willing to work with their exercise of that free will. His expressed willingness to respond with changes in circumstances does not cancel the scripture that says “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the Age.” Acts 3:19-21 is especially difficult for someone who stands up and says “I am a prophet and Christ is returning next Monday.” The professed prophet would have to go beyond mere pronouncement and demonstrate that the conditions of Act 3:19 -21 had been either fulfilled or lifted. Unless the professed prophet can explain plausibly why the Biblical conditioning has somehow been abrogated, he can only add to the Biblical requirements creating a compound condition where all conditions must be fulfilled for Christ to return.

False Prophets and Conditionality

Some will contend that if prophecy can be qualified there is no way in which a false prophet may be adjudged to be a false prophet. The false prophet can always say that the reason why the prophecy failed is because a condition was not met. And Deuteronomy 18:20-22 is rendered ineffectual because the false prophet has a “back door. “

Pragmatically, Case 1 below is straightforward and Case 2 can permit an escape.

Case One - A Simple, Unqualified Prediction: If the supposed prophet simply makes a prediction without any qualifications, and it doesn’t happen, then it is easy to see that Deuteronomy 18 principle is relevant.

Case Two – A Conditioned Prediction: The supposed prophet says that “If you repent of giving small offerings, Christ will return next Thursday.” Every congregant repents and increases offerings. Christ doesn’t return. The professed prophet says that Christ did not come because some did not repent. The principle of Deuteronomy 18 may still be applied but the case does require a more complex discovery. If discovery reveals nothing than he prophet cannot be charged. This latter circumstance is an escape.

The point of the small case study above is that even though there may be conditions attached to a prophecy sufficient discovery can result in a just determination on the validity of the prophet as a prophet. Deuteronomy 18 should not be applied anyway because it is part of a superseded covenant and the ministration of death. Some administrative rule based on Deuteronomy 18 might be applied instead. In the formation of such an administrative rule, it should be noted that Deuteronomy 18:15-22 was apparently written to the entire congregation of Israel. The congregation had the burden of responsibility to resolve this situation – doing the discovery, making the judgment and enforcing the verdict. They were not to be just passive victims.

Conclusion

Conditional prophecy is a thematic formulation used in both the OT and NT. Conditioning explains why Biblical prophecy does not always conform to historical reality. Conditioning can be manipulated by those claiming to be prophets but a perceptive congregation will be able to assess this and react appropriately to it. It should be added that this is a pragmatic view. On the theoretical side, it is not clear that the role of prophet for purposes of prediction is an agency used by God at this time.

Reference: Enns, Peter, “On Why Jesus Hasn’t Come Back Yet (And the Answer May Shock You),” Web Article: https://peteenns.com/on-why-jesus-hasnt-come-back-yet/

This article is a work of opinion. I am not a theologian. I am a Christian lay-member and a recovering Armstrongist.

-- Non_Ecliptic_Orbit

Church of God International and the Satanic Philosophy Of New Administration - Still Playing the Politics Game

There He Goes Again

If anyone was hoping for a reset or brief respite after the political trauma and drama within the Church of God International during the Trump years, you are going to be sadly disappointed with the latest offering from Pastor Adrian Davis. The Canadian pastor’s latest offering on the political situation within the United States reflects the same commentary that he and his close ally, Bill Watson, have been peddling for years now. And, apparently, the folks in Tyler are fine with all of this, because they keep posting it on the church’s website!

Davis claims that the Marxists, Socialists, and Globalists have triumphed with the ascension of Joseph R. Biden to the presidency of the United States. In his Sudden Death Overtime sermon, he reminds his listeners that time is short – that the end is drawing near (a narrative familiar to most Armstrongites), and that Biden’s inauguration will hasten that end. He then proceeds to inform his listeners that Biden (and his administration) “hate Jesus Christ.” “They hate Jesus Christ,” he repeats (just in case anyone missed him saying it the first time). “And they’re going to punish and destroy anything that opposes them,” he continues. He goes on to tell us that he feels sorry for Trump because Biden and his team “are going to go after him” (couldn’t have anything to do with what Trump has done).

From that august height, Pastor Davis proceeds to tie opposition to Biden’s Administration to the Christian’s duty to overcome and prevail until the end. His main thesis: Christians are now in “sudden death overtime.” Davis warns folks in the CGI to be ready for Christ’s return. He doesn’t want his folks to be on the losing team when the final bell rings. Davis doesn’t want his folks to be contaminated with Biden’s Satanic philosophy. He warns his listeners that Biden’s “Build Back Better” sounds intellectually appealing, but that they should be very careful to avoid becoming entangled in its socialistic and anti-patriarchal snares. The pastor goes on to imply that Biden may be part of the “mystery of iniquity” and “beast” power mentioned in the book of Revelation! After Gerald Flurry’s prophetic debacle, you would think that these Armstrongites would stay away from this stuff!

Over and over again, Davis mentions the bonds that CGI folks have forged over time and reminds his listeners of Christ’s instructions to love each other (meaning folks within the CGI). He warns church members not to become entangled in Biden’s Satanic philosophy and miss out on participating in Christ’s second coming. One has to wonder if maybe some within CGI have started to push back against this overtly political message?

