The last article left unanswered questions. Should progressives hope for political success under the logic of Christian theology? How are Christians to understand failure and disappointment in this important work?
Since the 2020 election, the question of the hour has been Where do we go from here? The answer to this question depends on your view of reality. From the secular point of view, we have heard sound political proposals and strategies. In a video no longer available on YouTube, N.T. Wright answers it with Christian eschatology. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
“There is no excuse for Christians not being involved in the work here and now,” Wright says, but the question is, how? He begins by rejecting two common reactions to the current political situation. The first one is, “There’s nothing we can do.”; the second one is, “Our clever planning will bring God’s kingdom.”
Wright stresses that Christian eschatology is similar to Jewish eschatology. He bases this on scriptures from the Old and New Testaments. From the Book of Daniel, chapters 2 and 7, he concludes that when God sets up his kingdom that can’t be shaken, He will set it up here on earth.
Where is Heaven?
The Jews were creational and conventional monotheists. Therefore, they did not envision Heaven and Earth as two separate realms. Heaven and earth are meant to come together, but how, and in what form?
The coming together of Heaven and Earth and the future renewal of creation will be like the resurrection of Jesus. It will be the creation of something new out of the old.
Paul’s eschatology shapes the mission of the Church. Heaven and Earth, or the two ages, will overlap…or rather, they do overlap.
“God has made the world so it will flourish under wise obedient human care.”
The creation knows it is meant to flourish under the wise rule of human beings…God has subjected the present creation to futility because He designed it to work properly under the image-bearers.
So how are we to apply Paul’s eschatology to the efforts and disappointments of progressives? N.T. Wright says Paul’s ‘monotheism and election’ is a new version of the Church’s mission in which we go out in prayer, expecting set-backs, and believing that God has a secret way to rescue the world. In other words, this vision is not triumphalist. It starts with sharing the pain of the world
We are justified in order to be justice-hungry people in an unjust world. We are put right in order to be putting right people for the world.
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