Eschatologically Motivated Ethics
September 9th, 2009 by Sean
eschatology = related to the end of the age (i.e. kingdom of God, return of Christ, resurrection, etc.)
I thought the following quote summarized a good way of thinking about ethics in light of the kingdom.
Yet the existence of this strong tradition of intensified Jewish ethics may indicate the preresurrection source of a realized eschatology in Jesus’ own preaching. Why would Jesus make such demands of his followers? Why would they listen to him? Because, as authoritative spokesman of the Kingdom, Jesus created around himself a community of those who would live, prolepticly, according to the “new” Torah written upon their hearts. the Torah according to which Israel would live when the Kingdom came: [Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000)]
Ethics (according to Merriam-Webster) is “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” What Professor Fredriksen is getting at above is the connection between the future kingdom and present-day Christian ethics. The idea is that people would live proleptically–to live in anticipation of the kingdom by beginning to practice the kingdom ethic here and now. This idea fascinates me and I think it helps to inform how we can understand the ethical commands given in the new covenant (especially the Sermon on the Mount).
Has any of you thought much about this idea? Have you found it to be helpful in your own Christian walk?
Hello sean and God bless
This topic is mainly what gets me through my Christian walk today…because the times that we are in now, how we live and how we present ourselves is in preparation for the coming Kingdom! I believe it is imparative for us to behave as Jesus did and to obey the rules in order for us to even be qualified to enter into the Kingdom. Think about it we can not be habitual sinners and enter the Kingdom just because we go to church and are nice to people. We have to behave like this is the Kingdom to be accepted into the Kingdom when it comes! This example is similar to what is being discussed here.
If your trying to get into one of those elete (high class) country clubs you know the kind that you have to apply to and they review your applications and check refrences and all that, then they call you to meet with you personally to see what kind of person you are and you come in with ripped up clothes hair 5 different colors and piercings all over your body and face, they are going to take one look at you and kick you right out…so how much more should we be behaving and obeying God’s law for us to enter the kindom? And the main issue is God says we have to obey his law in order to be even called his children how much more for us to enter his Kingom. OK I could go on and on but I wont
God Bless
Stacey
While this might be semantic, I think it needs stating and is interesting.
The discussion of “ethics” (proper) is a modernist construct based on the (in mine, and many others portrayal) concept that objective knowledge, and objective “right” and “wrong” are discoverable by us. Bonhoeffer seems to understand this concept, and in his Ethics goes on to say that there is no such thing as Christian ethics: inasmuch as there are choices between good and evil.
(more here: http://theoradical.net/2009/07/13/bonhoeffers-ethics-1/)
Sean,
you mentioned above
So in the future millenial kingdom, the (already resurrected) kingdom believers can still sin and fall short and as such are in the same “ethical situation” as believers now prior to the kingdom? Your comment seems to indicate that what believers now live “in anticipation” are the same ethical requirements (you call it “kingdom ethic”) which will be in effect in the kingdom, or did you mean to say something different?
The quote from Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000) already seems already problematic and reflecting more “extra-biblical” thought than “biblical” considerations.
Cheers,
Wolfgang
I wonder if in the kingdom when we see Jesus rule in everything,
if there will be need to be instructed in spiritual matters, for though
we will see him clearly, won’t there be communication and a need for us to be taught by him to keep us in the way that’s right?
I wonder if God instructs his angels even to this day? I suppose that he does.
Sean,
You will find these ideas very prominent in preterist or partial preterist circles (American Vision, for example).
The idea is that because there is no rapture just around the corner, or a seven year tribulation or rise of an AntiChrist to tell us when we really need to be serious about living the kingdom life (or worse yet, since it is all coming to an end “soon”, why bother to make a difference in our world), that we need to bring everything under Christ’s reign today, here and now.
While I am not a full preterist and may be a partial preterist in some respects, I find that this element of their teaching is right on the mark.
As much as this can be a helpful mind set in living out our Christian lives, it seems to me that it has certain deficiencies. The main one is that much of what is presented as the Christian ethic by Jesus and and the Apostolic writers is understanding the place of suffering, persecution and tribulation in our lives–to the best of my understanding, these will not be a part of our lives in the Kingdom. Much of what we are commanded to do is to maintain the standards of loving God and our neighbor in spite of the negatives that are faced in our lives. In the broad sense then, we are to love God and our neighbor now, just like we will then, but the challenges in which we carry this out will be quite different.
Concerning whether the word “ethics” is technically appropriate, I think we all know what Sean means in his post. If someone wants to use a different word for when they talk to their Phd. friends, then I’m sure we can come up with some other word that fits the bill.
I’m reminded of the servant (in the parable – Matthew 24: 45-51) who can choose to be faithful by doing what he is supposed to do (manging the master’s household & feeding others) or be evil by beating the other servants and getting drunk. The same servant could be potentially rewarded (put in charge of what the master owns) or punished (cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites) according to his ethical choice of action. Interestingly the attitude of heart is revealed in relation to the wrong choice: the servant thinks,”My master won’t be back for while.” It should be evident that a lack of urgency/faith/ obedience in clear thinking regarding the reality of that which is to come can have a devastating effect on practical morals in the present situations of life.
