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From Augustine and Randy Alcorn

3/19/2010

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Some of you may have heard of Randy Alcorn. He's a pretty prolific author of Christian books, from novels to various issues and ethics topics, to books about "heaven." He was also very influential in the pro-life movement in Oregon throughout the 80's and 90's, and impacted the national debate with his book entitled "Pro-life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments," which is still in my view one of the best resources available on the subject. But before he wrote all those books, he was a first-time Bible College professor, and I was an 18 yr old in his class. That was a while ago. But the class I took from him, "Bible Study Methods," was one of my favorites that year, and if I just go by stuff I still *remember* and actually *use* from that education, it is hands down *still* my favorite.

So, today he posted this quote from Augustine with a short commentary on his public blog, and I wanted to note a few things in response:

Randy Alcorn: “Augustine wrote, "He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake." God, the source of all beauty and delight, is the fountainhead of joy—everything else that triggers joy is a lesser stream that finds its source in Him. We enjoy a sunset, a river, a good meal, sex in marriage, laughter with our friends…and in enjoying them we should be enjoying God (Psalm 16:11).”


This triggered some connections for me. First, Ward's very excellent article on the purpose of creation, which you can read here (and I strongly recommend you do). But primarily I wanted to focus for a moment on the Scripture Randy referenced, Psalm 16:11:

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

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The thing that strikes me about this, is that here is a guy (for whom I have great respect for what he's taught me) who totally sensualizes and physicalizes and futurizes "heaven" and every prophetic text referring to the kingdom of Christ, and the new heavens and new earth. And then he takes this passage, which in context, is only fulfilled by resurrection, and applies both the presence of God, and the experience of that presence (which he actually believes doesn't happen until we physically die!) to the physical pleasures that God has given us in this life to enjoy. Now, I don't have a problem with that application, with the qualification that these things picture, and demonstrate, and make tangible to our understanding the eternal, spiritual, invisible kingdom that is within us. (See again Ward's article.) And yes, we are enjoying them now, as we are enjoying the reality and substance of God's presence now. But again, according to this passage, and probably a hundred others, that presence is brought about by our resurrection. And not until.

So...can a futurist really apply all these benefits and experiences of resurrection and heaven (ie, God's presence) to their present time? Whether they are applying these word pictures metaphorically *or* literally, they are applying them *prematurely*, according to their paradigm of redemption, and the timing of its fulfillment.


And it struck me as ironic in a way, that as preterists we get accused of making the Bible irrelevant to our day? By honoring the time statements? And yet, we have
way more Scriptures to apply to our lives right now, than any futurist has any hope of doing. Anytime soon.

(with due respect to one of my favorite teachers)
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    About Me:

    I have been married to my loving husband Keith for 26 years. We have three beautiful and brilliant children, ages 24, 22 and 20. Nothing cheers my heart more than having them all at home, yet nothing is more satisfying to my mind than watching them grow from afar. My personal passion is theology: the knowledge and experience of the Truth and Mercy found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and displayed in the lives and communion of His people. My husband and I love to travel, and because our children are often out and about in the world, we get lots of opportunities to see it! And we also love to fill our home with friends who love us, and love our wine collection.

    Tami Ramsthel Jelinek

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  • Home
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    • We Believe: in the Sovereignty of God
    • We Believe: in the Deity of Christ
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  • Articles
    • The Kingdom the Prophets Saw >
      • The Nature of Christ's Kingdom and New Creation >
        • The Heavens and the Earth
        • The Afterlife
        • Communion with God
        • The Conscience of Guilt, the Conscience of Innocence
        • Heaven Love Light
        • Heaven and Sinlessness
        • The Kingdom and Communion of God
        • The Kingdom of God and Heaven
      • Abraham's Bosom and Sheol
      • In the Days of these Kings
      • The Kingdom of Christ in the Old Testament
      • Exodus 33
    • The Kingdom of Christ in Creation >
      • Collins/Dawkins Debate
      • Creation and Its Eternal Purpose
      • Genesis
      • God and Time
      • Metaphors of Health
      • Music, Worship and Creation
      • The Church: Making Sense of God Resting on the Seventh Day
      • The Purpose of Night
    • The Kingdom of Christ in the Psalms >
      • Psalm 46
      • Psalm 47
      • Psalm 69
    • The Kingdom of Christ in Isaiah >
      • Isaiah 33
      • Isaiah 40 part 1
      • Isaiah 40 part 2
      • Isaiah 40 part 3
      • Isaiah 57
    • Living in the New Creation >
      • Blogs of Division
      • Christian Zionism
      • Dancing in Fields of Grace
      • The Deceiver and the Deceived
      • Evil vs. Evil
      • Fellowship
      • A Grieving Father's Thoughts on Tragedy
      • He That Is Spiritual
      • I Have Called You Friends
      • Let's Not Forget Mercy
      • Seeing Good in Evil
      • Self-Righteousness vs. Being Overtaken in a Fault
      • Times of Refreshing
      • What Then? Are We Better Than They?
      • The Law and Its Scope and Purpose for Israel and Beyond
      • Justice and Judgment: Curious Contrasts of the Merciful and Merciless
    • Academic Papers >
      • Church Fathers vs. Calvin on the Eucharist
    • Theology and the Kingdom of God >
      • Logos, Antichrist, and Creation--No Greek Origin
  • Audio
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    • Conference Messages
    • 1 Corinthians 15
    • NCMI on the Radio
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      • B.A.T.
      • Exploring the Garden Scene
      • Guest Interviews
      • Heavenly Visions of the Prophets >
        • Isaiah 52
        • Isaiah 55
        • Isaiah 60
        • Isaiah 65
    • Subscribe: iTunes
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  • Video
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      • Galatians
      • Mercy? Me?
      • Total Depravity and the Gift of Faith
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