Saint Augustine felt a considerable amount of anguish at being “in time.”  So much so that he considered it to be a part of salvation itself that we are saved from time into timelessness.  

But that raises an interesting question.  How can finite beings be timeless?  Our very finitude, by definition, seems to consign us to the temporal.  Try to imagine experiencing reality in any other way than “past-now-future” (or, as Augustine said, “memory-observation-expectation”) and you’ll be scratching your head for a long time (see, there’s that word again).  

Augustine was not setting out to give a philosophical account of time, but merely reflections on his own experience of time.  In a similar fashion, there might be a way to reconcile Augustine’s desire to be freed from the moment-by-moment passage of time and humanity’s “bondage” to the temporal.  

As the old saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun.  Thinking back on all of those moments in my life where I found this sentiment to be true, I can remember what seemed to be “timeless” experiences.  If you’ve ever had a moment where you suddenly looked at a clock and said, “Wow, is it that late already?” then you know basically what I’m talking about.  

As it turns out, there are only two kinds of situations that I can think of where the passage of time is actually self-evident:  (1) When one is bored or otherwise miserable and can’t wait for a certain amount of time to be over, or (2) when one is having the best time of his life and doesn’t want the time to come to an end (and so is constantly looking at his watch and dreading the impending end of his happiness).  With regard to (1) you could almost say that there is an inverse relationship between a person’s happiness and their awareness of the passage of time.  With a few exceptions, a general rule could be that the happier you are the less likely you are to notice time passing.  Since we can safely assume that times of boredom and misery will be scarce in Heaven, we can get rid of (1).  

What about (2)?  I think there are two ways to look at it.  You can deny that the person is actually happy whenever he checks his watch, because at the moment he does so he is actually feeling anxiety and not happiness.  But that could be debated.  A much simpler answer would be that, in Heaven, the very fact of eternity will mean that our happiness will literally never end.  And thus the dread of our happiness ending will never be a possibility.  

In one sense, then, it is not time itself that we are delivered from in salvation, but rather those conditions that make the passage of time so painful to us here on fallen, sinful Earth.  Just think back to what it felt like when you were experiencing one of those "timeless" moments, and then imagine feeling that way for all eternity, and I think you may just have a very dim idea of what Heaven will feel like. 

Preterism is the belief that many or most of biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled. Prophecies that haven’t been fulfilled include Christ’s second coming, the resurrection of all peoples and the final judgment at the end of the age. Like many theological doctrines, there is a wide spectrum of beliefs in the preterist camp. Historical (orthodox) preterists are sometimes referred to as partial-preterists. At the far heretical end are the full-preterists, those who contend that all prophecy has been fulfilled.

The opposing view to preterism is futurism (which has its own spectrum). Futurists believe that there are still prophecies to be fulfilled specific to national Israel distinct from the church. They are premillennialists, holding that Christ will come before a millennial reign that is yet to come. In contrast, preterism is often rooted in postmillennialism.

I’m an amillennialist. I believe that the current age is the millennium, that we live in the “already and not yet.” Since the amillennial position holds that some things refer to this age and some to the age yet to come, it seems to me that preterism (to some degree) fits well within the amillenial model. Some people may want to bring up a number of possible conflicts (such as the dating of Revelation), but since the preterism I’m advocating is partial, I need only to defend the fulfillment of one prophecy.

I am a preterist because I interpret Matthew 24 literally in that the prophecies were fulfilled before “this generation” passed away, specifically by A.D. 70 in the destruction of the temple. I don’t believe the events of the first century exhaust the meaning of the text, but I also don’t see any good reason to avoid the common sense reading of the text. Adam Parker at Bring the Books… summed up the passage quite nicely:

These predictions include:
a) False messiahs (v. 4-5)
b) Wars and rumors of war (v. 6-7)
c) Famines and Earthquakes (v. 7)
d) Times of unmatched persecution (v. 9-14)
e) Lawlessness (v. 12)
f) Gospel preached to the whole world (v. 14)
g) The Abomination of Desolation (Predicted in Daniel 9:24-27; Reiterated in v. 15)
h) The Great Tribulation (v. 21-22)
i) Jesus comes with judgement, on the clouds (v. 29-30)

Now, the short version of it is that in verse 34, Jesus says something very important regarding the timetable for the things he is predicting. "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." This really is the clenching idea; did Jesus' predictions come true within the lifetime of those listening to His words, or not? (The Geneva Institute for Reformed Studies has done a nice little study demonstrating how each of these predictions of Jesus have, historically speaking, been fulfilled.)

If the predictions of Jesus did not occur within the lifetime of His audience, then he was incorrect when He said they would occur before that generation passed away.

Tim Challies is here today to discuss his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.  Welcome, Tim! 

 

AMY:  Which aspect of contemporary Western culture do you think most hinders us (Christians shaped by this culture) from developing the skill of discerning the truth about God and His will?  Which aspect of Western Christian culture?  What practical steps can we take in our own lives to help us resist these particular cultural influences?

 

TIM:  In the book's second chapter I deal with some of the negative influences that tend to keep Christians from emphasizing spiritual discernment. I mention internal, spiritual and cultural influences. There are four cultural influences that I write about there: a secular worldview, a low view of Scripture, a low view of theology and a low view of God.

