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NASB | 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation." |
Subject: Where do I go from here? |
Bible Note: Greetings Treadway! Thanks for the response my friend! Allow me to discuss a couple of philosophical points if I may! 1) Skeptics! My comment about skeptics was based on quite a bit of experience. I have no problem with someone questioning or asking hard questions of the Bible. However, skeptics do have an agenda - to remain skeptics! :-) Therefore, they often, as Jesus put it of the Pharisees, 'strain at gnats and swallow camels'. One example which I remember concerns an Old Testament passage where the circumference is given and the value of 'Pie' was not accurate to enough decimal points in the skeptics mind. Therefore, the argument was made that the Bible was in error! This train of thought about the second coming strikes me as the same kind of strained argument on the part of some to disprove the Bible. 2) 'Soon'! We have touched on this issue several times, but from whose perspective should we view 'soon'? Differing contexts and differing perspectives produce differing definitions and/or expectations. A child has very little patience and 'soon' had better be in the next couple of seconds! :-) A college student realizes that graduating 'soon' maybe in the next couple of years. In geological terms, a small ravine may 'soon' be a giant canyon. But, what about God's perspective as a timeless being. Surely, we cannot mandate that 'soon' for Him means within my lifetime. He ordained the first coming of Christ before the world was even created. Yet, it was not until 2,000 years ago that Christ came. If one does not hold to a young earth theory, that means that God waited possibly hundreds of millions of years before Christ came the first time. If one holds to a young earth theory, God still waited thousands of years before Christ came the first time. My whole point in this discussion has simply been two-fold: 1) Don't read too much in to a word which is very subjective! 2) Don't make a literal statement out of an assumption about the meaning of a word! If Christ had literally said that He was going to return in the 1st century and didn't, I would be right there with you protesting that the Bible was inaccurate. However, He never said that! It is dangerous to build an entire arguement on the truth or falsity of the Bible based upon nothing more than an assumption about how long a time is a reasonable time for 'soon'! ;-) Well, I've got to go! I'm expecting a video call from my mother! God Bless you my friend! Hopefully, we will be able to interact 'soon' on some other issues as well! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |