"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
something i have been contemplating as well.
ReplyDeletestill, isn't the context of this passage incredibly important? indeed, peter compares the passage quote here to the noahic flood (3:6-7), a divinely-ordained disaster that renewed rather than obliterated.
a more complete understanding would seem to align more accurately with the most recent textual findings. in fact, the earliest and most reliable manuscripts have "will be found" or the greek "heurethesetai," which seems to indicate that the earth is not annihilated.
this is becoming a chic scholarly discussion, but i suppose i would have to lean more towards a "renewed earth" for a few reasons: romans 8:18-25, OT prophecies referring to renewal, Christ's resurrection body, and Christ's resurrection as a pattern for future believers (1 cor 15:12-58).
God's work seems to lead more towards renewal through destruction rather than complete annihilation of those parts of his creation marred by sin. i'm reminded of paul's words on conversion in 2 corinthians, where "the old passes away" and "all things become new." a convert's self is not literally destroyed, and then remade, but rather deconstructed and reformed similar to the character of eustace (as a dragon) in the c.s. lewis' world of narnia. in that instance, aslan slowly and painfully removes the scales of eustace's error, and the final product -- though nearly-identical to the cranky eustace -- is entirely different in character and conduct.
what'dya think?
Hey Jonathan, thanks for your comment. You know that I have been reading and thinking about this issue (renewal/annihilation) for the past couple of weeks. I was drawn to the discussion because it appeared to be a "hot-button" issue for many Christian academics (and it is). However, I have decided that it is not an issue that I am going to spend time with. I do not want to appear arrogant, but there are other things that I need to consider and pursue, and this issue is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I really enjoyed reading your latest blog post on this issue... it spoke to some things that I have been thinking about, and provided some food for thought.