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A Review Of Robert Martin's The Christian Sabbath

Simon Wartanian | 4,577 views | 553 words | 0:02:49 hours | 21 July 2016 16:43

...oves to the post-apostolic testimony to the Lord's Day. He notes that often the word Sabbath was retrained for the Jewish Sabbath and was not frequently used for Sunday. Rather, from the earliest times, the expression "the Lord's Day" was used for the first day of the week on which Christ rose.

Finally, he moves on in the last part (3) to teach us how we should observe the Sabbath. He is careful in his suggestions and what He may say and deduce from God's Word. His desire is not to bind consciences where God has not bound them, but carefully give guidelines and suggestions.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this book and I used it a lot in my own Study for the 1689 Baptist Confession's chapter 22 on the Sabbath (sections 7-8). It is detailed, it is biblical and it is written in a loving and respectful tone. What more can we expect? Get it and read it already!

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A Short Review of Beckwith's & Stott's This Is The Day

Simon Wartanian | 3,919 views | 614 words | 0:03:08 hours | 08 January 2017 23:25

Sunday The Lord's Day Christian Sabbath Fourth Commandment Church History Historical Theology Book Review Roger Beckwith Wilfrid Stott

...n earlier pages. Roger Beckwith goes on to demonstrate that the Sabbath was a creation ordinance and as such it is not connected with the Fall. Then he goes on to survey the passages speaking about the Sabbath. Very interesting was chapter 4 where he showed continuities between the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's Day (the Christian Sabbath). He makes the case that the Lord's Day is the day of the Lord Christ, the day on which He rose and which we keep to celebrate His resurrection. The first part was very well written and argued, although I would have liked it to be longer and more extensive, but oh well!

The second part has 9 chapters devoted to a historical Study about the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. It is very interesting to many how many early references there are to the Christian observance of the Lord's Day as the day of worship. The New Testament has a handful of passages speaking about the Lord's Day (first day of the week), but apparently, in the mind of the early Christians, these passages were a firm foundation to show them that Sunday was the day of worship, the kyriake hemera! Dr. Stott makes a good survey of various pre-400 AD writings in these chapters. There are things which the Fathers believed that I don't agree with, neither do Beckwith nor Stott. But they are honest to lay out their views honestly and clearly. For example, although the observance of the Lord's Day is directly connected to the Fourth Commandment in the mind of the Christian Sabbatarian, the early Fathers, according to Stott, do not make a direct connection with it. As Christian Sabbatarians we believe that the Sabbath was instituted in the Garden and given to Adam to keep, but the Fathers did not agree or say that Adam had to keep a Sabbath, but some of them connected it with the existence of sin (i.e. trouble, sin in our lives and the need for rest). Stott lays these views out honestly and makes some observations on them. It is still amazing to me how much Christians wrote and said about the Lord's Day, although there were but a handful of passages on it in the New Testament. It goes to show that what is insignificant in our modern eyes, was more than enough for the early church. It was enough that the Lord Christ rose on the Lord's Day, for the Lord's Day to be considered the day of rest and worship--a holy day.

His chapter on Eusebius of Caesarea (8) is very interesting. He tries to demonstrate that Eusebius tried to systematize and summarize the doctrines about the Lord's Day and the Sabbath which the Fathers taught. He was the systemizer of the Christian Sunday. He speaks of the Lord transferring the feast of the Sabbath to the first day and so on. Clearly connecting the Lord's Day with the Sabbath.

Overall, a very good and well argued book. I will certainly go back to it and check some stuff again!

Seeing that this book was published in 1978 it would be hard to come by, but fear not! An online (scanned) version is available here.

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A Review of Hell Under Fire

Simon Wartanian | 5,390 views | 1,399 words | 0:07:19 hours | 22 January 2017 20:36

Book Review Eschatology Heaven Hell Gehenna Judgment Eternity Annihilationism Universalism Eternal Punishment Hell Under Fire

.... Authors most cited and interacted with include John Stott, Clark Pinnock, David Powys and Edward W. Fudge. The authors of this work continually argue that Annihilationists do not look at the whole portrayal of hell as presented by Scripture, but rather choose to focus on and emphasize specific portrayals of hell with neglect to the rest. This accusation is also leveled against those who hold to the traditional view of Hell who emphasize the punishment aspect of hell, while neglecting to share the Gospel, or declaring that hell is also a banishment (not merely a separation of God's presence) and destruction.

The Destruction Picture of Hell

An important and helpful Study was Douglas J. Moo's on the meaning of destruction. He accuses Annihilationists of reading their preconceived meaning of destruction as cessation of existence or as "annihilation" rather than deriving its meaning from the whole of Scripture. He shows how it is better and more consistent with the total picture of hell in the Bible to understand the usage of words like destruction to mean "ruin" (p. 106) and "they [the two Greek word groups olethros and apolymi/apoleia] usually refer to the situation of a person or object that has lost the essence of its nature or function" (p. 105), rather than cessation of being. In order to establish this he cites examples where the word group of destruction is used without implying cessation of existence. For example:

land that has lost its fruitfulness (olethros in Ezek. 6:14; 14:16); to ointment that is poured out wastefully and to no apparent purpose (apoleia in matt. 26:8; Mark 14:4); to wineskins that can no longer function because they have holes in them (appollymi in Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37); to coin that is useless because it is “lost” (apollymi in Luke 15:9); or to the entire world that “perishes,” as an inhabited world, in the Flood (2 Pet. 3:6). In none of these cases do the objects cease to exist; they cease to be useful or to exist in their original, intended state. In other words, these key terms appear to be used in general much like we use the world “destroy” in the sentence, “The tornado destroyed the house.” The component parts of that house did not cease to exist, but the entity “house,” a structure that provides shelter for human beings, ceased to exist. (p. 105)

While the rhetoric of Annihilationism is strong when using their preconceived ideas of destruction, they fail when examined in light of Scripture and when Scripture is compared to Scripture.

