Quote:
Originally Posted by puritan lad  I guess you're not a fan of Kenneth Gentry  . This is a common charge, but with all due respect, my approach does not cut "out just about every passage in Scripture as having any relevance/applicatory value to the church today". My "approach" respects the historical context and original audience. Understanding this has great value for the church today.
In contrast, the idea that Paul was addressing modern apostasy is the only "assumption" here, not to mention the resulting vague interpretation (every Christian has thought they were living in the last days.) It is your approach that makes the passage irrelevant to Timothy, and to every other Christian for the past 1,900 years.
I also hold that my view can consistently define the phrase "last days", whereas your approach causes great confusion regarding what the last days actually are. |
It's putting words in my mouth to say that I am asking one to disregard historical context and original audience. That is a given starting point. However, what you are doing is unnecessarily reading assumptions about the destruction of the temple into your historical context, as well as unnecessarily limiting the audience to Timothy alone. You divorce the Divine Author and the audience of the Church from the human author and what you assume to be his only intended audience of Timothy.
As well, if your interpretation of things is as clear as you think it to be, what would you say we are now living in, the "post-last days"? It is fairly incontestable (apart from a strained preterist argument) that throughout the NT the phrase "last days" refers to the time between the advents, and not merely the period between Christ's ascension and AD 70. It is not a "vague interpretation" then to say that, indeed, every Christian from that time has been living in the last days. I've never really found that a difficult concept to grasp.
I guess that the classic amil position then, is the one that causes "great confusion" regarding the meaning of the phrase "last days".
Oh well.