As already mentioned, I’m reading N.T Wright’s book titled “The Resurrection of The Son of God.” I’m pretty convinced most Christians still haven’t heard of Wright, which is slowly changing, thanks to some in the reformed Christian camps.
The passage being discussed: 1 Th. 4:13-5:11
1Th. 4:12 so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1Th. 4:13 ¶ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
1Th. 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
1Th. 4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
1Th. 4:16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Th. 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
1Th. 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1Th. 5:1 ¶ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.
1Th. 5:2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1Th. 5:3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
1Th. 5:4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;
1Th. 5:5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
1Th. 5:6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;
1Th. 5:7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.
1Th. 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
1Th. 5:9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th. 5:10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
1Th. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”
Normally, this passage is used to support rapture theology and the like; you know the whole bouncing on the clouds views we used to hear about in church. The aim of this post: to give proper attention to these verses in detail, with hope that we might better understand Paul’s thinking and intention.
From on onset, we’re given a clue by the author to what the problem is. He’s writing to the Christian community in Thessalonica (on his first journey in Greece); if we read and understood what the author seems to be addressing, then we’re off to a good start.
Apparently, this community is being told something about the nature of those who already died. This is a pastoral letter influenced of course by Paul’s Jewish, better yet- Pharisaic backdrop.
The overall theme here is the future Christian hope.
This is a nutshell is what my Thesis research and writing will grapple with. For these Christians, how will that future arrive? I agree with Wright when he calls “this is a spectacular text…” about what happen to those who die before the lord returns? In this discourse, Paul reveals his key beliefs about the resurrection. Ye yes! Now this is getting good.
Before moving forward, a note of caution: If we read this literally, we already fail! “Popular fundamentalism and some scholarship alike suggest that Paul envisaged Christians flying around in mid-air on clouds” (Wright, RSG, p215).
- This section of scripture is loaded with mixed metaphors
- Apocalyptic resonances
This is exactly the reason why a literalist interpretation make it unlikely. Fundamentalist readings of the Bible lead to faulty “Americanized” end time readings also known as rapture theology- notice, these teaching typically place America at the center of world events. Sorry, but the writers of this text and others are not thinking or writing to our current world conflicts.
Back to the text, so what does Paul mean by ‘resurrection’?
He seems to indicate that those dead will be raised (a future date) ‘in the same way’ like Jesus was. Therefore, Jesus’ resurrection will be the model for that of his people. These views show that Paul belongs in the middle of second-Temple Jewish belief about resurrection.
“… and what is being asserted- the future resurrection to salvation from wrath, for those presently dead who belong to the people of the one god- is familiar from our study of Judaism: it is the position of the Pharisees” (Wright, RSG, p 215).
In this content, which is thoroughly Jewish, “resurrection is something new, something the dead do not presently enjoy; it will be life after ‘life after death’” (Wright, p 215).
This is enough for now. Part 2 later this week.
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This book by Wright is huge… sadly, most Christians (or ministers) lack the education and understanding of the ancient texts. It’s critical and cannot be emphasized enough. Learn to read the writings in context. Then discovering the implications for today become something many will be surprised with.
Why is it so unreal to think of rising up into the clouds?
What difference does it really make anyway?
What does this mean (from Acts 1:9-11)?
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”