TH 502 Quiz #3

Major Varieties of Millennialism

For purposes of analysis and explanation Christian attitudes toward the millennium can be classified as premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial. These categories involve much more than the arrangement of events surrounding the return of Christ. The thousand years expected by the premillennialist is quite different from that anticipated by the postmillennialist. The premillennialist believes that the kingdom of Christ will be inaugurated in a cataclysmic way and that divine control will be exercised in a more supernatural manner than does the postmillennialist. The premillennialist believes that the return of Christ will be preceded by signs, including wars, famines, earthquakes, the preaching of the gospel to all nations, a great apostasy, the appearance of Antichrist, and the great tribulation. These events culminate in the second coming, which will result in a period of peace and righteousness when Christ and his saints control the world. This rule is established suddenly through supernatural methods rather than gradually over a long period of time by means of the conversion of individuals. The Jews will figure prominently in the future age because the premillennialist believes that they will be converted in large numbers and will again have a prominent place in God's work. Nature will have the curse removed from it, and even the desert will produce abundant crops. Christ will restrain evil during the age by the use of authoritarian power. Despite the idyllic conditions of this golden age there is a final rebellion of wicked people against Christ and his saints. This exposure of evil is crushed by God, the non-Christian dead are resurrected, the last judgment conducted, and the eternal states of heaven and hell established. Many premillennialists have taught that during the thousand years dead or martyred believers will be resurrected with glorified bodies to intermingle with the other inhabitants of the earth. In contrast to premillennialism, the postmillennialists emphasize the present aspects of God's kingdom, which will reach fruition in the future. They believe that the millennium will come through Christian preaching and teaching. Such activity will result in a more godly, peaceful, and prosperous world. The new age will not be essentially different from the present, and it will come about as more people are converted to Christ. Evil will not be totally eliminated during the millennium, but it will be reduced to a minimum as the moral and spiritual influence of Christians is increased. During the new age the church will assume greater importance, and many economic, social, and educational problems will be solved. This period is not necessarily limited to a thousand years, because the number can be used symbolically. The millennium closes with the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the last judgment. The third position, amillennialism, states that the Bible does not predict a period of the rule of Christ on earth before the last judgment. According to this outlook there will be a continuous development of good and evil in the world until the second coming of Christ, when the dead shall be raised and the judgment conducted. Amillennialists believe that the kingdom of God is now present in the world as the victorious Christ rules his church through the Word and the Spirit. They feel that the future, glorious, and perfect kingdom refers to the new earth and life in heaven. Thus Revelation 20 is a description of the souls of dead believers reigning with Christ in heaven.

Cosubstantiation

The Reformers agreed in their condemnation of the doctrine of transubstantiation. They held it to be a serious error that is contrary to Scripture; repugnant to reason; contrary to the testimony of our senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch; destructive of the true meaning of a sacrament; and conducive to gross superstition and idolatry. Luther's first salvo against what he considered to be a perversion of the Lord's Supper was Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In it he charges the church with a threefold bondage in its doctrine and practice concerning the supper—withholding the cup from the people, transubstantiation, and the teaching that the supper is a sacrifice offered to God. Luther tells about his earlier instruction in the theology of the sacrament and of some of his doubts: "When I learned later what church it was that had decreed this, namely the Thomistic—that is, the Aristotelian church—I grew bolder, and after floating in a sea of doubt, I at last found rest for my conscience in the above view, namely, that it is real bread and real wine, in which Christ's real flesh and real blood are present in no other way and to no less a degree than the others assert them to be under their accidents. I reached this conclusion because I saw that the opinions of the Thomists, whether approved by pope or by council, remain only opinions, and would not become articles of faith even if an angel from heaven were to decree otherwise (Gal. 1:18). For what is asserted without the Scriptures or proven revelation may be held as an opinion, but need not be believed. But this opinion of Thomas hangs so completely in the air without support of Scripture or reason that it seems to me he knows neither his philosophy nor his logic. For Aristotle speaks of subject and accidents so very differently from St. Thomas that it seems to me this great man is to be pitied not only for attempting to draw his opinions in matters of faith from Aristotle, but also for attempting to base them upon a man whom he did not understand, thus building an unfortunate superstructure upon an unfortunate foundation" (Works 36:29). Luther was feeling his way into a new understanding of the sacrament at this time, but he believed it legitimate to hold that there are real bread and real wine on the altar. He rejected the Thomistic position of a change in the substance of the elements while the accidents remain, inasmuch as Aristotle, from whom the terms "substance" and "accidents" were borrowed, allowed no such separation. The "third captivity," the doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass, Luther declared to be "by far the most wicked of all" for in it a priest claims to offer to God the very body and blood of Christ as a repetition of the atoning sacrifice of the cross, only in an unbloody manner, whereas the true sacrament of the altar is a "promise of the forgiveness of sins made to us by God, and such a promise as has been confirmed by the death of the Son of God." Since it is a promise, access to God is not gained by works or merits by which we try to please him but by faith alone. "For where there is the Word of the promising God, there must necessarily be the faith of the accepting man." "Who in the world is so foolish as to regard a promise received by him, or a testament given to him, as a good work, which he renders to the testator by his acceptance of it? What heir will imagine that he is doing his departed father a kindness by accepting the terms of the will and the inheritance it bequeaths to him? What godless audacity is it, therefore, when we who are to receive the testament of God come as those who would perform a good work for him! This ignorance of the testament, this captivity of so great a sacrament—are they not too sad for tears? When we ought to be grateful for benefits received, we come arrogantly to give that which we ought to take. With unheard-of perversity we mock the mercy of the giver by giving as a work the thing we receive as a gift, so that the testator, instead of being a dispenser of his own goods, becomes the recipient of ours. Woe to such sacrilege!" (Works 36:47-48). In his determination to break the bondage of superstition in which the church was held, Luther wrote four more tracts against the medieval perversion of the Lord's Supper. However, he also fought doctrinal developments on the other side. Some who with him rejected Roman Catholic error were denying any real presence of Christ in the supper; against them, beginning in 1524, Luther directed an attack. In these five writings he showed that, while he rejected transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass, he still believed that Christ is bodily present in the Lord's Supper and that his body is received by all who partake of the elements. "On this we take our stand, and we also believe and teach that in the supper we eat and take to ourselves Christ's body truly and physically." While he acknowledged the mystery, he was certain of the fact of Christ's real corporeal presence inasmuch as he had said when he instituted the Supper, "This is my body." If Scripture cannot be taken literally here, it cannot be believed anywhere, Luther held, and we are on the way to "the virtual denial of Christ, God, and everything" (Works 37:29, 53).

Intermediate State - Spirits in Prison

A further area of reflection has concerned itself with the language of 1 Peter 3:18-22 and 4:6 about the preaching by the Crucified to the "spirits in prison." This imagery has been rather naturally related to the question of the state of all those who never heard the gospel, infants, and the impaired. Does (or did) Christ preach to these so that they too have the opportunity of belief? Is this what is behind the phrase "descended into hell"? It certainly has been interpreted this way from Origen to Luther (Calvin saw this phrase as a theological reflection on the meaning of Christ's death). The reference to spirits in prison brings us to the biblical teaching that is the backdrop for the doctrine of the intermediate state, the OT doctrine of Sheol, translated Hades in the NT. Strictly speaking the early OT concept of Sheol is not part of the intermediate state. Here Sheol is either the grave or the realm of the dead where there is the absence of all we know as life, yet existence continues. Sheol is pictured as a gloomy prison where there is no hope (Job 17:13-16), an insatiable monster (Prov. 30:15-16). However, elsewhere in the OT this is not all. Hope reaches beyond Sheol to rejoice in a future in the presence of God (Pss. 49:15; 73:24-26). As the full apocalyptic vision of a final judgment emerges in Daniel 12:2-3, Sheol has become the intermediate state. In the era between the Testaments, distinctions within Sheol emerged, and Sheol became separate from paradise, yet connected. We see this in the parable discussed. Finally, the vision of the book of Revelation sees Sheol (Hades) as being destroyed in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). This vision of the final judgment answers the cry of the souls of the martyred witnesses to Christ, "How long ... until you judge?" (Rev. 6:10). This last judgment will not be rendered till death and Hades gave up the dead in them (Rev. 20:13). The intermediate state remains an area of inevitable concern for Christians both for practical pastoral reasons and as part of the meaning of salvation. However, it should remain clear that the hope of the Christian focuses on the parousia of Christ and the new creation. Speculation on the intermediate state should never diminish the certainty that flows from the cross or the hope in the new creation.

