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> What Are You Asking? -January 2005
 


Tom Ehrich
Tom Ehrich

 
   

What are You asking?

Pastor, Author and Speaker Tom Ehrich responds to
your questions about God, faith and
living spiritually

Send us your questions


 

FEBRUARY 2007


What are the prophecies about the Second Coming? I would feel AWFUL if He has returned "like a thief in the night" and I/mankind missed Him.

I think we should acknowledge that the end-time (second coming, parousia) is a mystery about which we shouldn't attempt to be too specific. The Biblical witness to this idea had two aims, both of them time-bound.

First, Jesus himself is quoted as anticipating an end-time that would occur shortly after his death and resurrection, perhaps within the lifetime of his first followers. Paul began his ministry with that expectation uppermost in mind. When the end-time didn't occur, Paul and others began to rephrase their expectation and to make it less specific, more a matter of God's intention some time in the future.

Second, the persecuted Christians waited eagerly for their victory over Rome. The Revelation to John contains some of their conviction that God would smite their persecutors. In fact, their persecutors joined the Christian fold, largely for political purposes, and Christianity went from underdog to top-dog, as it were. Later, Revelation's apocalyptic visions became the basis for some exotic theories about the Second Coming of Christ.

It is an article of Christian faith (as in the Nicene Creed) that Jesus Christ “will come again.” Over the years, various people—some well-intentioned, some charlatans—have used that expectation to justify various exotic schemes, such as going to a certain mountain to await the end-time, or visions of the rapture.

Jesus himself seems to have been more down to earth than that. He taught about loving one's neighbor here and now, loving God in the actions one takes here and now, and a kingdom that was coming to pass here and now.

 

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I am searching for scripture explaining the drying of palm branches from Palm Sunday and burning them for the ashes used on Ash Wednesday. Can you enlighten me?

Like other religions of the era, ancient Judaism used ashes to signal mourning and penitence. They were connected with the “dust” from which humanity was made. (“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” as we say at a burial.)

Palms, in turn, were an ancient symbol associated with brides, rulers, destruction, the city of Jericho (known as the “city of palms”), and abundance. When Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king, palm branches were strewn on his path, a sign of recognition and celebration.

The two symbols were linked naturally with Ash Wednesday as the start of Lent and Palm Sunday as its culmination. It was Christian tradition, not Scripture, that made this connection literal, by burning Palm Sunday ashes for the next Ash Wednesday. This captures nicely the cycle of the church year, namely, that even though the original events took place in the linear march of history, we encounter them every calendar cycle as reminders of who we are and who Jesus is.

 

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I am studying the topic of shame. The fall in the Garden has always been presented as the original sin and sign of disobedience. In our shame as sinful beings, we were expelled to toil and suffer. Is this truly how God sees mankindas shameful and disobedient? Could it be that the fall in the Garden was actually intended, and God sees Eve's choice as a blessing to humanity wherein a new level of Knowledge arrived allowing us to choose between good and evil? Are we really deemed to suffer under the guilt and shame of this act from a long-held belief system?


Shame, like conscience, seems to be a fundamental human characteristic. No one taught Adam and Eve to feel shame, or imposed shame as a punishment. They just felt shame when they saw their nakedness. Whatever one makes of the Adam and Eve story (see below), shame seems to precede it as a given of the human condition.

Guilt, on the other hand, seems to be taught. Religion has tended to encourage guilt, because guilt can keep people in line. Shame can lead to feelings of guilt, but guilt might not be a healthy way of dealing with shame. Repentance is the way Jesus taught.

That said, what do we make of Genesis 2-3? The Book of Genesis isn't a history text. It is a search for origins and the meaning in origins. It was written over a period of 400 years by at least three different authors. The earliest wrote around the time of King David (1000 BC) and sought to understand how Israel had come to such a good place. Filled with self-confidence, the author dared to consider the problem of sin and told a story about a man (adam or ish) and a woman (adamah or ishah) who presumed to be like God and were punished and banished, but not destroyed.

Later, after the horror of exile, another author wrote a different account of creation (Genesis 1), in which God can bring order out of chaos and has everything neatly lined out.

Neither tells history or science. They try to explain life as the authors knew it and God's place in that life.

It was Christian theology that returned to Genesis 2-3 and developed doctrines of the Fall and of Original Sin. Those doctrines reflected a dim assessment of humanity and a belief in a powerful, controlling Church. If humanity is inherently depraved, then only obedience to an external authority can redeem human hope. Thus, baptism cleanses, confession leads to absolution, last rites redeem, and only those who belong to the one Church that dispenses those sacraments have hope. Or so the Church taught.

Contemporary liberal theology has moved far away from such Church-centered conceptions. Modern fundamentalism, on the other hand, tries to reinforce them, but with Scripture as the infallible source, not the Church. Doctrines like the Fall and Original Sin, therefore, seem to be interpretations with political agendas, not the revealed nature of God.

