Robert Lowery

28 June 2007
Haus Edelweiss
Heiligenkreuz, Austria

Well today we were discussing the hermeneutical principle of interpreting documents according to the laws of language. I emphasized the need to realize that truth is expressed in both symbolic and non-symbolic ways. To say something is symbolic is not to make it less truth but it enhances the truth found in the word or concept.

I passed out my card identifying me as a professor at Lincoln Christian Seminary and pointed out the use of symbolism on the card. There are four symbols. There is a cross and it symbolizes the Good News found in Jesus–his death, burial, and resurrection. But I pointed out to the students if you look closely, the base of the cross is sharpened and the cross at the same time becomes a sword, a symbol for the Word of God. Next to the cross is an image resembling a tongue, a symbol for the power of the Holy Spirit. And below the tongue is a piece of wheat, a symbol for the reminder that the harvest is plentiful. I think it is a powerful proclamation what the seminary is all about. The students resonated with the illustration.

I then concluded by saying symbolic language is used to make truths even more real and more understandable. Symbols do not deny truth but they make truth more vivid and more comprehensible. And one of my students, Tanya of Bulgaria, became excited and announced to the class: “Symbols are like providing different kind of clothing to truths. Truths are dressed in symbolic and non-symbolic language. The language of symbolism, like some pieces of clothing, are more startling and more attractive. Symbols dress the truth up and make the truths more appealing.”

Not a bad insight.

Technorati Tags: Bible, interpretation, symbols, truth

28 June 2007
Haus Edelweiss
Heiligenkreuz, Austria

This morning I began my third session teaching Bulgarians and Russians on the subject of eschatology. For three days, I have been emphasizing that “eschatology” should be defined in both a narrow and a broad way. In a narrow way, it is understood as dealing with events preceding, accompanying, and following Christ’s final return, specifically subjects like death, the final judgment, the new heavens and new earth, and hell. In a broad way, the term encompasses life between the first and final coming of Jesus. I have stressed, as does the New Testament in such passages as Acts 2:17f. and Heb. 1:1-2, that we have been living in the last days for nearly two thousand years, and that the last days are leading up to the day, the end, the day of the Lord, the day of wrath, the end of the age, etc.

In the midst of our discussion we frequently pause and reflect on the implications eschatology has on Christian living now (e.g., eschatology and ethics, eschatology and the Lord’s Supper, etc.) Today we focused on the relationship between eschatology and the mission of the church and God’s call for us to be witnesses to Christ and the Gospel.

I confessed to the students that far too often we don’t strive to seek a balance in Acts 1:8, between being sensitive to Jerusalem as well as what it means to go to “the ends of the earth.” I shared with them that I have been guilty of going to “the ends of the earth” (namely, Eastern Europe) to make better disciples of Jesus when at times I have failed to make more and better disciples in my “Jerusalem,” namely, Lincoln, Illinois.

Perhaps many of us spend too much time with Christians.

At the end of the discussion, I reminded them that one of the first symbols used to describe the church is “lampstands.” It is a symbol reminding us of witness. And at the end of the book, we read “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him w ho hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirty let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

Perhaps alongside of saying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” we should also be saying to those in our own Jerusalem as well as throughout the world “Come to Jesus!”

Technorati Tags: Bible, interpretation, eschatology, end times

I am writing this essay on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (June 24, 2007, to be exact) in an apartment located in the Vienna woods, near a village named Heiligenkreuz. For the fifteenth summer I have the privilege of teaching for TCM International Institute, an organization that is committed to preparing men and women for Christian leadership in Eastern Europe. Haus Edelweiss is one of the most precious places on earth for me. It is a refuge as well as a setting where I have been blessed to teach some of the finest disciples of Jesus I have ever encountered. I am grateful to God.

Accompanying me this year are three of my colleagues from Lincoln: Nancy Olson, Director of the Library, who will be working with the Institute’s library staff as it seeks to prepare for an accreditation visit; Neal Windham, Professor of New Testament at Lincoln Christian College, who will be teaching a class on Greek tools; and Dinelle Frankland, Associate Professor of Worship and Associate Dean of Spiritual Formation at Lincoln Christian Seminary, who will be teaching a class on Theology and Practice of Worship. They will be a blessing to the students, I am sure.

It has been a humbling experience to teach the students enrolled in the Institute’s degree and certificate programs. This year I will be teaching approximately ten Bulgarians as well as a Russian or two who will be taking the class for credit. In addition to these believers, I will have some special Russian guests, officials in the Baptist Union in Russia who teach in theological seminaries. They will be auditing the class.