Brian,
I think you may well be right. Perhaps living “proleptically” is not able to motivate/guide us in all situations. How do you find motivation to suffer? I know we can look to Jesus’ example on the cross, but does that motivate us? I’m someone who, probably like most, does not really enjoy suffering. I can see Jesus’ example and know what is the right thing for me to do, but my question is what should my motivation be?
Sean,
you ask
Why would Jesus’ example not be motivating? Is the desire to do God’s will (even if it involves learning obedience through suffering) not a good enough motivation?
I get the impression that – once again – folks are talking about “future kingdom” etc as “motivation” and have somehow some worldly thought frame about such “kingdom” idea as motivation …
I mean, what else could it be, if the desire to be a disciple of the Lord and following his example is somehow not sufficient motivation?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Kingdom is not worldly even though it is on earth you are confusing the term like the gnostics who thought that the material world was evil
think Garden of Eden restored–that is kingdom
When the Scriptures remind us to keep our eyes on Jesus (in order to avoid sinful pitfalls that easily trip us up), the example is that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy awaiting him (he thus was not dissuaded by the shame of the suffering.) – Hebrews 12:1, 2 When alluding to Jesus’ model of motivation, the book of Hebrews had just mentioned those who showed endurance in faithful living despite hardships (by keeping their eyes on the coming city designed and built by God- ch. 11 verses 10, 16) All this includes the reality of of believers not accepting an offer to be freed from torture due to their hope for life in the “better resurrection.” ch. 11 v. 35 It seems that God is not reluctant to encourage us to continue in the faith & resist sin with the motivation of the coming kingdom, the descending New Jerusalem, the 1st resurrection, the restored planet: new heavens & earth, the absence of suffering and death in the future, etc. All of these things are spelled out in Revelation and in several O.T. prophecies. Do we believe what is written? This does not negate other motivational factors such as the desire to honor God, etc. But I doubt we are really honoring God if we disregard his exhortations to follow the example of Jesus and others by being extremely motivated by future hope that He has promised.
No one likes to suffer or endure any kind of pain I know this first hand however because we live in this world at this time it is enevitable that we are going to suffer esp. Christians because our focus is to be like Christ…Jesus suffered more pain than anyone in this lifetime could ever imagine so that we do not have to suffer as much as he did.
There is just one point I need to make reg. this post from experience I lived sinfully for most of my life not even acknowledging God and his word and my life was discusting (sorry bout spelling) I didn’t care what kind of image I was protraying to anyone I just did what I wanted and you know my mind frame was (God who?) didnt care if I hurt anyone or myself just as long as I did what I wanted…when I communicated with people it was unprofessional uncourtious, uncaring…I had no standards or ethics or respect for anyone or myself. It wasn’t till I finally said ENOUGH! God I need you I surrender myself to you teach me guide me give me wisdom show me how to live rightously!!!! When I started to focus on God and read what his word says for us the transformation in my life was completely flipped over….the point is when you want to live for God you want him to be pleased and you need to present yourself in every way as God’s child so absolutely we need to represent our God and live like we are in the Kingdom NOW!!.
As far as suffering now as a Christian woman and when I get attacked yes it hurts and I have asked God why is this happening to me? Well God says to me look at what you used to be and how you used to react to things and look at you now the suffering you endure now as my child will not be any where’s near as bad as it was then…just look to God and he will get you through it if you do not look to him the outcome is far worse and I can garuntee that so we need to live “Ethically” or “Rightously” now no matter what because of this.
God Bless
Stacey
Sean,
you are missing the point of my earlier post entirely …
YOU are the one who apparently is not satisfied with being motivated by Christ’s example when at times pain and suffering come your way … and it seems because YOU are looking for some motivation which relates to something earthly, physical, etc for your motivation.
For some reason, you seem NOT satisfied with spiritual matters, but require a physical earthly matter as what you are looking forward to as reward.
Why did Jesus do what he did and act as he did? because he was motivated by the desire to do God’s will …. suffering being part of it, in particular it seems that suffering has great value for learning obedience. Nowhere did Jesus speak about being motivated by anything else but doing God’s will and desiring to obey Him ….
Yet, how many Christians today are being motivated by their preachers preaching about a future kingdom utopia on earth where they will no longer suffer, no longer have pain, and enjoy any other physical benefit, etc …. It’s all looking at physical, earthly aspects! If there is no physical body involved in which we live, if we don’t have 100% physical health then, if we don’t have all physical needs met (without having to work for it any more), if we don’t finally then help “hit the devil over the head and take revenge of all he did to us”, etc etc …then folks would not be satisfied with such a future perspective. God promising His children to forever be with Him is not good enough a motivation, unless it means that it will be on earth, etc ….
