Post by Allyn on Sept 5, 2009 17:45:28 GMT -5
A couple of months ago I was thinking about whether or not the church has been right all these 2000 years concerning the proper interpretation of Acts 1:11. It seems to be a straight forward verse where the disciples saw Jesus go into heaven and the angels telling them this same Jesus they say go will come in the same manner. I, of course, agree with the verse but yet I am not sure I agree with the interpretation the church has given it.
Most of of the versions say it this way: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (NKJV)
But yet a couple phrase it like this: "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." (NIV)
Notice the NIV add to the verse by saying (He) will come BACK in the same way. The NIV is notorious for adding their own spin to a verse because of their presuppositions, but are they doing it to this verse or is this actually the context?
I am certainly not a Greek scholar and I have found that even the most immodest of the scholars have said that since the biblical form of Greek is a dead language that to be an expert on it is a stretch. Be that as it may, I did do a look-up for the Greek word "come" and briefly this is what I found:
So here we see the same word can mean come or it can mean go, depending on the context. So then what would make me even question how it should be? Well, I question it for at least 2 preterist reasons.
1. Preterists seem to have some trouble being in like mind over what exactly the form of Christ's second coming was. Some will say that it was a physical return where every eye did actually see His return and others say it was in judgment or at the very best an invisible spiritual return in the sky witnessed only by the angels and those of the 1st resurrection and rapture. It should be noted that not all preterists hold to an all-church-one-time forever rapture but rather an individual event upon the ones own death.
2. This preterist is thinking that Acts 1:11 may not be at all about the second coming of Christ but rather the fulfillment of Scripture as found in Daniel 7:13-14. I believe that maybe even Jesus Himself was predicting this ascension in Matthew 25:31 and when the angels told the men that he would come in the same manner it was their way of saying that from their vantage point Jesus was actually doing just that as described in Daniel and by Jesus in Matthew 25:31.
If my hunch is correct then we may be on to a more wonderful understanding concerning the process by which Jesus accomplished His return.
Most of of the versions say it this way: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (NKJV)
But yet a couple phrase it like this: "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." (NIV)
Notice the NIV add to the verse by saying (He) will come BACK in the same way. The NIV is notorious for adding their own spin to a verse because of their presuppositions, but are they doing it to this verse or is this actually the context?
I am certainly not a Greek scholar and I have found that even the most immodest of the scholars have said that since the biblical form of Greek is a dead language that to be an expert on it is a stretch. Be that as it may, I did do a look-up for the Greek word "come" and briefly this is what I found:
ἔρχομαι (erchomai 2064)
1. come -est, -eth, -ing, came
to come or go, used of persons or of things. It denotes the act of coming or going, as, I am coming, etc., in distinction from ἥκω (hēkō 2240), which denotes the result, as, I am come and am here (compare John 8:42 and Heb 10:9). The verb means to go, as well as come, and the context must determine which it is. It is combined with a large number of prepositions, for which
(a) In Rev 6:1,3,5,7, it should be go, and the words and see should be omitted according to the best authorities
1. come -est, -eth, -ing, came
to come or go, used of persons or of things. It denotes the act of coming or going, as, I am coming, etc., in distinction from ἥκω (hēkō 2240), which denotes the result, as, I am come and am here (compare John 8:42 and Heb 10:9). The verb means to go, as well as come, and the context must determine which it is. It is combined with a large number of prepositions, for which
(a) In Rev 6:1,3,5,7, it should be go, and the words and see should be omitted according to the best authorities
So here we see the same word can mean come or it can mean go, depending on the context. So then what would make me even question how it should be? Well, I question it for at least 2 preterist reasons.
1. Preterists seem to have some trouble being in like mind over what exactly the form of Christ's second coming was. Some will say that it was a physical return where every eye did actually see His return and others say it was in judgment or at the very best an invisible spiritual return in the sky witnessed only by the angels and those of the 1st resurrection and rapture. It should be noted that not all preterists hold to an all-church-one-time forever rapture but rather an individual event upon the ones own death.
2. This preterist is thinking that Acts 1:11 may not be at all about the second coming of Christ but rather the fulfillment of Scripture as found in Daniel 7:13-14. I believe that maybe even Jesus Himself was predicting this ascension in Matthew 25:31 and when the angels told the men that he would come in the same manner it was their way of saying that from their vantage point Jesus was actually doing just that as described in Daniel and by Jesus in Matthew 25:31.
If my hunch is correct then we may be on to a more wonderful understanding concerning the process by which Jesus accomplished His return.