 

Whenever I pause to think about these four influences I reach a different conclusion about which of them is most detrimental or most destructive. But maybe we could take one step further back and look to a different aspect of our culture and that is an unrealistic assessment of mankind. After all, if we get our own human nature wrong, we also get God wrong and Scripture wrong and everything else wrong. Our culture tells us that we are innately good at heart. It tells us that we are not the work of a loving Creator, but the result of an evolutionary process that "chanced" us into existence. We have no planned beginning and have no place to look forward to in the end. Even morality becomes something that has developed intrinsically rather than something that is extrinsic to us--something handed to us from God. Culture exults humanity and human reason to the place of divinity, determining that in our own minds we can prove that God does not exist. We elevate reason above the one who created it. In this cultural atmosphere it is increasingly difficult for Christians to have a realistic, biblical assessment of their own nature and hence their own depravity.

 

Discernment is a skill that is necessary because of our sinfulness. In heaven we will have no need for discernment as good and evil will no longer be in conflict. We will have a prefect appreciation of the vast difference between God and man and will truly understand who we are. But today we continue to elevate ourselves and to lower God. The more highly we think of ourselves and the more we blur the lines between humanity and deity, the more difficult discernment will be.

 

When we consider which aspect of Western Christian culture most hinders us, sadly, we do not need to consider anything too vastly different. Western Christian culture today bears such a resemblance to the secular culture that in many cases they are nearly indistinguishable. Where mainstream civilization struggles, so too will Western Christian culture. So I suppose the Christian culture's persistent refusal to truly separate itself from the world is what most hinders us from developing discernment.

 

To resist these influences I think we need primarily to think biblically; we need to think Christianly. We need to develop the mind of Christ so that we understand ourselves the way we truly are and the world the way it truly is. We need to be mature, discerning, growing Christians who are dedicated to knowing God and to living in the way that He commands us in His Word. As we mature in the faith, we will grow in our discernment and we will rejoice ever more in good and be grieved ever more by what is evil. The only way to maturity is to dedicate ourselves to those ordinary means of grace God gives us--prayer, the reading of Scripture, fellowship with other Christians, and the like. These are the means God gives to teach us both to think and to be more like Him.

I was impressed with the well-rounded picture of discernment expressed in The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.  Tim Challies approaches the subject from all angles:  its necessity, the centrality of knowledge, the importance of character, decision making in our practical everyday lives, the dangers of failing to discern as well as the pitfalls we can easily fall into when we succeed (pride, witch hunting, withdrawal from Christian fellowship, etc.), and more.

But what I appreciate most is that he puts everything into the proper perspective by grounding the whole enterprise of discernment first and foremost in knowing God:

We can only know God's will when we first know God's truth, for what God desires and requires of us must always be consistent with his character.  Wise decisions are those that are made on the firm basis of what is true about God and, thus, what is true about the world, about life, and about ourselves.  Those who make decisions that honor God are those who have invested effort in studying what God says to be true.  (p. 54)

And he communicates all of this in a clear, accessible, engaging way.  This is why I'm excited about the book--its wisdom, accessibility, and practical help (he doesn't just leave you with a vague challenge to become discerning but gives specific exercises you can use to develop your skill) make this book a great tool for small groups in any church.  And we need this.  We need this to better love, honor, and follow our great and glorious God.

I posed a question to Tim about discernment and will post his response tomorrow, then he'll be ready to discuss the subject with you; be sure to stop by with your comments.  We'll see you then!

Tim Challies will join us on The A-Team Blog this Wednesday as part of a blog tour promoting his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.  He'll be here to interact with all of you in the comments section, so be sure to stop by with your questions, challenges, and congratulations.

I've read most of the book now and highly recommend it.  In his book, Challies defines discernment as "the skill of understanding and applying God's Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong" in the two areas of "the truth of God and the will of God."

Here's a taste (I'll post another teaser quote tomorrow):

Spiritual discernment has never been an easy calling.  Throughout the Bible we see men and women of discernment being persecuted, mocked, and reviled both by those within the church and those outside of it.  Just as the judges, prophets, and apostles suffered for their discerning faith, so those who seek to emphasize discernment in our time can expect to suffer.  They can expect to face opposition and disagreement from those who claim Christ and those who do not.  They will face opposition from their own sinful hearts and from spiritual forces.  And still, like the apostle Paul, they must persevere, straining forward to what lies ahead and pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14).  They must believe that to serve and honor God--to think Christianly, to treasure the Bible, to seek to know God as he is, and to humble themselves before his holiness--is a prize far greater than anything they may suffer.  (p. 51)

To hear more about the book, follow the tour:

Jan 7:    Evangelical Outpost
Jan 8:    Tall Skinny Kiwi
Jan 9:    A-Team Blog
Jan 10:  Adrian Warnock
Jan 11:  Gender Blog 

Jan 14:  Jollyblogger
Jan 15:  Between Two Worlds
Jan 16:  Team Pyro
Jan 17:  Internet Monk
Jan 18:  Church Matters