Eh … God’s throne is in heaven … that is where He abides … so what would be so bad and terrible for believers to be resurrected from the dead and to be changed from this physical mortal and temporal state to a spiritual immortal and eternal state to ever be with God in heaven? Why would thinking on these things, and keeping one’s eyes on those things (cp 2Co 4:18ff) not be the appropriate motivation in times of suffering, persecution and affliction?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang,
I do not have an interest in discussing with you the fact that God’s kingdom will come on earth when Jesus returns. This fact has been established to you by myself and many others many times. I knew you would disagree with the premise of the post as you do with all of the posts on this blog related to the kingdom. Perhaps since you disagree with it so much you should refrain from commenting? You constantly assert that there is a dichotomy between physical and spiritual which is a gnostic way of thinking about things. The Bible is very happy to call physical things spiritual and to affirm the goodness of creation (which is why God plans to rescue creation). If I were to take the time to go 20 rounds with you on the side-subject of whether or not the kingdom is really coming to earth that would distract from this post. Frankly, this subject is very important to me and I don’t want to do that. I hope that I’m not being to rude here.
grace & peace
Ken,
It is my sincerest intention to follow the example of Jesus. My question is why should I push through when suffering (and possibly death) are the certain outcome? What should motivate me? What motivated Jesus? Simply the joy of knowing that he was doing God’s will and God’s will was for him to suffer or is there something bigger? I know that Jesus’ motivation to continue in his suffering was for the joy that was set before him (is that a reference to the kingdom?).
Sean,
“…if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” Mar 6.11; cp. Mat 10.14; Lu 9.5
Were the Apostles rude when they did as the Lord commanded them to do [Acts 13.51; 18.6]?
Was Paul when he told his own people who “opposed him and reviled him…Your blood be on your own heads!..” [Acts 18.6]?
A Godly way to handle Persecution
http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=511
Sean,
You wrote: “How do you find motivation to suffer?”
I think that if we take things down to the core, it is our love for God that motivates us to deal godly in the face of suffering, etc. Would you not be willing to suffer for your wife or children? I am sure you would not only be willing to suffer, but you would be willing to die for your family. This is love. Now when it comes to our love for God, it is the whole story of who God is, His love for us, the plan of redemption, the sacrificing of His son and the promise of His Kingdom that provide the content and the context for that love.
I think it is the hope set before us–the Kingdom of God–that provides the endurance for us to continue to love day after day, year after year, etc. and therefore to continue to suffer day after day,etc.
Of course we need to include the presence of the Comforter to mix.
In as sense, we are to live prolepticly in the same way that Jesus lived prolepticly during his first coming. I would say that Jesus lived by the ethics that he commanded of his disciples. It was this very lifestyle that confused many because it is not what they expected of the Messiah.
Wolfgang (if you’re still reading this)
I know this is oversimplified, but I can’t help but thinking that when you use the word “spiritual” you really mean “ethereal.”
A Useful Definition of the Holy Spirit:
“The Spirit is not merely God’s breath, but his self-awareness, his mind, his inner being. This may be the source or seat of God’s vitality, but it is more. It is his self-consciousness, his very being, the center of his Person, as we might say.
Just as a man’s spirit is his ultimate reality, when he is stripped of all that is accidental to his being, so God’s Spirit is his inner self. Spirit therefore contrasts with Christ, insofar as the latter is God’s image, while the former is his inner being” (W.R. Bowie).
Sean,
I think the joy set before Jesus (the context being after the Hebrews 11 list of those having concrete kingdom hopes to be realized in the future) is probably what God had promised him. Jesus had prophesied about his death and resurrection several times since the Caeserea Philippi conversation (Matthew 16:13-21) and had experienced the powerful vision when transfigured- Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead- Mt. 17:9. Jesus’ kingdom hope differed from ours in timing. He would be the firstfruits from among the dead, raised after 3 days (as he himself stated several times.) I believe that he, as a human who was determined to obey God unto death, death on a cross (Phil. 2:8) needed the hopeful encouragement God provides all His people in all kinds of suffering. God essentially says: “Your effort is not vain despite the agony. The future result of faithfulness now is a joyful victory.” After revealing what was revealed by the time of Mt. 16; the specific way God reminded His Son is only briefly hinted at: the transfiguration in Mt. 17/Later an angel was sent to strengthen him during his prayer of intense agony (Luke 22: 40-44.) It seems to me that (by God’s mercy) the specific degree of focus on future hope (as “joy” set before one) that is believed firmly and tenaciously during suffering, troubled circumstances, enables us to experience thevictory of faith that we really want to exhibit. Relating all this to Hebrews ch. 11 and part of ch. 12, I think it is a major theme of emphasis in that context.
Good day to you,
I recently obtained the superb writing by Schoenheit and others with the title, One God and One Lord; Reconsidering the Cornerstone of the Christian Faith. Chapters 8 and 9 nicely deals with the notion of prolepsis and realised eschatology.
During my reading it, I realised that living under the Law of Christ now involves living as realised kings and heirs of Christ. That is one of the greatest motivations for living as conquerors!
Love and blessings,
Jaco
Suffering seems to bring out the best or the worst in men. For those who are stong in faith it seems to bring out the best that is in them.
The kingdom of man stinks, but the kingdom of God is good, clean,
blessed, straight, true, honorable, just, merciful, and much more.