Authority in the Church - Locus

Arguably, the strongest authoritative human voices in the earliest churches were the apostles (in the narrow sense of that flexible term, i.e., the Twelve [Matthias replacing Judas] plus Paul). Their authority extended beyond the local congregation, even beyond those that they were instrumental in founding (how else could Peter's influence be felt in Corinth and Paul's in Colossae?), but not without limit. A Peter could prove inconsistent in practice (Gal. 2:11- 14), a Paul mistaken in judgment (Acts 15:37- 40; cf. 2 Tim. 4:11). The objective truth of the gospel enjoys antecedent authority; if even an apostle tampers with that, he is reckoned anathema (Gal. 1:8- 9). So an authoritative gospel must be passed on. That Paul in an early epistle can speak of the old covenant as being read (2 Cor. 3:14) anticipates a reading of the presupposed new covenant (and therefore a NT canon) with scriptural authority analogous to the OT (2 Pet. 3:15- 16). In such cases, however, whether the writer be an apostle or not, the authority rests in the resulting inspired Scriptures, not the human author (2 Tim. 3:16). Indeed, the true NT analogue to the OT prophet is not the NT prophet but the NT apostle (in the narrow sense). The apostles enjoy self-conscious authority as God-chosen custodians of the gospel; if they prefer to exercise authority meekly in an effort to win spiritually minded consensus (e.g., 1 Cor. 5:1- 10; 2 Cor. 10:6; 1 Pet. 5:1- 4), they are also prepared, if need be, to impose authority without seeking consensus, even against consensus (e.g., Acts 5:1- 11; 1 Cor. 4:18- 21; 2 Cor. 10:11; 13:2- 3; 3 John 10). Their authority is especially prominent as interpreters of both the OT Scriptures and Jesus's teachings, as well as his ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. The church devoted itself to the apostles' teaching (Acts 2:42). NT prophets likewise enjoyed wide authority. Some may have been itinerant, not restricted to one congregation. "Prophecy" in the NT ranges from Spirit-empowered preaching to direct messages from God; but the degree or kind of inspiration and the corresponding authority of the prophet are limited. It is virtually impossible to conceive of 1 Corinthians 14:29 being applied to OT prophets (once their credentials were accepted) or NT apostles. Those who seem consistently to enjoy greatest authority at the level of the local congregation are the elders, almost certainly the same as those also labeled bishops (or overseers) and pastors (Acts 20:17- 28; cf. Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1- 7; Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet. 5:1- 2). The first term stems from the synagogue and village organization; the second reflects genuine oversight and authority; and the third betrays an agrarian background ("pastor" derives from a Latin root meaning "shepherd"). In a typical list for this office/function (e.g., 1 Tim. 3:1- 7) almost every qualification is mandated elsewhere of all believers. Distinctives about the elder reduce to two: (1) Not a recent convert, which clearly is a relative term, largely dictated by how recently the church in question came into being, since Paul appointed elders mere months after their conversion in some instances (e.g., Acts 14:23). (2) Able to teach, which presupposes growing grasp of the gospel and ability to communicate the Scriptures well. The other qualifications (given to hospitality, etc.) suggest that elders must excel in graces expected of all believers. Those who would lead the church must be good representatives, not mere professionals. In general, the sphere of responsibility for these bishops-elders-pastors is the local church; there is little compelling evidence for the view that a bishop, for instance, unlike elders, exerted authority over several congregations. A plurality of elders, if not mandated, appears to have been common, perhaps the norm. Yet only "church" ( ekklēsia , singular) is used for the congregation of all believers in one city, never "churches"; one reads of churches in Galatia, but of the church in Antioch or Jerusalem or Ephesus. Thus it is possible, though not certain, that a single elder may have exercised authority in one house group— a house group that in some cases constituted part of the citywide church— so that the individual elder would nevertheless be one of many in that citywide "church" taken as a whole. The apparent anomalies to this limitation on the sphere of elders can be credibly explained. The writer of 2 John and 3 John labels himself an "elder," though seeking to influence other churches; but most likely this particular elder is writing with apostolic prerogatives. The same is true of Peter (1 Pet. 5:1). The position of James in Acts 15 is peculiar, but it is uncertain that James chaired the proceedings. The case is laid before the apostles and elders (v. 4); "the apostles and elders, with the whole church" (v. 22) make the final decisions; and the apostles and elders write the letter (v. 23). Peter speaks as an apostle, James as an elder; it is not obvious that either "chaired" the meeting. Even if James did so, the crucial decisions were taken by the apostles, elders, and the church in concert. Deacons may trace their office/function to the appointment of the seven in Acts 6:1- 6, but this is uncertain. When lists of qualifications are presented elsewhere (e.g., 1 Tim. 3:8- 13), stress is laid on (as with elders) spiritual maturity; but in this instance teaching is not required. Deacons were responsible to serve in various subsidiary roles, yet they enjoyed no church-recognized teaching authority akin to elders.

Church Government - Congregationalism

As the name implies, this puts the emphasis on the place of the congregation. Perhaps it would not be unfair to say that the chief scriptural buttresses of this position are the facts that Christ is the head of his church (Col. 1:18, etc.) and that there is a priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:9). It is fundamental to NT teaching that Christ has not left his church. He is the living Lord among his people. Where but two or three are gathered in his name, he is in the midst. Nor is it any less fundamental that the way into the very holiest of all presences is open to the humblest believer (Heb. 10:19-20). Other religions of the first century required the interposition of a priestly caste if anyone wished to approach God, but the Christians would have none of this. Christ's priestly work has done away with the necessity for any earthly priest as the mediator of access to God. Added to this is the emphasis on the local congregation in the NT. There, it is maintained, we see autonomous congregations, not subject to episcopal or presbyterial control. The apostles, it is true, exercise a certain authority, but it is the authority of founders of churches and of the Lord's own apostles. After their death there was no divinely instituted apostolate to take their place. Instead the local congregations were still self-governing, as we see from local church orders like the Didache. Appeal is also made to the democratic principle. The NT makes it clear that Christians are all one in Christ and there is no room for any absolute human authority. Congregationalism as a system appeared after the Reformation. Some among the Reformed decisively rejected the idea of a state church and saw believers as forming a "gathered church," those who have heard the call of Christ and have responded. An Englishman, Robert Browne, published in Holland a famous treatise, "Reformation without Tarrying for Any" (1582), in which he affirmed the principle of the gathered church, its independence of bishops and magistrates, and its right to ordain its ministers. Denied the freedom to put all this into practice in England, many who held these views crossed into Holland. It was from the church at Leiden that the Pilgrim Fathers sailed for America in 1620 and established congregationalism in the new world, where it became very important. Congregationalism is much wider than the church that bears the name. Baptists, for example, usually have congregational polity. They see the local congregation as independent and not subject to any outside authority. So is it with several other denominations. In addition there are Christians who from time to time set up their own congregations with no links with anyone. Congregationalists generally oppose creedal tests. This leads to an admirable toleration. But it also opens up the way to a distortion of NT Christianity, and some congregationalists have passed over into unitarianism. Nevertheless congregationalism remains a widely held form of Christianity, and it undeniably points to important NT values.

Church Government

Basically there are three types of church government—the episcopal, the presbyterian, and the congregational—each of which takes on features from the others. Episcopalianism, for example, finds a large place for presbyters in its synods and elsewhere, and its congregations have many functions of their own. The congregations of Presbyterian churches also play a large part, while the appearance of moderators attests a movement toward episcopal supervision. The very existence of such groupings as Congregational and Baptist Unions with their presidents shows that churches with a basically congregational polity are yet alive to the value of other elements in the Christian tradition. Yet the general categories do apply. Conclusion. A consideration of all the evidence leaves us with the conclusion that it is impossible to read back any of our modern systems into the apostolic age. If we are determined to shut our eyes to all that conflicts with our own system we may find it there, but scarcely otherwise. It is better to recognize that in the NT church there were elements that were capable of being developed into the episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational systems and which in point of fact have so developed. But while there is no reason that any modern Christian should not hold fast to his particular church polity and rejoice in the values it secures to him, that does not give him license to unchurch others whose reading of the evidence is different.

Hell

Belief in hell requires belief in supernaturalism. Such a view of reality has been overshadowed by antisupernaturalism in our day: Only our five senses can be trusted to tell us what is real and hell is beyond these five. Hell is not a part of the natural realm, which is the only real realm, and therefore must be denied. Truth, we are told, is discovered only by science and since hell can't be proven by the scientific method it must be rejected. Generally speaking the word "hell" is used in Scripture to refer to a place of future punishment for the wicked dead. However, there are other meanings also. There are times when the word is used to refer to the grave or to the place of the dead. Also, "hell" is used to speak of the place of disembodied spirits without any implication of either their bliss or torment. One Hebrew word and two Greek words are each translated "hell" in the English translations of the Bible. These constitute the main teaching on the subject of hell and damnation. The Greek tartaroō appears once and is translated "cast down to hell" in the kjv (2 Pet. 2:4). In the Greek mind, Tartarus was below Hades, and in it divine punishment was endured comparable to that in Hades. The Hebrew šĕʾôl is variously translated as "the grave," "hell," and "the pit." The word appears only once outside the OT, in Jewish Elephantine papyri, where it means "grave." The derivation or etymology of the word is uncertain. In the OT it is used to refer to the grave several times (Job 17:13; Ps. 16:10; Isa. 38:10). It is also used for the place where the dead, both good and bad, abide (e.g., Gen. 37:35; Num. 16:33; Job 14:13; Ps. 55:15; Prov. 9:18). Darkness, gloom, forgetfulness, and distance from God are also implied in the word (Ps. 6:5; Isa. 38:18). Jacob, at death, went down into Sheol (Gen. 37:35), but so did the wicked Korah and Dathan (Num. 16:30). Such teaching has led to the view that Sheol had two compartments—an upper and lower level. It is thought that Christ delivered the righteous in the upper level at the time of his resurrection (Eph. 4:9-10; 1 Pet. 3:19). Those who reject the two-compartment view of Sheol generally hold that Sheol had a double meaning. The word originally meant simply "the grave." Later it was more specialized and used to refer to hell. Hell does seem to be more in view in the later passages, but a few of the earlier ones seem to have this idea also. The Greek word hadēs parallels the Hebrew Sheol. In the LXX, which is the Greek translation of the OT, "Hades" usually appears as the rendering of "Sheol." Hades is used in the NT to refer to the underworld, the region of the departed. It defines the intermediate state between death and the future resurrection. Of the eleven times the word is used in the NT, it is rendered as "hell" by the kjv with one exception (1 Cor. 15:55, where "grave" appears). On the one hand, Hades seems to be the gathering place of all souls (see Acts 2:27, 31, where it is the Greek translation of "Sheol" in Ps. 16:10). In Luke 16:23-26 all the dead are located in the underworld, but the word "Hades" itself is used only of the place where the wicked are punished. Wherever the righteous dead went before Christ's resurrection—Hades or heaven—we know from Paul's testimony that to be absent from the body is now to be present with Christ (2 Cor. 5:8). Those who die in the Lord in this age go immediately into the presence of the Lord. Those who die without Christ go to Hades, where there is torment (Luke 16:19-31). They will later be brought from Hades to appear before the great white throne of judgment, after which they will all be cast into the lake of fire and experience eternal damnation (Rev. 20:11-15). Gehenna, from the Greek geenna, is the eternal abode of the wicked. Whereas Hades is the intermediate state, Gehenna is eternal hell. Wherever it is used in the NT, it always means the place of eternal damnation. The valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem was the place where human sacrifices were offered to the pagan god Moloch in the days of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6). The dead bodies were thrown and burnt there. The prophets warned of judgment to come because of such sins (Jer. 7:32; 19:6 cf. Isa. 31:9; 66:24), and because of these threats, the valley came to be a symbol for eternal judgment. The scriptural teaching of hell goes beyond these three words, however. Frequently, especially in the Gospels, hell is seen as "eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:41 nasb); "everlasting destruction" (2 Thess. 1:9); "everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2); "unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:12; cf. 5:22; 18:9), "damnation" (Matt. 23:33 kjv), "fiery furnace" (Matt. 13:42, 50), "blackest darkness" (Jude 13), a "fiery lake of burning sulfur" (Rev. 21:8), a place "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). In the history of the church a number or non-Christian religious groups have embraced universalism—the belief that all will eventually go to heaven—or annihilationism—the belief that at death the wicked cease to exist. Today a number of evangelical churchmen embrace variations of the above. Terms such as "biblical universalism," "qualified universalism," and "conditional immortality" are used to describe their views.