 

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How can I forgive someone who has never asked for forgiveness or admitted that what he did was wrong? I know I need to forgive him, in order to release myself from the power he has over me. But, I don't know how. I question that if I am trying to forgive him for my own benefit, can it be real forgiveness?

Our forgiveness of each other must be modeled on God's forgiveness of us. That is, unconditional, without counting the cost, a gift that is given in mercy, not in expectation of reward. Jesus said there should be no limit to our forgiveness of those who hurt us.

How, then, can you do it? By letting go. Letting go of any control over the other, letting go of any thought of revenge, letting go of bitterness. Your feelings can't be easily set aside. You could still feel anger or a sense of betrayal. But you do have control over your actions.

The goal of forgiveness isn't to manipulate or fix the other person. The goal is to be in right relationship with God, which includes loving one's neighbor.

All of this is easier to say than to do, of course. But it is important that you try.

 

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I am a Democrat. Most people refer to me as a liberal. Also, to most people, this means I do not have a strong faith in God or morals and values believed to support what Christianity is all about. This is so very far from the truth. My progressive political stance is based on wanting to treat all individuals with dignity and respect. Please help me with some words I can use to explain this to those who continue to insult very faithful people like myself.

Over the years, both Republicans and Democrats have claimed to represent “true Christianity,” and have dismissed their opponents as faithless. Such a claim is nonsense, of course. Neither party in American politics has a unique claim on virtue or faith. God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. In fact, to judge by what Scripture says, God's word to America probably eludes both parties, as Jesus taught about giving up power, not craving it, and about sharing wealth, not amassing wealth.

Depending on what era it is and what side of the fence you're on, you can find ample evidence of Conservative Republicans and conservative Christians making common cause and seeking to portray liberal Democrats and liberal Christians as deeply in error, just as you can find liberals claiming the moral high ground and condemning conservatives.

In my opinion, Christianity serves the nation best when it remembers what Jesus did say and do, and avoids letting itself be co-opted by either party. Christians, like followers of other faiths, have roles to play in civic life, including partisan politics. The nation needs our diversity of witness and our zeal for justice. It doesn't benefit from our posturing or bullying.

 

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When was the Gnostic Gospel written?

The term “Gnostic Gospels” refers to several books, not to a single book. They were written during the same time frame as the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), that is, during the second half of the First Century, and later. They are grouped because they shared a certain theological emphasis. Some Gnostic Gospels were quite popular, such as the Gospel of Thomas, and are known in some detail. Others are more obscure. Like the canonical Gospels, they told the good news about Jesus.

The early Church decided that the Gnostic Gospels were not authoritative, and they acted to prevent their use. A bishop named Irenaus even demanded that every copy of the Gospel of Thomas be destroyed.

While they don't have the same place in Christian tradition as the four canonical Gospels, the Gnostic Gospels do give us a rich picture of the early years when people were abuzz about Jesus and trying to understand who he was.

An excellent book on the subject is Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels.

 

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The Church I once attended stated that if we don't take Communion, we must answer to God and tell him why we did not partake, and if we partake and have sinned, we will bring sickness and condemnation on ourselves. I'm confused about this and am afraid to take Communion now.

It is unfortunate when a church uses communion as a weapon to compel certain behaviors. Jesus gave the bread and wine at the Last Supper to all who were present, even his betrayer, Judas Iscariot. When Jesus fed the multitudes, he didn't screen them for worthiness. He simply made food available to all. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Communion is a gift—hence the name “eucharist,” meaning “good gift”—not something we earn.

If you hunger for God's sacrament, then I encourage you to join the rest of us sinners in seeking it.

 

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I tend to dwell on things, replaying them over and over again in my head and analyzing what I did or should have done or said. I'm afraid that this behavior stops me from having a closer relationship with God because I am so focused on past events I cannot see the path the Lord has laid out before me. How can I change and focus on the future and discern God's will?

A personal relationship with God involves the whole person, including past, present and future. We cannot redo the past, of course, but we can lift it up to God and ask for healing and forgiveness. If we don't bring our past to God, we may be held captive by it. That sounds like what you are experiencing. In order to move on, you will need to seek healing and forgiveness, as well as discernment of how you went astray.

Once you have confessed to God, you can be assured that your sins are forgiven. Then you can let go of the burden and move on. Similarly, once you have sought healing for wrongs done to you and for hurtful experiences such as illness, you can feel God's healing touch and move on from those burdens, as well.

I doubt that you can turn a switch and have your past go away. Better, I think, to turn it over to God in prayer and supplication.

 

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To learn more about Tom Ehrich’s writings, visit www.onajourney.org.
 


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