Gary and Kim Burgess return to the conversation of 1 Corinthians 15 by discussing parallel passages in 2 Corinthians.
GARY: When one studies Shakespeare, for example, one has got to go back to Shakespeare’s time to understand Shakespeare properly, but, somehow, odd as it is, when it comes to the Bible, it is more or less treated like a magic book for many people; a book somehow immune from these standard rules of understanding historical and cultural literature.
KIM: Yes, this is that private, individualistic, pietistic, existentialist, mystical-even “me and Jesus” mentality that I addressed in an earlier chapter. This is the mentality that ignores the fact that the Bible is an objective history book centered on OT Israel, and sees it instead as little more than one’s own personal grab bag of favorite verses that one can arbitrarily select out and claim for oneself because of one’s relationship with Jesus, regardless of the context in which these verses are actually found and to whom they were addressed, historically. First and foremost, the Bible is a history book. What is more, it is a particular people’s history book when it was given or written—the “oracles of God” were given to Israel (Rom. 3:2)! Yes, for sure, the Bible is also a devotional book—think of the Psalms!— but it is not like some book full of isolated aphorisms like those of Confucius! Since the Bible is a history book, and since this history of redemption is indeed covenantally-structured, we must understand this history and its covenant structure first if we really want to understand properly what the Bible is saying and why, for its original audience and for us today. I like to put it this way, as I said once before, using a tennis analogy: the ball must bounce in the other guy’s court first before it comes to me. The whole matter of original audience relevance is inescapably and non-negotiably important for a proper and responsible interpretation of Scripture! In other words, we must get back and understand what the Bible meant in its own day and culture to the specific people to whom it was written. What did these disputed and controversial eschatological texts mean in their original historical context in OT Israel, in this great and unique transition period “in the fullness of the times” between the Old and New Covenant orders before we can then begin to say, “Okay, how does all this apply to us/to me today? How does or should it carry over to us/to me today?” This is not an either-or (past vs. present) scenario; it is both-and (the past and the present)! But we have to do this historical research and understanding first, before we catapult to our present times!
The Hope of Israel and the Nations (Volume 2)
Christians tend to learn the Bible in bits and pieces. As a result, they often miss the larger context because they have not been taught how the bits and pieces fit with the whole. It’s important to remember that the 66 biblical books make up one complete work—The Bible—The Book. In this second and concluding volume of The Hope of Israel and the Nations, Kim Burgess continues expounding his lessons on New Testament Eschatology. With help from co-author Gary DeMar, Kim connects all the parts of the NT and fashions them into a whole.
Buy NowGary and Kim Burgess return to the conversation of 1 Corinthians 15 by discussing parallel passages in 2 Corinthians. We must take all of the New Testament into consideration to fully understand what Paul is teaching about the future state and our own personal resurrection. Paul speaks corporately at times and individually at others, but we can’t allow either one to define the other.