Rise of Millennialism

Early millennial teaching was characterized by an apocalyptic emphasis. In this view the future kingdom of God would be established through a series of dramatic, unusual events. Such teaching has been kept alive throughout the Christian era by certain types of premillennialism. Apocalyptic interpretation is based upon the prophecies of Daniel and the amplification of some of the same themes in the book of Revelation. These works point to the imminent and supernatural intervention of God in human affairs and the defeat of the seemingly irresistible progress of evil. Numerology, theme figures, and angelology play a major role in these presentations. The apocalyptic worldview was very influential among the Jews in the period between the OT and the NT. Consequently the audiences to which Jesus preached were influenced by it. The early Christians also embraced this outlook. The book of Revelation, composed during a period of persecution in the first century, used the Jewish apocalyptic interpretation to explain the Christian era. Daniel's Son of Man was presented as Christ, numerological formulas were restated, and the dualistic world of good and evil was provided with a new set of characters. Despite these changes the essential apocalyptic message remained as the book taught the living hope of the immediate direct intervention of God to reverse history and to overcome evil with good. Such an outlook brought great comfort to believers who suffered from persecution by the forces of Imperial Rome. Expressed in a form that has been called historic premillennialism, this hope seems to have been the prevailing eschatology during the first three centuries of the Christian era, and is found in the works of Papias, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Methodius, Commodianus, and Lactantius. Several forces worked to undermine the millennialism of the early church. One of these was the association of the teaching with a radical group, the Montanists, who placed a great stress on a new third age of the Spirit which they believed was coming among their number in Asia Minor. Another influence which encouraged a change of eschatological views was the emphasis of Origen upon the manifestation of the kingdom within the soul of the believer rather than in the world. This resulted in a shift of attention away from the historical toward the spiritual or metaphysical. A final factor that led to a new millennial interpretation was the conversion of the Emperor Constantine the Great and the adoption of Christianity as the favored Imperial religion.

Annhilationism

From Latin nihil (nothing), annihilationism expresses the position of those who hold that some, if not all, human souls will cease to exist after death. As observed by Warfield, this point of view may take three main forms: (1) all human beings inevitably cease to exist altogether at death (materialist); (2) while human beings are naturally mortal, God imparts to the redeemed the gift of immortality and allows the rest of humanity to sink into nothingness (conditional immortality); (3) humankind, being created immortal, fulfills its destiny in salvation, while reprobates fall into nonexistence either through a direct act of God or through the corrosive effect of evil (annihilationism proper). The distinction between conditionalism and annihilationism indicated above is frequently not observed, and these two terms are commonly used as practical synonyms. A fourth form of advocacy of the ultimate extinction of evil is the view that God will finally redeem all rational beings (universalism). Over against all the above positions, historic orthodoxy has always maintained both that human souls will eternally endure and that their destiny is irrevocably sealed at death. The question whether humankind is naturally immortal pertains to the subject of immortality. The present article will state and briefly appraise the main evidence advanced in support of the cessation of the wicked. God alone, it is urged, has immortality (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16). This argument, if it proves anything, proves too much. In fact, God who alone has immortality in himself may and does communicate it to some of his creatures. Immortality, it is urged, is represented as a special gift connected with redemption in Jesus Christ (Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 2 Tim. 1:10). The same may be said of life or eternal life (John 10:28; Rom. 6:22-23; Gal. 6:8). Granted that in all such passages life and immortality are represented as the privileged possession of the redeemed, nonetheless in these connections these terms do not represent merely continued existence, but rather connote existence in joyful fulfillment of humankind's high destiny in true fellowship with God (John 17:3). Cessation of existence, it is urged, is implied in various scriptural terms applied to the destiny of the wicked, such as death (Rom. 6:23; James 5:20; Rev. 20:14), destruction (Matt. 7:13; 10:28; 2 Thess. 1:9), and perishing (John 3:16). But these expressions do not so much imply annihilation as complete deprivation of some element essential to normal existence. Physical death does not mean that body or soul vanishes, but rather that an abnormal separation severs their natural relationship until God's appointed time. Spiritual death, or the "second death" (Rev. 20:14; 21:8), does not mean that the soul or personality lapses into nonbeing, but rather that it is ultimately and finally deprived of that presence of God and fellowship with him, which is the chief end of humankind and the essential condition of worthwhile existence. To be bereft of it is to perish, to be reduced to utter insignificance, to sink into abysmal futility. An automobile is said to be wrecked, ruined, destroyed, not only when its constituent parts have been melted or scattered away, but also when they have been so damaged and distorted that the car has become completely unserviceable. It is inconsistent with God's love, it is urged, to allow any of his creatures to endure forever in torment. Furthermore, the continuance of evil would spell some area of permanent defeat for divine sovereignty, a dark corner perpetually marring the glory of his universe. These considerations are not without weight, and a complete answer may not be possible in the present state of our knowledge. They are not adjudged by traditional orthodoxy as sufficient to overthrow the substantial weight of scriptural evidence to the effect that the wicked will be consigned to endless conscious sorrow. This is apparent from the expressions "unquenchable fire" (Isa. 66:24; Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17), "fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48), "their worm will not die" (Isa. 66:24; Mark 9:48), "God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36), as well as from the use of everlasting or forever with reference to chains, contempt, destruction, fire or burning, punishment, torment (Isa. 33:14; Jer. 17:4; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 18:8; 25:41, 46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 14:11; 19:3; 20:10). It is worthy of note that, in the biblical record, those who speak most about future punishment in its irrevocable finality are Jesus and the apostle John, the very ones who also represented most glowingly the supreme glory of God's love and the unshakable certainty of his ultimate triumph.

Medieval and Reformation Millennialism

In the new age brought in by the acceptance of Christianity as the main religion of the Roman Empire it was Augustine, bishop of Hippo, who articulated the amillennial view that dominated Western Christian thought during the Middle Ages. The millennium, according to his interpretation, referred to the church in which Christ reigned with his saints. The statements in the book of Revelation were interpreted allegorically by Augustine. No victory was imminent in the struggle with evil in the world. On the really important level, the spiritual, the battle had already been won and God had triumphed through the cross. Satan was reduced to lordship over the city of the World, which coexisted with the city of God. Eventually even the small domain left to the devil would be taken from him by a triumphant God. Augustine's allegorical interpretation became the official doctrine of the church during the medieval period. However, in defiance of the main teaching of the church the earlier apocalyptic premillennialism continued to be held by certain counterculture groups. These millenarians under charismatic leaders were often associated with radicalism and revolts. For example, during the eleventh century in regions most affected by urbanization and social change thousands followed individuals such as Tanchelm of the Netherlands, causing great concern to those in positions of power. In the twelfth century Joachim of Fiore gave fresh expression to the millennial vision with his teaching about the coming third age of the Holy Spirit. During the Hussite Wars in fifteenth century Bohemia the Taborites encouraged the resistance to the Catholic Imperial forces by proclaiming the imminent return of Christ to establish his kingdom. These outbreaks of premillennialism continued during the Reformation era and were expressed most notably in the rebellion of the city of Münster in 1534. Jan Matthys gained control of the community, proclaiming that he was Enoch preparing the way for the second coming of Christ by establishing a new code of laws that featured a community of property and other radical reforms. He declared that Münster was the New Jerusalem and called all faithful Christians to gather in the city. Many Anabaptists answered his summons, and most of the original inhabitants of the town were forced to flee or to live in a veritable reign of terror. The situation was so threatening to other areas of Europe that a combined Protestant and Catholic force laid siege to the place and after a difficult struggle captured the town, suppressing the wave of millennial enthusiasm. Perhaps it was the Münster episode that led the Protestant Reformers to reaffirm Augustinian amillennialism. Each of the three main Protestant traditions of the sixteenth century—Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican—had the support of the state and so continued the same Constantinian approach to theology. Both Luther and Calvin were very suspicious of millennial speculation. Calvin declared that those who engaged in calculations based on the apocalyptic portions of Scripture were "ignorant" and "malicious." The major statements of the various Protestant bodies such as the Augsburg Confession, the Thirty-nine Articles, and the Westminster Confession, although professing faith in the return of Christ, do not support apocalyptic millenarian speculation. In certain respects, however, the Reformers inaugurated changes that would lead to a revival of interest in premillennialism. These include a more literal approach to the interpretation of Scripture, the identification of the papacy with Antichrist, and an emphasis on Bible prophecy.

