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Baptist Bible Seminary Clarks Summit | Pennsylvania Spring 2013 | Volume 17 | Number 1 Baptist Bible Seminary Clarks Summit | Pennsylvania The Journal of Ministry and Theology Published semiannually by Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania Jim Jeffery Mike Stallard President Dean of Baptist Bible Seminary Gary Gromacki/Mike Stallard Teresa Ingalls/Sarah Nippert Editors Editorial Assistants The Journal of Ministry and Theology is a semiannual journal published by Baptist Bible Seminary of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. It is devoted to the growth of pastors and educators through interaction with contemporary critical issues and methodologies from the perspective of a biblical worldview. The Journal provides a forum for faculty, students, and friends of BBS to apply theology in ministry for the benefit of local church and parachurch organizations. Regular features of The Journal include articles on biblical exegesis; pastoral, biblical, and systematic theology; ethics; church history; missions; and ministry issues. The views represented herein are not necessarily endorsed by Baptist Bible Seminary, its administration, or its faculty. Subscription Rates: One year $16.00 ($21.00 foreign); Two years $30 ($36.00 foreign); Single issues available at $9.00 each. Subscription requests should be sent in care of Journal Subscription Secretary, Baptist Bible Seminary, 538 Venard Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411. All subscriptions are payable in U.S. currency, with checks made payable to Baptist Bible Seminary. Postal Information for The Journal of Ministry and Theology (ISSN: 1092-9525). Address changes can be sent to the Journal Subscription Secretary per the above address. Copyright ©2013 by Baptist Bible Seminary. Requests for permission to reprint articles, in whole or in part, must be secured from the editor and from the author of the particular article. Mail requests to The Journal of Ministry and Theology Editor, Baptist Bible Seminary, 538 Venard Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411. Spring 2013 | Volume 17 | Number 1 The Journal of Ministry and Theology Contents A Biblical and Theological Discussion of Traditional Dispensational Premillennialism ................................................... 5 David Mappes, Ph.D. H. Wayne House, Ph.D. Preaching the Epistles ....................................................................... 57 Bill Arp, Th.D. The Usefulness of Archeology for Apologetics ....................... 79 Ken Gardoski, Ph.D. John Nelson Darby and the Rapture ............................................ 99 Tommy Ice, Ph.D. The Pastor/Musical Worship Leader Relationship ........... 120 Don Ellsworth, D.M.A. 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The Journal of Ministry and Theology 5-56 A Biblical and Theological Discussion of Traditional Dispensational Premillennialism Dr. David Mappes Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Bible Exposition Baptist Bible Seminary Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania Dr. H. Wayne House Distinguished Professor of Theology, Law, and Culture Faith Evangelical Seminary Tacoma, Washington1 INTRODUCTION All orthodox Christians agree on the scriptural-prophetic facts of the personal, visible, sudden, and bodily return of Jesus Christ referred to as his second coming. Jesus Christ himself promised his return (Matt 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 42, 44; 25:31), which was announced by angelic beings (Acts 1:9-11) and proclaimed in the early church (Acts 3:19-21). The author of Hebrews guarantees Christ’s return which he writes, “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him” (Heb 9:28). Christians, however, disagree on the specific details surrounding his return, including the nature of the rapture and the nature of his earthly reign referred to as the millennium. 1 © 2012 H. Wayne House. All Rights Reserved. 6 The Journal of Ministry and Theology The word millennium is derived from a Latin term meaning one-thousand. The term appears six times in Revelation 20:1-7, referring to a one-thousand-year time period when Jesus Christ physically, spatially reigns on earth with glorified, resurrected as well as non-resurrected believers while Satan is bound and spatially removed from the earth. Premillennialism entails the view that Jesus will physically return prior to the millennium to establish his earthly reign after which eternity will begin with establishment of the new heavens and new earth. When Jesus returns to the earth, he establishes his millennial, earthly kingdom. Classic (or historical) premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism are primarily distinguished by their hermeneutical system with respect to how OT promises to national Israel relate