Subject: What was the Lord's expectation? |
Bible Note: You wrote the following: "But you avoid the problem. What about the scriptures that show that Paul 'thought' he would be alive at the Lord's return?" If Paul indeed thought that he would be alive at the Lord's return. HE WAS WRONG! And every passage of Scripture in which Paul promulgated his error IS WRONG. I believe the Scripture to be without error, therefore, what Paul wrote was not incorrect, but rather the modern interpretation of his writings are incorrect to the extent that the Lord could return at any moment. You have consistently approached this point of doctrine from a human standpoint and neglected to view them from the aspect that the Scripture contains God's words. 52 Major Bible Themes says this on page 17 in regards to the theory of inspiration. VERBAL PLENARY INSPIRATION In the history of the church the orthodox view of inspiration has been described as verbal and plenary. By verbal inspiration it is meant that the Spirit of God guided in the very choice of the words used in the original writings. Scripture, however, indicates human authorship. Various books of the Bible reflect the writer's personal characteristics in style and vocabulary, and their personalities are often expressed in their thoughts, opinions, prayers, or fears. However, although the human elements are evident in the Bible, inspiration contends that God directed so that all the words that were used were equally inspired of God. This is brought out by the use of the word "plenary" which means "full inspiration" as opposed to views that claim only partial inspiration for the Bible. My point on this topic is this. God inspired the writers of the New Testament to write the very words of Scripture. God knows when he will send His Son back for the church. Therefore, it would be inconsistent and misleading for God to have put in His word the teaching that Christ could come at any moment. I submit to you that no such deception exists in Scripture, because God is Truth. Mike Piles |