Church Government - Episcopacy

In this system the chief ministers of the church are bishops. Other ministers are presbyters (or priests) and deacons. All these are mentioned in the NT, although there bishops and presbyters seem to be identical. Those who see an episcopal system in the NT point to the function of the apostles, which some think was passed on to bishops whom the apostles ordained. They see as important the position of James of Jerusalem, which is not unlike that of the later bishop. The functions of Timothy and Titus as revealed in the Pastoral Epistles show these men to have been something of a transition between the apostles and the bishops of later times. The apostles are said to have practiced ordination by the laying on of hands (Acts 6:6; 1 Tim. 4:14), and they appointed elders in the churches they founded (Acts 14:23), presumably with the laying on of hands. On this view the apostles were the supreme ministers in the early church, and they took care that suitable men were ordained to the ministry. To some of them they entrusted the power to ordain and so provided for the continuance of the ministry in succeeding generations. It is further alleged that the organization of the church subsequent to NT days supports this view. In the time of Ignatius the threefold ministry was clearly in existence in Asia Minor. By the end of the second century it is attested for Gaul and Africa by the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian. Nowhere is there evidence of a violent struggle such as would be natural if a divinely ordained congregationalism or presbyterianism were overthrown. The same threefold ministry is seen as universal throughout the early church as soon as there is sufficient evidence to show us the nature of the ministry. The conclusion is drawn that episcopacy is the primitive and rightful form of church government. But there are objections. There is no evidence that bishops differed from presbyters in NT days. It is going too far to say that all the ministry of these times was of apostolic origin. There were churches not of apostolic foundation, like that in Colossae, which do not seem to have lacked a ministry. Again, some of the early church orders, including the Didache, are congregational in outlook. The case is far from proven. Nevertheless, episcopacy is undoubtedly early and practically universal. In time divisions appeared, notably the great schism in 1054 when the Orthodox Church in the East separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the West. Both continue to be episcopal and hold to the doctrine of apostolic succession. But there are differences. The Orthodox Church is a federation of self-governing churches, each with its own patriarch. The Roman Catholic church is more centralized, and its bishops are appointed by the pope. There are doctrinal differences, such as different views of the filioque clause in the Nicene Creed. At the Reformation there were further separations. The Church of England rejected Roman supremacy but retained the historic episcopate. Some of the Lutheran churches opted for an episcopal system but did not remain in the historic succession. In more recent times other churches have decided to have bishops—e.g., some Methodist churches—and these too have rejected the historic succession. There have been other divisions, such as the separation of the Old Catholics when the dogma of papal infallibility was proclaimed. More Christians accept episcopacy than any other form of church government, but episcopal churches are for the most part not in communion with one another.

Resurrection of the Dead - Intertestamental Apocalyptic Thought

Intertestamental apocalyptic ranged widely. Some writers applied moral distinctions within Sheol, with reward and punishment implying some degree of judgment. Promises to the faithful, especially martyrs, included earthly glory; justice would likewise resurrect oppressors (with their deformities) to be recognized and punished (2 Bar.; cf. Mark 9:42-48). Hellenized Judaism preferred immortality of the soul, more richly conceived, to resurrection of the body. Palestinian Judaism clung to resurrection. "Garments of glory" (of life) were required for life beyond death (1-2 Enoch), "nakedness" (disembodiment) being abhorred. Some speak of a spiritual body, counterpart to the physical and coexistent with it. First Enoch says the body buried will rise "glorious"; 2 Baruch resembles 1 Corinthians 15:35-53 but holds the transformation comes later; most speak of the risen body as "like angels ... made of the light and glory of God"; others of its neither needing food nor engaging in marriage. Those raised to share Messiah's temporary (earthly) or final (supernatural) kingdom will be righteous (Jews). Other writers assume a general resurrection: 2 Esdras, a resurrection of Messiah and all people after the messianic age. In 1 Enoch 22 those already punished remain in Sheol; those not punished move to torturing Gehenna; 1 Enoch 67 has some wicked raised for judgment. Apocalyptists invent various stages of judgment, kingdom, resurrection. Testament of Benjamin 10:6-10 makes patriarchs rise first, then sons of Jacob, then all people. Second Maccabees, perhaps following hints of Isaiah 24-27 and Daniel, suggests martyrs deserve priority. By the first century most Jews held to general resurrection; rabbis argued Abraham so believed (Heb. 11:19). Pharisees expected resurrection of the just (Acts 23:6-8), so probably did Essenes and Qumran covenanters. Sadducees denied resurrection as not "Mosaic" and possibly as a foreign idea (Mark 12:18; Josephus says they believed the soul died with the body). A few, holding matter evil, denied resurrection altogether.

Eternal Punishment

It is plain from the Bible that sin will be punished (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 10:15; John 5:28-29; Rom. 5:12-21), and the duration of this punishment is sometimes expressed in the NT by the use of aiōn or one of its derivatives (e.g., Matt. 18:8; 25:41, 46; 2 Thess. 1:9). Aiōn means "old age," and it was used of the never-ending "age to come," which gave to the corresponding adjective aiōnion the meaning "eternal," "everlasting." These words are used of "the King eternal" (1 Tim. 1:17), of "the eternal God" (Rom. 16:26), and when glory is ascribed to God "forever" (Rom. 11:36) and God is blessed "forever" (2 Cor. 11:31). The concept of endless duration could not be more strongly conveyed; the use of these expressions for the eternity of God shows conclusively that they do not mean limited duration. It is important that the same adjective is used of eternal punishment as of eternal life (Matt. 25:46 has both). The punishment is just as eternal as the life. One is no more limited than the other. A similar idea is conveyed by the use of other terminology. Thus, Jesus said, "It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:43; cf. Luke 3:17). He referred to "hell, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched'" (Mark 9:47-48). He spoke of fearing God because he, "after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell" (Luke 12:5). He said that there is a sin that "will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32). Similarly John writes, "Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36). The awful finality of Christ's warnings implies permanence. He spoke of the door being shut (Matt. 25:10), of being "thrown outside, into the outer darkness" (Matt. 8:12; "thrown out," Luke 13:28), of an impassable chasm (Luke 16:26). It is not always realized that Jesus spoke of hell more often than did anyone else in the NT. And nowhere is there a hint of any possible reversal of the last judgment. More could be cited. And against the strong body of NT teaching that there is a continuing punishment of sin we cannot cite one saying that speaks plainly of an end to the punishment of the finally impenitent. Those who look for a different teaching in the NT must point to possible inferences and alternative interpretations. But if Jesus wished to teach something other than eternal retribution, it is curious that he has not left one saying that plainly says so. In the NT there is no indication that the punishment of sin ever ceases. In the light of the cross we can be sure that the mercy of God reaches as far as mercy can reach. God does all that can be done for humankind's salvation. Beyond that, and the teaching of the permanence of the doom of the wicked, we cannot go. It may be that the dread reality is other than people have usually pictured it, as C. S. Lewis suggests. It must be borne in mind that Scripture uses symbolic terms of necessity to refer to realities beyond the grave. The imagery Christians have tended to stress is that of "the fire of hell" (Matt. 5:22). But there are references also to "where the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:43), "the darkness" (Matt. 8:12), the "worm" that "does not die" (Mark 9:48), "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Luke 13:28), rising "to be condemned" (John 5:29), "condemned to hell" (more literally, "the judgment of hell," Matt. 23:33), being "beaten with many blows" (Luke 12:47; or being "beaten with many stripes," kjv, being "lost" (Matt. 10:6), "perishing" (1 Cor. 1:18), death (Rom. 6:23), and losing one's life (Luke 9:24). With such a variety of terms, it is unwise to press one as though that gave the complete picture. We should beware of oversimplifying; it is impossible to envisage what the reality is which can be described so variously. But we should beware also of yielding to the sentimental demand that we water down such expressions. Scripture leaves us in no doubt that there is a grim reality. But from early days some Christians have rejected this teaching. Origen taught that all will finally be saved. Such views did not attract a wide following until modern times. A group of nineteenth-century poets popularized this line (cf. Tennyson and "the larger hope"), and in this century universalism is widely accepted. The basic reason is that it is not easy to reconcile the idea of hell with the love of God. It is argued that the love of God would be defeated if only one sinner were left to suffer in eternity. Such an approach must be treated with respect, but it is not found in Scripture. Some passages are adduced, such as those that express God's goodwill toward all (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9) the universal scope of the cross (2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:20; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2), and the wide outreach of Christ's atoning work (John 12:32; Rom. 5:18; Eph. 1:10). But to interpret such passages as meaning that in the end all will be saved is to go beyond what the writers are saying and to ignore the fact that in the contexts there are usually references to God's condemnation of the wicked or to the final separation between good and evil or the like. Another idea is that people are no more than potentially immortal. If they put their trust in Christ and enter into salvation, they attain immortal life. If they fail to do so, they simply die and that is the end of them. This might accord with passages that speak of "death" as the lot of the wicked, but not with those referring to Gehenna or the like. If we are to be true to the whole teaching of Scripture, we must come to the conclusion that the ultimate fate of the wicked is eternal punishment, though we must add that we have no way of knowing exactly what form that punishment will take.

