I’m a member of a local community of Christians who reject eschatologies that posit a rapture, an antichrist, all that jazz. We read the Apocalypse of John along with other ancient Christian, Jewish, and Roman apocalypses and find that it points to a veiled (read: symbolic) critique of the Roman empire and about the Christian’s place in that context. [1]
We see one full and final 2nd coming of Jesus, no half-coming where the good are raptured. [2]
We perceive ourselves as a minority in the larger local church, Columbia, Missouri, and Midwestern Christian Communities. Also, many of us personally used to buy into a rapture view, myself included.
I bring all of this background information up because I see a disturbing trend in my community and I am not sure how exactly to constructively confront it. We have a tendency to belittle Christians who stand within a raptural pale with a disturbing frequency. And our group disdain is not limited to those that differ from us in terms of eschatology. Among others, we belittle those who think violence can be justified, those who think that the republicans are a good voting option, and those that hold the myths in the Old Testament as literal history.
We are not merely stating our disagreement. With our internal rhetoric, we bemoan their ignorance, laugh at their theologies, and demean and ridicule behind their backs. [3] You see, we consider ourselves holders of the secret flame, as wise women in the midst of fools. That is how we carry ourselves. And that is wrong of us to do.
I am sure some of this comes from coping methods. Some of us feel as though we have awoken from a lie (or series of lies) and we therefore project our feelings of past foolishness onto those similar to our past selves. Additionally, since we perceive ourselves as a minority, our actions function as defense mechanisms. However, this is not a good way to deal with either our past theologies nor our perceived minority position.
What we need is a helpful and constructive way to engage these Christian others. Now, I agree completely that our interpretations are better interpretations. [4] What we need to avoid is criticizing the people instead of their viewpoints. Also, we need to remember that these viewpoints help create and maintain our sisters’ and brothers’ identity. When we flippantly disregard their viewpoints, we are flippantly disregarding their identity.
What we need to do is to engage and dialogue with the Christian other instead of demonizing them. They have good reasons for thinking what they think, whether it be past experiences or past interpretive histories, etcetera.
I don’t know how to do that effectively nor how to help my community to do the same. Any suggestions? [5]
- See the following:
· Borgen, Peder. “Moses, Jesus, and the Roman Emperor Observations in Philo’s Writings and the Revelation of John.” Novum Testamentum 38, no. 2 (April 1996): 145-159.
· Callahan, Allen Dwight. “The Language of Apocalypse.” The Harvard Theological Review 88, no. 4 (October 1995): 453-470.
· Clemen, Lic. Carl. “The Jewish Apocalypses.” The Biblical World 34, no. 1 (July 1909): 33-44.
· Frankfurter, David. “Apocalypses Real and Alleged in the Mani Codex.” Numen 44, no. 1 (January 1997): 60-73.
· Maier, Harry O. “Staging the Gaze: Early Christian Apocalypses and Narrative Self-Representation.” The Harvard Theological Review 90, no. 2 (April 1997): 131-154.
· Porter, Frank C. “The Place of Apocalyptical Conceptions in the Thought of Paul.” Journal of Biblical Literature 41, no. 1/2 (1922): 183-204.
· Shodde, George H. “The Jewish Apocalypses.” The Biblical World 6, no. 2 (August 1895): 97-104.
· Smith, Marian W. “The Apocalypse of John.” College Art Journal 9, no. 3 (Spring 1950): 295-307.
· Votaw, Clyde Weber. “The Apocalypse of John: I. Jewish Apocalyptic Literature.” The Biblical World 31, no. 1 (January 1908): 32-40. [↩]
- For instance, we explain two classical rapture passages, 1Thess 4:15-17 and Matthew 24:32-44, as follows.
· 1Thess: When a king would come into one of his cities in ancient times, he would ride up and stop just outside. Then the leaders of the city would come out to greet him and then they would all go into the city together. The King was always escorted into a city. This is the imagery the readers would have recognized and we should pattern our interpretation of the text after.
· Matthew: Notice a) the reference to the Flood and b) who is taken and who is left. Who was taken away in the flood of Noah? The unfaithful. If it is to be the same as then, then those left behind when the son of man returns will be the righteous instead of them being raptured away! This also fits well with Jesus’ imagery of the weeds being thrown into the fire and the wheat being left. [↩]
- I am not just pointing the finger at everyone else in my community. I am sometimes an active participant in this. [↩]
- or I would hold other ones [↩]
- If you are a part of my community, let me know if you think I am being fair here or not. This is how I perceive things currently. I am not trying to attack any one person. I just want us to grow ourselves and the Kingdom of God. [↩]
I have been feeling this way recently, as well. It reminds me of when I was incredibly into reading apologetic literature and was constantly attacking the positions of others. As far as how to go about it better, I’m not entirely sure. We can talk about the positive attributes of our positions rather than the negative ones of those we disagree with (although it’s easy to imply the negatives of other positions, i.e. “Peace Theology holds a very high view of God’s universal love,” read: “Others’ views do not”). We can talk about these things less. We can repent and pray that God will give us a better perspective. We can spend more time with those we disagree with to better understand their positions and how their identities are formed by those positions. Hopefully some of those are helpful. Also, I thought one key “othering” position that was conspicuously left off (whether purposeful or not) is Calvinists/Arminianists (depending on which side you fall). This post was really good and really timely. Thanks Henry.
[...] at Theology for the Masses, asks about how to deal with Christians with differing views in “The Christian Other.” I know a lot of people who have wrestled with this kind of issue, and it’s a great [...]
I thank God that he has seen fit to give us his Word. I don’t have the mental ability to decide which of the Old Testament accounts are myth and which literal history, which prophecies are only symbols of some sort and which will be or have been fulfilled, and neither does anyone else. We are human and he is God. He doesn’t lie and confuse, but Satan does (or is he also a piece of fiction?). Jesus said, “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies….He who belongs to God hears what God says.” John 8:44c & 47 It seems to me that Jesus and the apostles were more concerned with truth and with warning against false teachers. Agreed, we need to “correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Tim. 4:2 “but speaking the truth in love” Titus 4:15, and above all love one another! The concept of a “rapture” is extra-biblical in any case.
Thanks for thinking about this. Keeping it in mind, and reminding each other as when we slip into an unhelpfully critical mode, is sure to reduce the frequency.