Unlike Christians in ancient time, modern Christians do not have to struggle with too many theological issues. Most of these issues have been settled in the last twenty centuries. We receive systematic instructions. Most of the questions we raise in the catechumen class were raised before in the early history of Christianity and satisfactory answers had been found. Therefore it is instructive to go back in time to study how ancient Christians dealt with their theological questions, the answers to which we have already known.
The first generation Christians expected Jesus to return soon to declare his sovereignty. Therefore, they had no qualm about departing with their property and money because money would be of no more use (Acts 2:44-45). Of course, the brotherly love among Christians was also one of their motives to share their money in common. Together, they were eagerly anticipating the day of the Second Coming of the Lord.
Problems arose when there was no sign of Jesus' returning and Christians began to die. Some died a natural death while others died heroically a martyr. Had Jesus returned earlier, there would not have been an immortality problem. Christians did not have to live long, to wait for long in order to receive the Second Coming of Jesus. Now that Christians did not see the end of their perpetual waiting and believing in Jesus did not guarantee immortality, did not improve their daily life, the Church had a hard problem to crack.
Christians believed that Jesus was the Son of God. His resurrection and ascension did not pose any problem. But what about his believers. They were not God, or the Son of God. Would they also be able to come back to life? Had Jesus returned soon, this general resurrection would never have become a problem. The delay of Parousia forced the first generation Christians to develop a theology of general resurrection of the faithful. Here is a version of a theology of the End of the World propagated by St. Paul.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
In this early epistle of St. Paul, we do not find any hint of the Last Judgment. Everybody just rises up to the mid-air to meet the Lord. If we take a conservative approach, we can interpret the last phrase of verse 16 in such as way that only the believers would come back to life. St. Paul was not concerned with those unbelievers. Probably, at the time of writing, St. Paul thought that the unbelievers had received their judgment in the form of being dead forever. Resurrection belongs to believers only and resurrection already implies a judgment.
Of course, nowadays, the Church has developed a comprehensive theology of the Last Things. We believe in the resurrection of the physical body and soul. We believe that Jesus' Second Coming is for the judgment of the living and the dead. All of us would receive awards according to what we have done on earth. Still, the Second Coming of Jesus remains elusive.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
In this early epistle of St. Paul, we do not find any hint of the Last Judgment. Everybody just rises up to the mid-air to meet the Lord. If we take a conservative approach, we can interpret the last phrase of verse 16 in such as way that only the believers would come back to life. St. Paul was not concerned with those unbelievers. Probably, at the time of writing, St. Paul thought that the unbelievers had received their judgment in the form of being dead forever. Resurrection belongs to believers only and resurrection already implies a judgment.
Of course, nowadays, the Church has developed a comprehensive theology of the Last Things. We believe in the resurrection of the physical body and soul. We believe that Jesus' Second Coming is for the judgment of the living and the dead. All of us would receive awards according to what we have done on earth. Still, the Second Coming of Jesus remains elusive.
Dear Lord, let resurrection be our hope, especially in times of tribulation. May the resurrection of our Lord grant us confidence and perseverance to walk through this life of a pilgrim. Amen.
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