Modern Millennialism

It was during the seventeenth century that premillennialism of a more scholarly nature was presented. Two Reformed theologians, Johann Heinrich Alsted and Joseph Mede, were responsible for the renewal of this outlook. They did not interpret the book of Revelation in an allegorical manner but rather understood it to contain the promise of a literal kingdom of God to be established on earth before the last judgment. During the Puritan Revolution the writings of these men encouraged others to look for the establishment of the millennial kingdom in England. One of the more radical of these groups, the Fifth Monarchy Men, became infamous for their insistence on the reestablishment of OT law and a reformed government for England. The collapse of the Cromwellian regime and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy discredited premillennialism. Yet the teaching continued into the eighteenth century through the work of Isaac Newton, Johann Albrecht Bengel, and Joseph Priestley. As the popularity of premillennialism waned, postmillennialism rose to prominence. First expressed in the works of certain Puritan scholars, it received its most influential formulation in the writings of the Anglican commentator Daniel Whitby. It seemed to him that the kingdom of God was coming ever closer and that it would arrive through the same kind of effort that had always triumphed in the past. Among the many theologians and preachers who were convinced by the arguments of Whitby was Jonathan Edwards. Edwardsean postmillennialism also emphasized the place of America in the establishment of millennial conditions upon the earth. During the nineteenth century premillennialism became popular once again. The violent uprooting of European social and political institutions during the era of the French Revolution encouraged a more apocalyptic climate of opinion. There was also a revival of interest in the fortunes of the Jews. A new element was added to premillennialism during this period with the rise of dispensationalism. Edward Irving, a Church of Scotland minister who pastored a congregation in London, was one of the outstanding leaders in the development of the new interpretation. He published numerous works on prophecy and organized the Albury Park prophecy conferences, thus setting the pattern of other gatherings of premillenarians during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Irving's apocalyptic exposition found support among the Plymouth Brethren and led many in the group to become enthusiastic teachers of dispensational premillennialism. Perhaps the leading early dispensational expositor among the Brethren was John Nelson Darby. He believed that the second coming of Christ consisted of two stages, the first a secret rapture or "catching away" of the saints that would remove the church before a seven-year period of tribulation devastates the earth, and the second when Christ appears visibly with his saints after the tribulation to rule on earth for a thousand years. Darby also taught that the church was a mystery of which only Paul wrote and that the purposes of God can be understood as working through a series of periods, or dispensations, in each of which God dealt with people in unique ways. Most premillennialists during the early nineteenth century were not dispensationalists, however. More typical of their number was David Nevins Lord, who edited a quarterly journal, Theological and Literary Review, which appeared from 1848 to 1861. This periodical contained articles of interest to premillennialists and helped to elaborate a nondispensational system of prophetic interpretation. Lord believed that a historical explanation of the book of Revelation was preferable to the futurist outlook which characterized the dispensational view. This approach was followed by most premillennialists in the United States until after the Civil War, when dispensationalism spread among their number. Darby's interpretation was accepted because of the work of individuals such as Henry Moorhouse, a Brethren evangelist, who convinced many interdenominational speakers to accept dispensationalism. Typical of those who came to believe in Darby's eschatology were William E. Blackstone, "Harry" A. Ironside, Arno C. Gaebelein, Lewis Sperry Chafer, and C. I. Scofield. It is through Scofield and his works that dispensationalism became the norm for much of American evangelicalism. His Scofield Reference Bible, which made the new eschatological interpretation an integral part of an elaborate system of notes printed on the same pages as the text, proved so popular that it sold over three million copies in fifty years. Bible schools and seminaries such as Biola, Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Grace Theological Seminary, along with the popular preachers and teachers who have utilized the electronic media, have made this interpretation popular among millions of conservative Protestants. The new view replaced the older premillennial outlook to such an extent that when George Ladd restated the historic interpretation in the midtwentieth century it seemed like a novelty to many evangelicals. While the various forms of premillennialism competed for adherents in nineteenth century America, a form of postmillennialism that equated the United States with the kingdom of God became very popular. Many Protestant ministers fed the fires of nationalism and Manifest Destiny by presenting the coming of the golden age as dependent upon the spread of democracy, technology, and the other "benefits" of Western civilization. Perhaps the most complete statement of this civil millennialism was presented by Hollis Read. Ordained to the Congregational ministry in Park Street Church, Boston, he served as a missionary to India but was forced to return to the United States because of his wife's poor health. In a two-volume work, Hand of God in History, he attempted to prove that God's millennial purposes were finding fulfillment in America. He believed that geography, politics, learning, the arts, and morality all pointed to the coming of the millennium to America in the nineteenth century. From this base the new age could spread to the entire earth. As Psalm 22:27 stated, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations will bow down before him." In order to accomplish the purpose of global evangelism Read favored imperialism, because the extension of Anglo-Saxon control over other nations ensured the spread of the gospel. He cited the prevalence of the English language, which made it easier to preach the Word and to teach the native people the more civilized Western culture, as one example of the benefits of Western control. Technological improvements such as the steam press, the locomotive, and the steamship were also given by God to spread enlightenment and the Christian message to all peoples. Whenever the United States has faced a time of crisis, there have been those who have revived civil postmillennialism as a means to encourage and comfort their fellow citizens. The biblical content of this belief has become increasingly vague as the society has become more pluralistic. For example, during the period of the Civil War many agreed with Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which described God as working through the Northern forces to accomplish his ultimate purpose. President Wilson's crusade to "make the world safe for democracy," which led his country into World War I, was based upon a postmillennial vision that gave American ideals the major role in establishing peace and justice on earth. Since World War II several groups have revived civil millennialism to counter communism and to resist cosmetic changes such as those brought about by the moves for equal rights for women. In addition to the premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial interpretations, there have been groups such as the Shakers, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) who tend to equate the activities of their own sect with the coming of the millennium. There are also movements, including the Nazis and the Marxists, who teach a kind of secular millennialism when they speak of the Third Reich or the classless society.

Resurrection of the Dead - Further Developments

Later thought further illustrates the tension between Hebrew and Greek emphases. Gnostic dualism infiltrated Christian teaching about God, Christ, and morality with the alien Greek principle that matter is inherently evil and must be destroyed, resurrection being impossible. But (except in asceticism) the church rejected dualism. First and Second Clement, Barnabas ("a general resurrection"), and Tertullian ("the soul inherently immortal and death unnatural, yet the same body will be raised") express the orthodox view. Ignatius follows John: Christ is eternal life, but "flesh and spirit" will be raised through the Eucharist ("medicine of immortality") and the Spirit. Origen insists that the natural body is dissolved into dust, but will be raised and "advance to a spiritual body"—so striving to reconcile Hebrew and Platonic ideas. Aquinas, too, holds that our fleshy bodies rise and remain fleshly; like Tertullian, he finds spiritual uses for redundant physical organs. A typical modern statement runs: "The term of immortality is preferable. The argument that religious experience implies personal survival points to the immortality of the soul and its values rather than to resurrection of the body." This attracts many, who do not always realize the values conserved by the traditional resurrection emphasis: the permanence not only of abstract personality and values but of the individual, with consciousness, relationships, memories, and love, against theories on absorption ("a drop in the eternal ocean of being"), racial survival ("continuing to contribute to ongoing humanity"), or sentimental immortality ("to live in the hearts of those we love is not to die"). Essentially, Christians believe that he who called humans into being and into fellowship with himself can sustain all persons under eternal conditions, in complete and enriched humanity, in such bodily garment as eternal life requires.

Resurrection of the Dead - In the NT

New Christian contributions include (1) Jesus' teaching, set against his raising others to resume life, and predictions of his own rising ("third day," not timeless immortality). Jesus utilized picturesque detail familiar to hearers, especially Pharisees—Sheol/ Hades (Luke 10:15; 16:19-31), morally subdivided, ministry of angels, welcome by patriarchs, torment (Matt. 8:12; 10:28; Mark 9:43-48), resurrection for fellowship (Matt. 8:11), reward (Luke 14:14). Jesus argues immortality from experience of God and assumes this involves resurrection (Mark 12:18-27). The risen life is new, angelic, and sexless. His emphasis falls on judgment, which appears to be immediate (Luke 16:23; cf. 12:20), or at the Son of Man's coronation (Matt. 25:31-46). Judgment implies general resurrection (Matt. 10:28; 25:41; Mark 12:26); but Luke 14:14; 20:35-38; suggest resurrection limited to those qualified. (2) Jesus' own resurrection is the key event in Christian history and the basis of Peter's gospel (Acts 2:32) and Paul's (Acts 17:18; 23:6; 26:6-8). Apostolic testimony (Acts 3:26; 4:2, 33; Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 15:3-11) makes resurrection essential in Christianity. Details of the story (waiting in Sheol, persistent wounds, "flesh and bones" that can be touched yet "in another form" are unrecognized, passes through doors, vanishes) combine current ideas with a new assertion: an empty tomb. The unquestioned fact creates a new basis for resurrection hope (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:20-28; 2 Cor. 4:14; 1 Thess. 4:14; 1 Peter 1:3, 21) through Christ "whom God has raised" (sixteen allusions). (3) Pauline reflection likewise begins from current Pharisaic views: the departed share the coming glory (1 Thess. 4:15-17), general resurrection and judgment (Acts 17:31; 24:15; Rom. 2:5-11; 2 Cor. 5:10), horror of disembodied nakedness (2 Cor. 5:4). Paul develops three themes: Complete Redemption. This includes redemption of the body and argues new ground for resurrection hope. Sexually, Christians must remember that the body is the Lord's, "members of Christ," a temple of the Spirit, purchased by Christ (1 Cor. 6:12-20), instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:12-14), vehicle of worship (Rom. 12:1). Humans being embodied spirits, redemption would remain incomplete without resurrection. "We Will All Be Changed." Wishing to be done with the "humiliating" flesh, too long the vehicle of sin (Rom. 7:21-25; Phil. 3:20-21), yet not be "naked" (2 Cor. 5:1-5), Paul argued for deliverance of the body from corruption, but not (as the Greeks) for deliverance of the spirit from the body. Arguing with those who, stressing dissolution, preferred immortality to resurrection, Paul insists first on the bodily resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-33) then faces objectors with the variety of bodies in nature (birds, fishes, grain) each adapted to its environment, and asserts that God will provide the risen soul with a new body, glorious, incorruptible, immortal (cf. 1 Thess. 4:16-17). The key words "we will all be changed" imply continuity and difference. As grain disintegrates, that a totally new body may emerge, so human bodies disintegrate that the enduring life may organize new embodiment while retaining identity, as happens (we are told) repeatedly from birth to old age. This effectively meets the objection from dissolution; it has also implications affecting burial and cremation. Paul did not expect such transformation at death, but at the advent (1 Cor. 15:23, 51-54; 1 Thess. 4:14-17), following an intermediate state that is far better but not final glory (Phil. 1:23; cf. Luke 23:43, "today"; Acts 7:60, "sleep"). The Change Has Begun. "Attaining the resurrection" (Phil. 3:11) involves sowing the spiritual, heavenly body in this life by yielding to the Spirit (Rom. 8:11), constantly dying and quickened (2 Cor. 4:10-12, 14), reaping eternal life (Gal. 6:8). The counterpart, coexisting spiritual body is being created not as the angels but like Christ's glorious body (Phil. 3:21), as Christians live the risen life now (Rom. 6; Eph. 2:1-10; Col. 3:1-17). Nevertheless, Paul adheres to physical resurrection as the consummation of the process (1 Cor. 15:12-20): the resurrection has not "already taken place" (2 Tim. 2:18). Johannine reflection moves even nearer than Paul's toward incorporeal immortality. Eternal life is experienced now (John 3:36); the faithful never see death (8:51); believers have already "crossed over" from death to life (5:24), as have those who love (1 John 3:14). Faced with Martha's talk about resurrection at the last day, Jesus replies that he himself, and relationship to him, constitute the resurrection and the life (John 11:25; 17:3), just as belief in him avoids judgment and unbelief is judgment (3:18-21). As Christ's own life (preexistent, earthly, postmortem) passes through death unquenched, so believers will never die (8:51). Those who disobey the Son do not see life (3:36). As does Paul, John appears to discount physical resurrection, yet 5:25, 28-29 declare a general resurrection, and 6:39-40, 44, 54 a resurrection of believers "at the last day"—hardly an accommodation to earlier views or interpolation, since Lazarus's restoration to this life and Christ's physical resurrection mean so much to John. Faith was still exploratory; "what we will be has not yet been made known" (1 John 3:2).

Resurrection of the Dead - In the OT

Several considerations moved the Old Testament thought away from the early, universal, animistic ideas about postmortem survival that underlay necromancy (1 Sam. 28:8-9), funeral provisions, directions for the dead, and Sheol/Hades, the shadowy underworld of ghosts (Ezek. 32:17-32). Everyday observation, plus the belief that God made the human body in his own image, led to the conviction that a person was not "soul" imprisoned within a physical frame but embodied spirit, a unity of body and living self. Sheol's disembodiment in forgetfulness, hopelessness, and without knowledge or relationships (2 Sam. 12:23; Job 7:9-10; 10:20-22; Ps. 30:9; Eccles. 9:2, 5, 10) therefore struck horror, as subhuman. Hence Israel's care for the bodies of the dead (Gen. 23; 50:2, 25; Jer. 8:1-2; 14:16). At first Yahweh's rule did not extend beyond death (Pss. 6:5; 88:10-12; Isa. 38:18), until prophetic insistence on his universal sovereignty claimed Sheol also within his jurisdiction (Ps. 139:7-8). The emphasis of Jeremiah and Ezekiel on individual relationships with God led to more religious conceptions of the afterlife (Pss. 16:8-11; 73:23-26). No shadow existence could sustain divine fellowship, but only restoration to full personality in resurrection (cf. Matt. 22:31-32). Longing for acquittal from the accusation that great suffering implies great sin made Job contemplate waiting in Sheol until God's wrath be past and he, released, would live again (Job 14:7-15). Despite its difficulties, Job 19:25-27 likewise appears to anticipate immortality in some bodily form. Psalms 49:14-15; 73:17; and Isaiah 53:10-12 similarly relieve the injustice of suffering by the hope of life with God beyond Sheol. Some think the promises of national vindication and prosperity in the day of the Lord, unless confined to "the final generation," first prompted thoughts of resurrection of intervening generations, although Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Hosea 6:2 and 13:14 use resurrection language as already familiar. Isaiah 24-27 (esp. 25:6-8; 26:19) and Daniel 12:1-4 anticipate the return of men in bodily integrity to share Israel's glory. Isaiah 26:14 denies resurrection to foes; Daniel includes resurrection "to life" (for Jews faithful under persecution), and "to everlasting contempt" (for Jews who joined the persecutors, 12:2). No general resurrection is implied: here, too, justice is the argument. Zoroastrian, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian allusions may be either sources or parallels to developing Jewish thought.

Intermediate State - In the NT

The NT offers no sustained reflection on the intermediate state, and this is probably because the parousia was perceived as so real and imminent that it would have seemed irrelevant to reflect upon the state of the dead. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 we find exactly this sort of thinking. Paul is here assuring the believers that those who are "asleep" in Christ have not lost out on the "day of the Lord." Indeed, "the dead in Christ will rise first." We need only note that the reflection here is not upon the present situation of "sleeping" Christians, but upon their future place in the parousia. A further reason for the absence of reflection on the intermediate state could well be the profound awareness of human wholeness. Salvation is never the extrication of the soul from the body for participation in ethereal bliss. We can see this awareness reflected in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. Here Paul refers to the intermediate state paradoxically as being "unclothed" (v. 4) and as being "at home with the Lord" (v. 8). His true longing and expectation is that at the parousia he will put on his "heavenly dwelling" by being "swallowed up by life" (vv. 2-4). To die is "gain" because it is a departure to "be with Christ" (Phil. 1:21-23), yet Paul is only too clear that his hope is set upon the triumph of Christ when the last enemy, death, is destroyed (1 Cor. 15:20-27). Salvation is ultimately resurrection (Rom. 8:18-23). It should be noted that some have been so keenly aware of the importance of the parousia, the emphasis on human wholeness in Scripture, and the paucity of reflection on the intermediate state that other positions have been taken. Luther seemed sympathetic with the notion that the intermediate state was a kind of sleep, or soul sleep. The parousia was a real awakening. Others have so emphasized our body/soul unity that death is seen to be total; the parousia would then be the re-creation of our body/soul. Perhaps the classic text contesting such views of soul sleep and the like is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Here we are given a unique (in the Bible) and vivid picture of the intermediate state in which destinies are fixed, bliss and torment are apportioned, and a "great chasm has been fixed" between the blessed and damned. Recent scholarship has made it clear that the imagery depicting these contrasting fates was part of the popular lore of the time. Further, once this is understood, the real, final focus of the parable comes to light, namely the fate of the five remaining brothers and their self-pandering unbelief. With their lifestyle they have shut themselves out of the possibility of hearing the Word of God. Perhaps the most such imagery is intended to teach is the real and eternal consequences resulting from our beliefs and consequent life styles. If we are rightly cautioned against pushing the imagery beyond Jesus' intention, we must also resist the claim that it has no meaning. If that were true, what would Jesus have meant when he said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43)?

Conditional Immortality

The doctrine that immortality was not a natural endowment of man at creation but is a gift from God to the redeemed who believe in Christ. Those who do not receive Christ ultimately lose all consciousness or existence. It is related to annihilationism, which teaches that all men were created immortal but that those who do not repent and believe in Christ will, by a positive act of God, be deprived of immortality and reduced to nonexistence at death. Some of the early church fathers made statements which could be taken to support conditional immortality. Thus Irenaeus argued that free but mortal man must be obedient to God in order to become immortal. Disobedience brings death, but obedience results in immortality (Against Heresies 4.38.3; 5.23.1). This teaching enjoyed some degree of popularity in the nineteenth century through the writings of E. White, J. B. Heard, and the prebendaries Constable and Row in England, Richard Rothe in Germany, A. Sabatier in France, E. Petavel and Ch. Secretan in Switzerland, and in the United States through C. F. Hudson, W. R. Huntington, C. C. Baker, B. W. Bacon, and Horace Bushnell. Recently the subject has been opened up again by John Wenham ("Case for Conditional Immortality," 161-91 in Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell), John R. W. Stott (Essentials, 314-15), Edward Fudge (Fire That Consumes) and Clark Pinnock (Criswell Theological Review 4/2:243-59). Stott is the most tentative, saying, "I do not dogmatize about the position to which I have come. I hold it tentatively. But I do plead for frank dialogue among Evangelicals on the basis of Scripture" (Essentials, 320). He calls F. F. Bruce to his defense, saying, "The late professor F. F. Bruce wrote to me in 1989 that 'Annihilation is certainly an acceptable interpretation of the relevant NT passages.'" He added, "For myself I remain agnostic. My position is similar" (Evangelical Review of Theology 18/1:34). These views have been vigorously opposed by those holding the traditional position, including K. S. Harmon, "The Case against Conditionalism," in Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell, 173-224; John Walvoord in Four Views on Hell, 11-35; S. Chan, "Logic of Hell," Evangelical Review of Theology 18/1:20-32; T. Phillips, "Hell: A Christological Reflection," in Through No Fault of Their Own, 47-59; and L. Dixon, Other Side of the Good News. Beyond the historical support like that cited above, conditionalists appeal to the Scriptures for additional evidence. (1) Only God is said to be immortal (1 Tim. 6:16); (2) eternal life is described as a gift from God imparted only to the believing person (John 10:27-28; 17:3; Rom. 2:7; 6:22-23; Gal. 6:8); and (3) the wicked are said to "perish" or to be "destroyed," which is taken to mean that the nonredeemed will be reduced to nonexistence. Yet in each of the above cases a satisfactory alternative explanation is available. (1) While God alone has inherent immortality, he chooses to impart immortality to certain of his creatures. (2) All men have a derivative immortality. We should not blur the distinction between immortality of existence with God's gift of eternal life to the believer in Christ. Immortality is continued existence, while eternal life speaks of a special kind of continued existence in the fellowship and blessing of the triune God. (3) The destruction of the wicked cannot arbitrarily be assumed to mean their nonexistence. Rather, it speaks of their deprivation and loss of well-being. Furthermore, the doctrine of the resurrection of the wicked to condemnation argues against conditional immortality (John 5:28-29; cf. Rev. 20:6, "the first resurrection" implying a second resurrection which is the "second death"). It is this doctrine of resurrection which strikes a blow at both the Greek concept of the immortality of the soul and the conditional immortality viewpoint. Thus the biblical view of man concerns total man (body and soul). Immortality is a gift to all men in virtue of their creation and it is the total man which is immortal, hence the biblical emphasis on the resurrection of the body for both the wicked and the redeemed.

