For some Christians reading biblical prophecies alongside reports of America’s war with Iraq, the signs could not be clearer — the end times are near, if not already upon us.
But some Alabama theologians say seeing the war with Iraq as a fulfillment of end-time prophecies is a pointless and perhaps disrespectful pastime.
“I think the New Testament is clear we ought not try to determine the date of the end time,” said Fisher Humphreys, professor of divinity at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School.
“Jesus said no one knows the date or time of the end,” he continued, referring to Matthew 24.
Ken Roxburgh, Samford’s Armstrong Professor and chair of the department of religion, agreed with Humphreys. “Personally, I don’t think the Bible should be used in that way.”
However, there are those who see the current war as a definite precursor to Armageddon.
“I believe that this is the beginning of the wars of the last wars,” said Elva Martin, pastor of the Word of Truth Assembly of God in Anderson, S.C. Martin often uses a map of the Middle East in her sermons and draws a direct link between biblical sites and passages and modern-day nation-states and conflicts.
Christians such as Martin believe the end of the world is described in the New Testament book of Revelation and in Old Testament books Daniel and Ezekiel.
According to one popular conservative Christian interpretation, the war in Iraq is not the final battle of Armageddon described in Revelation, but it could be a significant sign that world events are leading up to a final conflict between good, led by Jesus, and evil, led by an Antichrist.
“I believe the Middle East is a very sensitive barometer for God’s dealings in the world,” said Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. “My own view is that God is doing something mystical in that part of the world, and it could well lead to the coming again of Christ.”
But George also emphasizes caution in making definite pronouncements that the end of the world is at hand. “There are some things that God has not given us to know, and details about the end time are part of that.”
University of Mobile’s Cecil Taylor, dean of the school of religion, said his fear is that the war with Iraq, while not leading to Armageddon, could lead to a bigger war. “It could lead to a very bad conflict between the Islamic world and the Christian world,” he said. “That is my greatest fear, rather than it being a precursor signifying the end of the world.”
And, as George points out, the prospect of the end of the world should not be a terrifying one for Christians, since the end also means that Jesus will return.
According to his interpretation, Armageddon, the battle between good and evil described in Revelation, will occur after the “tribulations.” Those tribulations will not begin until the world’s faithful Christians are raptured — physically taken into heaven by Jesus.
Whether these are the end times or not, people are definitely interested in the prophecies, as evidenced by sales of the best-selling “Left Behind” series of 11 books written by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye.
This fictional account of the rapture and the tribulations has sold about 50 million copies.
Publishers of End Time magazine, based in Richmond, Ind., reported a 25 percent jump in subscriptions and sales of books, magazines and tapes that explain biblical prophecy from the perspective of the magazine’s founder, Irvine Baxter.
Theologians say interest in end-time prophecy and religiously based apocalyptic thinking peaks at certain times.
“Especially when one century turns to another and when wars, especially in the Middle East, occur,” said J. Kameron Carter, assistant professor of theology and black church studies at Duke Divinity School.
“We have just changed not only centuries but from one millennium to another, and we have this Iraqi war. It is not unusual to see this,” Carter said.
Carter said that despite end-time believers’ reliance on biblical passages to support their theories, the evidence for their beliefs is thin.
“A lot of this stuff has a weak exegetical (interpretive) basis at best. There tends not to be a great mass of scriptural evidence to support it,” Carter said.
Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches said, “I think primitive minds like to make things simpler than they are. I don't think God has a plan to come back and do magic.”
But that kind of skepticism does not surprise the Armageddon believers; according to them, that disbelief was also foretold.
“I don’t think that a lot of people are interested, and that is another sign: The Bible says that people will shake their fists at God,” Martin said.
Rather than getting caught up in the speculation and arguing, Samford’s George said these events should lead to a time of introspection for Christians.
Paraphrasing 2 Peter 3:11, George said, “Seeing all this happening, what manner of person ought you be? Live in all manner of holiness in God.”
He continued that as the world events lend a sense of immediacy to the end times, that sense ought to lead Christians to examine their lives and how they are living for God, while maintaining a watchful eye.
“The Bible says to ‘watch and pray’ because we don’t know when the end will come,” George said. “Do not overindulge in excited expectation, but maintain a watchful attitude.”
George’s colleague, Roxburgh, takes that introspection further, saying that God uses painful experiences, such as the war with Iraq, to call Christians to reflection, not only personally, but also as a church.
“It should be a wake-up call to the church to realize its responsibility to pray for peace and justice,” he said.
(RNS contributed)
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