How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will?
Hebrews 2:3-4
This section is for a variety of articles relating to Theology, Hermeneutics, and Eschatology. Articles will be added
on the sidebar under the appropriate heading as they are uploaded. If they are being discussed on the Bible Wheel forum, a
link will be found at the bottom of the article. The articles contain as little
speculation as possible. The reason for this is explained in my Fundamental Rule of Biblical Hermeneutics.
The Fundamental Principle of Biblical Hermeneutics
Anything taught as doctrine must be supported by at least two or three clear and unambiguous Biblical passages.
The main things are the plain things. We can be certain that if God did not establish a teaching with two or three solid witnesses
in Scripture then He did not intend for us to teach it as Biblical truth. We know this because God has given us this principle in
a way that follows this principle, that is, He repeated it in both the Old and the New Testaments:
- Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
- Matthew 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
- 2 Corinthians 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
This principle is fundamental not only to Biblical Hermeneutics, but to Epistimology in general.
How do we know anything? When it is confirmed and corroborated by a variety of witnesses.
This is true whether studying the Bible or Biology. Application of this rule immediately clears away the debris accumulated from
centuries of unfounded speculations and lays bare the bedrock of the true Biblical doctrines of Eschatology.
The Purpose of Prophecy
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
John 20:30-31
The primary purpose of prophecy is not to give us the ability to "predict the future" like a fortune-teller, but to build
faith and to confirm the Doctrine of the Gospel by proving that God knew history in advance and directed its
outcome to accomplish His purpose of redemption, as it is written:
And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
John 14:29
The purpose of prophecy is the same as that of the Bible as a whole. It is to build faith in God and His Word.
It is pointless and vain to invent complex eschatological systems about the
character of life in the Millennium, the time of the Rapture, the rebuilding of
the Temple, or its destruction by a future "Antichrist." That is not the purpose
of prophecy, and none of those doctrines can be confirmed with any certainty from
Scripture anyway. The overwhelming body of Biblical prophecy
concerned the coming of our great and might God in the incarnation of the Lord
Jesus Christ in the first century. There probably are prophetic "bits and
pieces" that are still future, but I am not certain of that, and I am not aware
of any explicit prophecy that clearly applies to any events still future.
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