Authority in the Church - Patterns

The more difficult question is how these two offices/functions— elders/pastors/overseers and deacons— relate to the authority of the local church or some broader grouping. Historically, one of three avenues has been followed, with many variations. Congregationalism tends to place ultimate choices in the hands of the entire congregation. Partly this stance reacts against interposition of a priestly class between God and humankind; the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:9) is central. Churches decide alongside the apostles and elders (Acts 15:22); churches are responsible to protect against false teachers (Galatians; 2 Cor. 10- 13; 2 John); churches become the final court of appeal (Matt. 18:17); even when Paul wants discipline to be exercised, he appeals to the entire local church in solemn assembly (1 Cor. 5:4). Episcopacy labels its chief ministers bishops and lesser ones presbyters (or priests) and deacons. Some within this camp see bishops as heirs to the apostles' function; others point to the intermediate roles of Timothy and Titus portrayed in the Pastoral Epistles— men who had power to appoint elders (Titus 1:5), as had the apostles in churches they founded (Acts 14:23). Certainly the threefold ministry was defended as early as Ignatius (ca . AD 110), without, apparently, a traumatic debate reflecting change. Presbyterianism points out that presbyters in the NT occupy the most important place after the apostles; in any location the plurality of presbyters (or elders) seems to argue for a committee or college who exercised general oversight over the area congregation (1 Thess. 5:12- 13; Heb. 13:17). As most frequently practiced, all three prevailing patterns raise questions. Presbyterianism has raised an inference from Scripture to the status of principle. Episcopacy makes disjunctions between bishop and elder that cannot be defended from the NT; therefore appeals to Timothy and Titus as paradigms are futile, not least because their functions are best explained on other lines (they are not called "bishops" over against some lesser clergy status). Congregationalism tends to read principles of democratic majority vote into NT churches. Ironically, some forms of congregationalism elevate the pastor, once voted in, to near papal authority, in practice if not in theory. The problem may lie in the fact that we have too often envisaged church authority flowing in straight lines, whether up or down, instead of recognizing the somewhat more fluid reality of the NT. The normal responsibility for and authority of leadership rests with bishopselders-pastors; but if they are interested in pursuing biblical patterns, they will be concerned to demonstrate observable growth not only in their grasp of truth but also in their lived discipline (1 Tim. 4:14- 16). They will comprehend that spiritual leadership, far from lording it over others (Matt. 20:25- 28), combines oversight (1 Tim. 4:11- 13; 6:17- 19; Titus 3:9- 11) and example (1 Tim. 4:12; 6:6- 11, 17- 18; 1 Pet. 5:1- 4), which, far from being antithetical, are mutually reinforcing. Such leaders prefer not to dictate terms but to lead the church into spiritually minded consensus. Whereas Christians are encouraged to support and submit to spiritual leadership (e.g., Heb. 13:17), such encouragement must not be a blank check; churches are responsible for and have the authority to discipline false teachers, recognizing an antecedent commitment not to a pastor but to gospel truth. Modern models are not so much wrong as frequently lopsided. Similarly, the Ignatian defense of a threefold ministry was not so much a rebellious aberration as an attempt to ground the rising monarchial episcopate in Scripture, to ward off traveling preachers frequently spreading gnostic heresy.

Heaven

The most frequently used Hebrew word for heaven in the OT is šāmayîm, signifying "heaved up things" or "the heights." In the Greek NT it is ouranos, which denotes "sky" or "air." These words refer to the atmosphere just above the earth (Gen. 1:20, etc.); to the firmament in which the sun and moon and stars are located (1:17, etc.); to God's abode (Ps. 2:4, etc.); and to the abode of the angels (Matt. 22:30). The OT has no word for universe, and to express the idea there is the frequent "heaven and earth." We read of "the heaven and the heaven of heavens" (Deut. 10:14), and of a man's being "caught up into the third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2), but such references are probably to be thought of metaphorically. Although some, like Plato, imagine heaven to be a disembodied state where naked minds contemplate the eternal, unchanging ideas, in the Bible this is not so. According to Paul, the whole person survives. Even the body is raised again, so that, if it is no longer flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50), it nevertheless has a continuity with the present body, a sameness in form if not in material element (see Matt. 5:29, 30; 10:28; Rom. 8:11, 23; 1 Cor. 15:53). So there is nothing in the Bible (nor in the main creeds of the church) about disembodied spirits in the next world existing in vacuo. Yet there is no eating nor drinking (Rom. 14:17), nor appetite of sex (Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35). Feasting there is evidently to be understood symbolically, according to Matthew 26:29 where Jesus speaks of that day when he will drink the fruit of the vine "new" with the disciples in his Father's kingdom. In heaven the redeemed will be in the immediate presence of God and will forever feed on the splendor of God's majesty, beholding the Father's face. In the present life men "see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face" (1 Cor. 13:12). And the sons of God will see Christ "as he is" (1 John 3:2). The childlike in faith, even as the angels do now, will "always behold the face" of the Father (Matt. 18:10). They will not so much glory in the presence of Supreme Reason, as the Greeks anticipated, but in the wonder of the All-Holy One (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8). And this God is a Father, in whose house (John 14:2) the redeemed will dwell, where "they will be his people," and where "God himself will be with them" (Rev. 21:3). There will be activities in heaven to engage man's highest faculties. For one thing, there will be governmental ministries. The "spirits of righteous men made perfect" (Heb. 12:23) will be in the "the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God" (12:22), and men are to assist in governing the whole. Thus in the parable of the nobleman the good servant, who has been "trustworthy in a very small matter" on earth, is in heaven to be given authority over ten cities (Luke 19:17). In Matthew the servant who had been given five talents and who had gained five talents more is told" "Well done, good and faithful servant!... I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (25:20-21). Perhaps new songs are to be written and sung (Rev. 5:9). The "redeemed from the earth," too, are to learn a "new song" (14:3). And the kings of the earth are to "bring their splendor into it" (21:24). So while there is to be on the part of the redeemed a continuous worship in heaven, it seems to be in the sense that all activities engaged in will be for the sole glory of God and will therefore partake of the nature of worship.

Apokatastasis

The noun apokatastasis is found in the NT only in Acts 3:21: "[Jesus] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." The verb apokathistēmi (to restore, establish) occurs eight times. In the LXX it translates the Hebrew šûb (to bring back, restore), used of Israel's return from exile (Jer. 16:15; 24:6) and its eschatological restoration (Ezek. 16:55). Stoic thought, from the perspective of a cyclical view of history, envisaged a restoration of the universe to its original status of perfection. From a different point of view, Peter asserted that at Christ's parousia would occur the restoration of all that was proclaimed by the OT prophets: conversion of the Jews, gathering of the elect, the righteous reign of the Messiah on earth, and creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Acts 3:21). The end-time restoration that Christ would effect is affirmed by the verb in Acts 1:6 and by wider teaching in Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; and 2 Peter 3:13. The claim that the apokatastasis includes the salvation of all humankind (some would add the devil and fallen angels) was advanced by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, John Scotus Erigena, F. Schleiermacher, F. D. Maurice, and others. Jerome, Augustine, and most evangelicals, while insisting on an eschatological restoration by Christ, deny the corollary assertion of the ultimate salvation of all humans.

Intermediate State

The period between death as an individual phenomenon and the final judgment and consummation. If Christian thought held to no final state of affairs for all creation, then perhaps one's final situation could be conceived as being settled at death, as in Greek philosophy. However, Christian creeds have always affirmed the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the living and the dead, and life everlasting. To affirm that each individual's destiny is caught up in the triumph of God in Christ has created the distinct possibility of reflection upon the individual's situation between death and that future event.

Authority in the Church - Spheres

The spheres in which ecclesiastical authority operates are primarily three. First, early Christian churches exercised discipline, all the way from private and thoughtful admonition (e.g., Gal. 6:1) to excommunication (a severe social pressure when the entire church was cooperating) and even handing over a person to Satan (e.g., 1 Cor. 5:5; cf. Matt. 16:19; 18:18). Calvin was not wrong to identify church discipline as the third distinguishing mark of the NT church. Second, they enjoyed responsibility for and authority over a substantial range of questions affecting internal order— for example, collection of monies for relieving the poor (2 Cor. 8- 9) or administration of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:20- 26). Third, churches had some responsibility and authority in selecting deacons and elders and delegates (e.g., Acts 6:3- 6; 15:22; 1 Cor. 16:3). In no case were decisions established by mere majority approval; nor were these spheres of authority exclusive prerogatives of the entire congregation. Apostles appointed elders, and Timothy had hands laid on him by both Paul and the presbytery (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6). This need not mean that such appointment was made without close consultation with the church; but if the authority granted to Titus is significant (Titus 1:5), apparently that oversight, especially in the case of fledgling churches, was exercised first by the apostles and then by their appointees. In sum, there is dynamic tension among constituent parts of the church as far as authority is concerned. Two boundaries, to say the least, are fixed: (1) the church is not at liberty to ignore or countermand the authority of the gospel itself, now at last inscripturated, without sooner or later calling into question its own status as church; (2) the church of the NT does not expect its authority to be administered directly to the surrounding world but rather to be felt through transformed lives.

Purgatory

The teachings of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches set forth a place of temporal punishment in the intermediate realm known as purgatory, in which it is held that all those who die at peace with the church but who are not perfect must undergo penal and purifying suffering. Only those believers who have attained a state of Christian perfection are said to go immediately to heaven. All unbaptized adults and those who after baptism have committed mortal sin go immediately to hell. The great mass of partially sanctified Christians dying in fellowship with the church but nevertheless encumbered with some degree of sin go to purgatory, where, for a longer or shorter time, they suffer until all sin is purged away, after which they are translated to heaven. The sufferings vary greatly in intensity and duration, being proportioned in general to the guilt and impurity or impenitence of the sufferer. They are described as being in some cases comparatively mild, lasting perhaps only a few hours, while in other cases little if anything short of the torments of hell itself and lasting for thousands of years. But in any event they are to terminate with the last judgment. Gifts or services rendered to the church, prayers by the priests, and Masses provided by relatives or friends in behalf of the deceased can shorten, alleviate, or eliminate the sojourn of the soul in purgatory. Protestantism rejects the doctrine since the evidence on which it is based is found in the Apocrypha (2 Macc. 12:39-45).

