The author of the letter to the Hebrews began his letter, “…in these last days,” and argued on such a basis that, “He (Jesus) would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” With equal fervor he employed the phrase, “as you see the day drawing near…”—and made the prediction, “…for yet a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” (Heb. 1:2; 9:26; 10:25,37) Oops! Thereʼs been a sleight delay.
Even worse is the fact that “at the consummation” can also be translated, “at the end of the age.” What does that phrase mean, “the end of the age?” A verse in the Gospel of Matthew defines it precisely: “At the end of the age… the Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Mat.13:40-41—the author based his description of “the end of the age” on Daniel 12, which was a description of the final judgment of mankind). So that is exactly what the author of Matthew and the author of Hebrews predicted would happen in their day, i.e., the final judgment of mankind.
Also note the logic behind the argument in Hebrews 9:26. The author argued that continuous sinning “since the foundation of the world” required blood sacrifices “often.” But God saw to it that Jesusʼs sacrifice occurred at a time when no further sacrifices would be required. That time could only be “at the consummation” or “at the end of the age” when the time of final judgment for all sinners had arrived. Thus he hoped to persuade his readers of Godʼs wonderful plan in having Jesus sacrifice himself “in these last days,” and that it was only a “very little while” before “he who is coming will come, and will not delay.” It should appear even to the most dense that the prediction as stated in the Book of Hebrews has failed. So, the author of Hebrews was a false prophet.
For more examples from the New Testament of false prophecies see, “The Lowdown on Godʼs Showdown”.
I refuted this one 9-13-06:
ReplyDeletehttp://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/09/debate-with-agnostic-on-meaning-of.html
I am still awaiting a reply.
I also refuted some of Ed's "proofs" that the Bible teaches a flat earth:
http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/09/objections-to-some-atheist-agnostic.html
It's real easy to preach to the choir, but when a serious critique comes along, well, that's a different story!
In It,
Dave Armstrong
Dave,
ReplyDeleteBesides Dunn, Ehrman, Sanders, and Hill’s admissions concerning this topic, I forgot to mention those of Dr. Howard Clark Kee, who edited THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO THE BIBLE; and whose book, UNDERSTANDING THE NEW TESTAMENT, has gone through 5 editions. Kee's latest work published in 2005 is BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIANITY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. Though having begun his own scholarly journey at conservative colleges like Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Kee, has not sought to get involved in controversies like Bart Ehrman; neither have I found where Kee explains explicitly what he believes or finds most puzzling after all of his years studying the Bible. He seems a sort of person who sees value in avoiding conflict, looking for the best in everyone, and simply pursuing scholarship for its own sake. Yet he writes the following when it comes to "imminent expectations":
"Jesus appeared on the Palestinian scene as an itinerant teacher, probably self-taught, so there was deep resentment of his authoritative manner among the official religious leadership of Palestine. He held his central mission to be the announcement of the imminent coming of God's Kingdom, and he regarded his extraordinary powers of healing and exorcism as evidence that the powers of the Kingdom were already breaking into the present situation... [I]t was through the false charge that he was a revolutionary that he was put to death by the Romans--a charge brought by the religious leaders whose authority his pronouncements seemed to threaten." [Howard Clark Kee, Jesus in History, (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1970) p. 268-269.]
And then there is Dr. James D. Tabor, Chair of Religion at the Univ. of N.C., whose view--like the rest I mentioned--reflects mainstream scholarship. See Tabor's "Jewish Roman World of Jesus" webpage, and click on the "Christian Origins and the New Testament" and see the list of verses (many of which are also found in my online article, "The Lowdown on God's Showdown") in Tabor's "New Testament Texts on the Imminence of the End," as Tabor puts it, "There is absolutely clear evidence running through the New Testament documents that the early followers of Jesus (Nazarenes) were convinced that they were living very close to the end of the Age. They expected the "Parousia" (arrival) of the Messiah within the span of their generation. This apocalyptic hope was largely based on the preaching of Jesus himself that the "Kingdom of God was at hand," as well as a general understanding of the prophecies of the book of Daniel, especially chapters 9 and 11. It is only in some of the latest texts of the New Testament that this hope begins to wane (e.g., 2 Timothy 4:6-8; 2 Peter 3:8-10)."
On the subject of the BOOK OF DANIEL, I would also heartily suggest that you catch up with the works of mainstream scholar, Dr. J. J. Collins, one of its foremost authorites, also an authority on intertestamental literature and apocalyptic literature in general. See for instance, THE BOOK OF DANIEL, VOL. 2, COMPOSITION AND RECEPTION, ed., John J. Collins and Peter W. Flint, "More than thirty leading scholars from Europe, North America and Israel examine the Composition and Reception
of Daniel in eight sections." It is the second vol. to appear in the collection THE FORMATION AND INTERPRETATION OF OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE.
And, Dave, I would like to add that since you think you have "refuted" what I wrote, and since I have pointed out how mainstream the idea is of Jesus having been an apocalyptic end times prophet, I'd like to add one more thing, namely that even the folks who believe in the inerrant inspiration of Scripture have yet to agree concerning what Scripture teaches concerning the following eschatological matters--The following titles are published by Christian publishers:
Three Views on the Rapture
Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond
Four Theologians Debate the Major Millennial Views
Four Views on the Book of Revelation
Four Views on Hell
I guess you have a lot of "refuting" left to do. Good luck.
Ed the agnostic