Perhaps I was being too naïve, but I was hoping that recent events would have taught these folks a lesson about meddling in politics. Unfortunately, like their secular Trumpist allies, these CGI Trumpists appear to be completely unchastened by recent events and intent on doubling down on the error into which they have fallen.

Miller Jones / Lonnie Hendrix

The Zombie Deer Are Back! Oh NOES!!!!! The End Is Here!!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!

 

Church of God prophets work overtime to scour the news to find any tidbit they can to back up their prophetic utterances. The scarier it is the better it makes their absurd utterances look legitimate.

This time it is our favorite self-appointed prophet from the improperly named "continuing Church of "god", the Great Bwana Bobiniah Thiel. Never have we seen a COG leader so obsessed over finding things wrong in the world than we have in the Bobiniah. Whether it is crazy Mayan prophecies or Fatima's miniskirt, Bobiniah is the king of negativity in the Church of God. Even those fun boys in the Living Church of God (Winnail & Weston) occasionally find good things to talk about. The world is filled with beautiful things that happen in far greater amounts than the negative things do. The problem is that COG leaders are not programmed to see good in the world. They need to see people suffer as the world disintegrates around them so that their prophecies can come true and they can be revered as God's chosen vessels.

Sometime back the Bobiniah freaked out over zombie deer running around the woods in various locations in the U.S. His eyes glazed over at that time with ecstasy at the thought of zombie deer biting humans and spreading disease. It was a sure sign his god was pissed. That apparently was not good enough for the Bobiniah as he is back again with the zombie deer but this time he has added locusts to the plagues he envisions.

Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming?
According to certain Jewish traditions, the ten plagues on Egypt are to be repeated before the Messiah comes. Some have wondered if ”Zombie Deer Disease,’ officially knows as ‘Chronic Wasting Disease’ (which is spreading according to the US CDC) is confirmation of that Jewish view. In this video Dr. Thiel goes over each of the ten plagues that struck the Egyptians in the Book of Exodus and ties them in with prophecies in the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. These ‘plagues’ in the New Testament are to happen before Jesus returns. Are all ten to be repeated or are there at least some similarities between what happened to the Egyptians and what will happen in the Beginning of Sorrows, the Great Tribulation, and the Day of the Lord? Are we going to see waters turned to blood, ‘frogs,’ flying swarms, disease pestilences, hail, food shortages, darkness, and massive death? Will some be even worse in the end times than what afflicted Egypt? Are any Christians promised protection from the coming ‘hour of trial’? Who and why? Dr. Thiel addresses these questions and more through scriptures in the Old and New Testaments.

Has the COG ever had such a theological untrained idiot running off at the mouth about eschatology than we have in him? Even Gerald Waterhouse, as batshit crazy as he was, was at least entertaining in his doom and gloom.  Bobiniah, never. The Bobiniah gets all of his junk theology from Herbert Armstrong,  COG booklets, and writings by Rod Meredith, none of which were grounded in proper hermenutics studies.

Bobiniah quotes old WCG literature:

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following warning in 1969, related to locusts and destruction:

The Prophet Joel was inspired to write: 

 

“Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come” (Joel 1:15).

This “Day of the Lord” refers to God’s intervention in mankind’s affairs — His return to restore peace and order to a world full of sick societies. Joel’s first chapter describes some of the events which will lead up to the grand climax of the Day of the Lord as described in Chapter 2. Here in the modern language of the Living Prophecies translation is what chapter 1 says:

“Listen, you aged men of Israel [the leaders of modern-day Great Britain and the United States of America]! Everyone, listen! In all your lifetime, yes, in all your history, have you ever heard of such a thing as I am going to tell you? In years to come, tell your children about it; pass the awful story down from generation to generation” (verses 2-3).

Yes, an event utterly unprecedented in history is about to be described! Here is what that event is:

“For after the cutter-locusts finish eating your crops, the swarmer-locusts will take what’s left! After them will come the hopper-locusts! And then the stripper-locusts, too!… A vast army of locusts covers the land. It is a terrible army too numerous to count, with teeth as sharp as those of lions!

They have ruined My vines and stripped the bark from the fig trees, leaving trunks and branches white and bare” (verses 4-7).

Then the Bobiniah, in his infinite wisdom, writes this:

Yes, locusts, even when they are not fulfilling prophecies such as in the Book of Joel can cause many problems. 

 

That being said, Jesus Himself warned that the “signs” of the end of the age would include pestilences and famines:

7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:11) 

 

Reducing food supplies can lead to famines. 

 

In the sixth chapter of the Book of Revelation, the ride of four horsemen are described. The passages about the third and fourth horseman are as follows:

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:5-8) 

 

So, the opening of the fourth seal is the time that the pale horse of death is apparently increasing death by war, hunger, and pestilences (the beasts of the earth). 

 

We are not there yet, but we do seem to be in the “beginning of sorrows” that Jesus foretold.

These things have been happening are regular intervals for centuries. The only difference is now we have instant news and the internet which over hypes everything going on in the world and makes it rapidly available for consumption. Many accurate news sources say that weather patterns, plagues, etc are less today than at any point in human history, though you would never hear that from a COG splinter leader. They need destruction, misery, and death as their companions.