Views of Millennialism

The word "millennium" is derived from the Latin word for a thousand (at times the word "chiliasm," taken from the Greek and meaning the same thing, is used). It denotes a doctrine taken from a passage in Revelation (20:1-10) in which the writer describes the devil as being bound and thrown into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. The removal of Satanic influence is accompanied by the resurrection of the Christian martyrs, who reign with Christ during the millennium. This period is a time when all of humankind's yearning for an ideal society characterized by peace, freedom, material prosperity, and the rule of righteousness will be realized. The vision of the OT prophets who foretold a period of earthly prosperity for the people of God will find fulfillment during this era. Millennialism addresses problems that are often overlooked in other eschatological views. Although most Christian theologians discuss death, immortality, the end of the world, the last judgment, the rewards of the just, and the punishment of the damned, they often limit themselves to the prospects for the individual in this world and the next. In contrast, millennialism is concerned with the future of the human community on earth. It is concerned with the chronology of coming events, just as history is involved with the study of the record of the past. Millennialism has appeared within both Christian and non-Christian traditions. Anthropologists and sociologists have found millennialist belief among non-Western people, but they have debated as to whether or not these appearances of the teaching are based upon borrowing from Christian preaching. Most Christian theologians believe that millennialism is based on material written by Judeo-Christian authors, especially the books of Daniel and Revelation. The ideas, events, symbols, and personalities introduced in these writings have reappeared countless times in the teachings of prophets of the end of the world. Each new appearance finds these motifs given fresh significance from association with contemporary events.

Intermediate State - Purgatory

There has been a tragic side to the history of reflection on the intermediate state, in the emergence of the doctrine of purgatory. Purgatory in Roman Catholic thought developed during the Middle Ages and hardened into dogma in reaction to the Protestant rejection of it. The Council of Trent (1545-63) declared that those who reject the doctrine of purgatory are "anathema," accursed. Purgatory is the doctrine that the intermediate state is not only the place of fixed blessing and torment, but primarily the place of passage by punishment toward blessing as postbaptismal sins are atoned for. Since some sins are more grievous than others, the time of punishment varies. The church here "below" can also aid those being punished through prayers and masses. Even outright absolution has been granted through the exercise of the power of the keys of Peter by the pope. Recent Roman Catholic thought has seen purgatory in more positive terms as a preparing, cleansing, or maturing transition from life on earth to the joys of heaven. This doctrine can be seen as a distortion of biblical truth for several reasons: (1) Clear scriptural warrant is absent. The only possibly supportive text is in the Apocrypha (2 Macc. 12:43-45). (2) The doctrine reflects an unacceptable ecclesiastical hubris that would claim to have clout in heaven concerning the extent of punishment of those already dead. This deprives God of his freedom and majesty as Judge. (3) The doctrine reflects the loss of the triumphant awareness of the eschatological reality of justification through the cross of Christ. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1 rsv). The doctrine of purgatory reflects pastoral problems relating to an earlier age in which church and society were coterminous and all baptism was of infants. How are postbaptismal sins to be dealt with and how is divine justice to be related to this form of sin of those who are dead? The theory of purgatory said, "You will not be lost, yet God will be just." At the present time, with much awareness of life as a process or evolution, purgatory has also allowed for speculation about the continued development of the soul. As such, it continues to be attractive for some in a greatly modified form.

Authority in the Church

This subject is made difficult by not only the rich diversity of the NT witness but also the diverse trajectories of ecclesiastical traditions ever since. Orthodoxy involves a federation of self-governing churches, each with its own patriarch. The Catholic Church is more centralized, its bishops appointed by the pope. Protestant churches reflect various episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational structures discussed below.

Church Government - Presbyterianism

This system emphasizes the importance of elders, or presbyters. Its adherents do not usually hold that this polity is the only one in the NT. At the Reformation the Presbyterian leaders thought that they were restoring the original form of church government, but this would not be vigorously defended by many Presbyterians today. It is recognized that there has been much development, but it is held that this took place under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that in any case the essentials of the presbyterian system are scriptural. It is beyond question that in the NT presbyters occupy an important place. They are identical with the bishops and form the principal local ministry. In each place there appears to have been a group of presbyters who formed a kind of college or committee which was in charge of local church affairs. That is the natural conclusion to which exhortations like Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 point. From the account of the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 we see that the presbyters occupied an important place at the very highest levels of the early church. In the subapostolic age the bishop's authority developed at the expense of that of the presbyters. This was due to such circumstances as the need for a strong leader in times of persecution and in the controversies against heretics, and perhaps also to the prestige attached to the minister who regularly conducted the service of Holy Communion. There is much that is convincing in this case. But we must also bear in mind the considerations urged by upholders of the other ways of viewing church government. What is beyond doubt is that from the Reformation onward the presbyterian form of church government has been of very great importance. John Calvin organized the four churches in Geneva on the basis of his understanding of the NT ministry as fourfold: the pastor, the doctor (or teacher), the deacon, and the presbyter (or elder). It was the pastor who had the care of the congregation. This was not the full presbyterian system, but it laid the foundation for it, and presbyterianism developed in Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. On the continent the name "Reformed" is used for these churches. Another important development in Geneva took place in a congregation of exiles from Queen Mary's England. They met under their elected pastors, John Knox and Christopher Goodman, and developed along presbyterian lines. After the accession of Elizabeth, Knox returned to Scotland, and his work led in time to the full emergence of the Presbyterian Church in that country, from where it spread to northern Ireland. England for a number of reasons did not accept presbyterianism as wholeheartedly as did Scotland, but a presbyterian church emerged there also. From this church Welsh presbyterianism took its origin. From Europe, more particularly from Britain, the church spread to America, where it became one of the most significant groups of Christians. In the great missionary movement of modern times missionaries carried the presbyterian form of the church far and wide, and national presbyterian churches were formed in many parts of the world. Presbyterian churches are independent of one another, but they have in common that they accept such standards as the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, or the Westminster Confession, and that they practice a presbyterial form of church government. The local congregation elects its "session," which governs its affairs. It is led by the minister, the "teaching elder," who is chosen and called by the congregation. He is, however, ordained by the presbytery, which consists of the teaching and ruling elders from a group of congregations over which it exercises jurisdiction. Above it is a General Assembly. In all courts parity between teaching and ruling elders is important. There has been a tendency for smaller bodies of presbyterians to appear among those who are dissatisfied with the laxity (as they see it) in the way some of the larger churches hold to classic presbyterianism.

Universalism

Universalism is that doctrine which asserts that all men will eventually be reconciled to God. A universalist believes that the efficiency of the Atonement is not limited and therefore extends to all. The arguments for universalism generally center on the following: (1) The character of God is incompatible with the idea of the eternal suffering of anyone, therefore his grace extends to all eventually (1 John 2:2). (2) The power of God is sufficient to restore lost humanity (Origen, in what has come to be known as the doctrine of apokatastasis speculated that even the fallen angels and perhaps Satan himself, could possibly be restored), "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord" (Phil. 2:10-13). (3) God's sovereign will and purpose will be fulfilled when all are finally saved (2 Pet. 3:9). (4) Perfected souls in heaven could never experience eternal bliss knowing the souls were suffering forever. (5) Advocates of Universalism suggest that this doctrine prevents Christians from becoming arrogant and condescending towards those outside the faith. It is a position of tolerance. (6) It is the only way to make sense of worldwide suffering, suggests John Hick, because this view sees eventual terminus to all suffering. There are about as many varieties of universalists as there are people writing about it; no two appear to be exactly alike. This makes it difficult to say all universalists believe one thing. Criticism of the doctrine, therefore, must take into account the complexities. Still, some general categorizing may be attempted. (1) There are those, like Origen, who believe that God will restore all eventually. In fairness, it must be added that though Origen is identified with this position, it is important to note that he was speculating the possibilities rather than advocating doctrines. His speculations are not without reservations. The view was condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 553 when Origen was Anathematized. (2) There are those, like George MacDonald, who believe that restoration will eventually come to all after a necessary period of purgation. (3) There are others who could be called "Ultra-Universalists." These fall into three categories: (a) Those who trust that the extent of the Atonement will be applied broadly to all. This group seeks to develop their position with respect to the Scriptures, thus enlisting biblical support for their view. (b) Those who justify their position based on the changed nature of the soul after death. Post-death conditions may allow for factors not readily discernible prior to death. Advocates of this view may, or may not, seek justification for their view in Scripture. Though their position is not clearly delineated by the text; the rationale for their arguments look beyond the pages of Scripture for support. (c) Those whose antecedent assumptions are so strong that their view is held irrespective of the Scriptures. They either reject the text, or reinterpret it, so as to make Scripture compatible with a universalist position. Those universalists who have respect for Scripture, look for support in such places (besides those texts listed above) as (1) Romans 11:32, "God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all." (2) 1 Timothy 2:4, which speaks of God's desire that all should be saved and urges the church to pray to this end. While Augustine appears to have drawn hard lines against universalist's hopes, this text, according to some (cf. Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II.II. q. 17a. 3) challenges Augustine's position, wondering if it is possible to hope for the eternal life of all if, in fact, it is not possible for all to be saved in the end. If hope is possible, could that hope be extended beyond the grave? (3) John 12:32, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." Here lifted up refers to the death Christ was to die. Does the mere fact that he died and rose again, ensure that all have a guarantee of eternal life? (4) Colossians 1:18 which says that in Christ God will reconcile all things to himself. The advocates against Universalism have tended to cite passages which appear, at least on first glance, to underscore the intense risks involved in failing to believe in the Atonement of Christ (see Dan. 12:2; Matt. 18:8; 25:41, 46; John 5:29; 2 Thess. 1:8-9; Jude 7; Rev. 14:11). They suggest that, if the texts pointing to eternal perdition cannot be taken literally, why should the texts that point to eternal life be taken literally? Those who oppose Universalism also point out that if all eventually make it into heaven regardless of a faith commitment to Christ, why should it be necessary to believe in the first place? Why should it be necessary to follow the word of Christ in obedience? Why is it necessary to "make disciples" as is prescribed in Matthew 28:18-20? The eschatological constructs developed by Christians have tended, with some variation, to come down to one of these two camps. While some might suggest that one's view at this point is a test of orthodoxy, others might offer that speculation in these matters is necessary in an attempt to reconcile a wide variety of Scriptural texts. These texts while not contradictory, are certainly filled with paradoxes and complexities.