My subject? New Testament Eschatology with special focus on the Book of Revelation. I will be encountering numerous questions, but above all, I want to teach this subject with the view to making all of us better disciples of Jesus, disciples who live faithfully in light of Christ’s first and final comings. May the material presented and the lively discussions that follow honor this goal.

Will you pray for us as we begin the conference on Tuesday, June 25? Pray that all will have good health, that all will learn to serve Jesus more faithfully, and that God will be honored in all that is said and done.

Technorati Tags: prayer, TCM International, teaching, Revelation

NOTE: Since this post is long and has special formatting, the first paragraph is posted here. The entire document may be downloaded at the link below.

Recently I had the privilege of teaching a class on Revelation at South Side Christian Church in Springfield, Illinois. Following one of the evening sessions, a young man came up and asked me how I interpreted Matthew 24. I told him that I believed that Jesus was responding to two questions asked by the disciples: When was the Temple and Jerusalem going to be destroyed and what signs would accompany the end of the world? I believe that the disciples were equating the two, and Jesus was clarifying that they were not one-in-the-same. They were two distinct events. The first event would be accompanied by signs and Jesus said that the judgment on Israel as a nation would come within their lifetimes (Matt. 24:1-35). The other event would not be accompanied by signs, but rather they (and we!) needed always to be alert (Matt. 24:36-25:46). He had been taught that “this generation” in 24:35 referred to the generation living right before Christ returns. Not so, I responded. Let me share with you a portion of my explanation I offered to him.

Download the entire post (PDF)

Technorati Tags: interpretation, Bible, end times, Matthew

I received the following question from a reader this week:

I recently read a paper you had written studying in detail the role of elders and deacons in the church. One question I had (for now) is about the reference in Acts 6:1f. If those selected were not in reference to the church’s first deacons, who were they? Our church is really struggling through some of this stuff right now, so I’m really interested to hear your opinion on the subject.

Who are they? We don’t know since NO title is given and I am hesitant to impose a title when one is not found in Scripture. In American church culture we are often hung up (at least I often am) on titles when the New Testament is “hung up” on functions (even when titles are given, by the way!).

They were individuals who were godly and had the confidence of the community that they could do the ministry they were called to do. Isn’t it interesting that two of the seven surface in the next section–Stephen and Philip–passages which show that their ministries extended beyond that of caring for the widows. I find that fascinating. So let’s focus on clear passages which use titles but emphasize their functions and let’s not impose titles on those individuals who are not given them. Luke certainly could have assigned titles (he does elsewhere in Acts–elders/shepherds in Acts 20, prophetesses and prophets in Acts 19, etc.). Hope this helps.

Technorati Tags: Bible, interpretation, deacons

If you have read my book, you know that I have been deeply influenced by the concert of the now and the not yet (see pp. 42ff.). The crucial battle has been fought and won and we await victory day. We live between Christ’s first and final comings. And until that last day arrives, when Christ returns in glory, we live between the now and the not yet. Revelation was written to help us live with the tension of what it means to be faithful between the two comings. We can live confidently with this tension between what we already enjoy and what we do not yet possess. Already we have rich blessings in Jesus, but we must await his final coming until those blessings are complete.

Years ago I was listening to Amy Grant’s album Straight Ahead. She sang a song written by the Christian composer Pam Mark Hall, a song written in 1981 entitled “The Now and the Not Yet.” The lyrics capture what I write about:

No longer what we were before, but not all that we will be
Tomorrow when we lock the door on all our compromising
When He appears, He’ll draw us near
And we’ll be changed by His glory
Wrapped up in His glory

We will be like Him
For we shall see Him as He is
No longer what we saw before, but not all that we will see
Tomorrow when we lock the door on all our disbelieving
When He appears, our view will clear
And we’ll be changed by His glory
Wrapped up in His glory

But I’m caught between the now and the not yet
Sometimes it fees like forever and ever
That I’ve been reaching to be all that I am
But I’m only a few steps nearer
Yet I’m nearer

No longer what we were before, but not all that we will be
Tomorrow when we lock the door on all the disbelieving
And He appears, He’ll draw us near
And we’ll be changed by His glory
Wrapped up in His glory

When He appears, He’ll draw us near
And we’ll be changed by His glory
Wrapped up in His glory.

Amen.

Technorati Tags: Revelation, Bible, Amy Grant