Bible Research
First of all this is not an essential issue, as "Eschatology," meaning End Times Theology, is debatable and has no real bearing on orthodoxy versus unorthodoxy, unless it is distracting you from the person and work of Christ. Nor is this even an important issue, as God is far more concerned with our...
What is your view of "Eschatology" or "End Times?" This is the study of our Christian beliefs concerning all future and final events, such as Jesus' Second coming and the final judgment. How sure are you that your view is correct?
The date is significant, because if Revelation was "just" written about far-away future events, then this letter to people in dire stress was mostly meaningless. How could they listen to the words of the prophecies and obey something that was not relevant to them?
Apocalyptic, as a term in the common vernacular or dictionary definition, means something that is written in an ominous, threatening way. It is scary, thwarting, and about boding evil. The dictionary tells us it is presaging people of imminent disaster, exaggerated predictions, or allusions of the Last Days. However, this is not what it meant in the original Greek or Hebrew or in the time this term was penned. This means "Biblical" or "Exegetical Eschatology" which is seeking what the Bible has to say about end times not what an unwise mind may come up with! What did it mean? It means...