The Apocalypse and Hell

Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10-15 are arguably some of the clearest passages on the eternality of hell and of its punishment. G.K. Beale, who is recognized as the author of one of the best commentaries on Revelation, deals in detail with these passages while interacting fairly and respectfully with the other side.

He shows how the eternality of hell is parallel with the eternality of heaven. Notice how in Revelation 14:11 the torments of the lost who are said to “have no rest, day or night” are side by side with the bliss of the saints who are said to have “rest from their labors” in Revelation 14:13. Notice also the close par

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Koine Greek Verb Parsing Flowchart

Simon Wartanian | 4,237 views | 87 words | 0:00:27 hours | 08 October 2020 20:50

Koine Greek Parsing Verbs Chart

In the past few months, I’ve been pushing myself to continue my Study of Greek which I began in 2013, having finished the section on verbs in Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek, I started looking for flowcharts to help me with parsing. I came across one on which I based mine.

I pray that it is helpful to you.

Edit: There was a mistake that I corrected concerning the 2 Aorist. The tense formative σα goes with passive voice instead of the active/middle.

PDF PNG SVG Visio

The Early Church Fathers on Eschatology (especially the millennial question)

Simon Wartanian | 2,490 views | 207 words | 0:01:03 hours | 02 January 2022 14:56

Amillennialism Premillennialism Eschatology Second Coming Final Judgment Resurrection Revelation

This work is based on Dr. Charles E. Hill’s fine work entitled Regnum Caelorum: Patterns of Millennial Thought in Early Christianity. In it, he surveys eschatological thought in the first three centuries of the church. One focus of the Study is the interesting observation of something common in all premillennialists (except one, Methodius of Olympus [c. 270-311]) that did not believe in the immediate entry of believers into heaven. Rather, believers and unbelievers were held in some subterranean place until the resurrection and the millennium. On the other hand, those who believed in an intermediate state in heaven, gave no indications of chiliasm (belief in an earthly millennium), but rather, some of them even give explicit evidence of non-chiliasm (i.e., amillennialism). What I’ve done here, is search for the fuller statements of the authors from the early church which are freely available in the Schaff sets on CCEL, and included citations of Dr. Hill from the book itself.

I thought of sharing it on the internet for anyone interested in these issues. In reading these statements, you will find both the good and the bad of the exegesis of the ancient fathers.

(For those not able to see the IFrame, here is the link.)

Extensive review of Jonathan Menn's Biblical Eschatology

Simon Wartanian | 5,132 views | 12,397 words | 1:05:40 hours | 09 February 2022 21:11

Book Reivew Jonathan Menn Eschatology Amillennialism Dispensationalism Millennium

...n 1:7.

(4) At the second advent in chapter 19, AntiChrist is destroyed, while at the second advent in 1:7, AntiChrist is not destroyed.

(5) The second advent of chapter 19 initiates the millennium, but no mention of any millennium is found in 1:7, thus inferring that amillennialism may be the Biblical teaching here.

This type of argument could be carried on indefinitely from the two passages until dozens of supposed “distinctions” were noted. . . . Such arguments, if expanded slightly, could be used to “prove” three, four, five, or almost any number of future comings of Christ. Such arguments, then, are completely irrelevant to a serious Study of the nature and time of the second advent and serve to influence chiefly those who are impressed more with the quantity than the quality of the arguments. (pp. 169-170)

He then goes to deal with the distinction (for dispensationalist also a separation) between Christ’s coming for His saints and coming with His saints (pp. 170-171). Both will happen at the same time. When Christ comes from heaven with the dead in Christ, He will catch away the living saints (coming for His saints), and then proceed down to the earth (coming with His saints). This is how the word apantesis is used in the New Testament and in the ancient world (1 Thess. 4:17; Matt. 25:6; Acts 28:15-16). Dr. Menn cites F. F. Bruce who said: “When a dignitary paid an official visit or parousia to a city in Hellenistic times, the action of the leading citizens in going out to meet him and escorting him on the final stage of his journey was called the apantēsis.” (p. 170)

The Antichrist

The next chapter is titled “The Antichrist” and it is about a fascinating subject. This is especially fascinating in light of the time in which we are living where people are expecting “the mark of the Beast” and the arise of Antichrist everywhere.

Early in the church, with Irenaeus (ca. 130-200) and Hippolytus (ca. 170-236), Christians started to believe that the Antichrist would be a person from the tribe of Dan (p. 176). This is in contrast to the Jewish idea that the enemy of God would be a Gentile. The Christian position was based upon Jeremiah 8:16 and the absence of the tribe of Dan from Revelation 7:4-8. The characteristics of Antichrist from Irenaeus to the early fourth century are summarized by David Aune as: “(1) he is the agent of Satan, (2) he is a deceiver, (3) he performs false signs and wonders, (4) he is extremely evil, (5) he persecutes the people of God, (6) he has excessive pride, and (7) he claims divine honors.” (pp. 176-177)

As to the question of whether Antichrist is a person or a personification, Dr. Menn argues that it is a personification since ‘the Bible always uses the term “beast” to describe empires, not individuals. The description of the “beast” in Revelation 13 is drawn from Daniel 7, which describes four empires as four different beasts. The fourth beast in Dan 7:7–8, 11–12, 19–25 refers to the Roman Empire, not an individual. Nevertheless, the fourth beast is spoken of in “personal” terms. Consequently, the use of personal pronouns to refer to the “beasts” of Revelation is not determinative of whether Antichrist is a person.’ (p. 177)

He begins his biblical survey with the Antichrist texts in John&rsquo

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