to the millennium. Progressive dispensationalists and traditional/classic dispensationalists are distinguished with respect to the question of whether or not the church has inaugurated the OT prophesied kingdom age. By way of contrast, Amillennialists do not believe in a future, bodily, earthly reign of Christ. Common features among all premillennialists entail the following: (1) Jesus himself institutes his earthly reign as described in Revelation 19:11-21. This future millennium will not be a gradual extension of Christ’s current session in heaven. Rather Christ himself will return in a sudden, dynamic, cataclysmic manner and render Satan completely inactive by spatially removing him and his followers. Jesus Christ will personally end the wars, famines, great apostasy, and the Anti- christ that are all part of the prophesied Great Tribulation; (2) the two resurrections in Revelation 20:1-6, which are chronologically separated by the one thousand-year reign, are actually two distinct resurrections. The first resurrection in 20:4 indicates that the millennium contains believers in their glorified state inhabiting the millennial reign while the second resurrection refers to the judgment of non-believers; (3) Similarities, though also distinct differences, exist between Christ’s future millennial reign vs. his reign in the eternal state as described in Revelation 21-22; thus they are separate time Traditional Dispensational Premillennialism 7 periods; (4) Christ’s current rule in heaven vs. his future earthly reign as described in Revelation 20:1-6 cannot be reduced to a mere apocalyptic metaphorical description of a past or current event(s) nor reduced to an apocalyptic metaphorical description of Christ’s current rule in heaven. TRADITIONAL DISPENSATIONAL DISTINCTIVES Traditional dispensationalism is currently nuanced by its (1) consistent practice of literal hermeneutics and theological method in the Old and New Testament; (2) the nature of the church as a mystery and Christ’s current heavenly session as priestly, non-Davidic reign; and (3) the non-fusing nature and relationship between Israel and the church. Consequently, traditional dispensationalists hold to the not-yet view of the kingdom and deny an already-not-yet view of the Messianic kingdom. Christ inaugurates the Messianic kingdom age in his second coming, not in his first Advent. Sensus Literal Hermeneutic and Theological Method As previously stated all orthodox Christians hold to the scriptural facts of the bodily return of Christ to judge the living and the dead. This interpretative view has been held throughout the ages because believers apply a common, single, consistent, literal hermeneutic in addressing the repeated assertions in the NT that describes the visible, glorious return of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, evangelical Christians who were both millenarians and non-millenarians alike continued to hold to these common eschatological truths even when liberal rationalistic theologians2 sought to apply anti-supernatural views in de- 2 See Millard J. Erickson, Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A Study of the Millennium (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977) and The Kingdom of God in 20th-Century Interpretation, ed. Wendell Willis (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1987). 8 The Journal of Ministry and Theology eschatologizing and consequently redefining the kingdom motif, including the return of Christ as being only ethical in nature.3 Traditional dispensationalists seek to practice this common, consistent hermeneutical historical-grammatical-literal (sensus literal) method of interpretation to discern the intention of the human author by examining what the author affirms in the historical context of his writing and then correlate all the material related to a topic in a compressive manner.4 Rather than re-interpret the OT or practice a complementary hermeneutic, traditional dispensationalists seek to understand the literal meaning of a text by its immediate historical-textual parameters and then understand how this meaning relates to 3 As an example, professor Charles R. Erdman in his article entitled “The Coming of Christ” demonstrates this notion when he writes, “The return of Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It is embodied in hymns of hope; it forms the climax of the creeds; it is the sublime motive for evangelistic and missionary activity; and daily it is voiced in the inspired prayer: ‘Even so: Come, Lord Jesus.’ It is peculiarly a Scriptural doctrine. It is not, on the one hand, a dream of ignorant fanatics, nor, on the other, a creation of speculative theologians; but it is a truth divinely revealed, and recorded in the Bible with marked clearness, emphasis and prominence. Like the other
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