<1tnurnrbiu (1Jqtnlngiral itnut111y Continning LEHRE UND VVEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. VI April, 1935 No.4 CONTENTS Page Notes on Chiliasm. Th. Engelder •••••••••••••..••••••••• 241 1st die Variata synergistisch und majoristisch ~ F. E. Mayer .••••••••••••• 254 The Old Testament at Gettysburg. w. A. Maier. • • • • . • • • •• 267 Anklaenge an Schriftlehren in griechischen und latei- nischen Klassikern. P. E. Kretzmann • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 276 Der Schriftgrund fuer die Lehre von der satisfactio vicaria. P. E. Kretzmann • • • • • • • • •• 283 Entwuerfe zu Passionspredigten ...................... 286 Dispositionen ueber die altkirchliche Evangelienreihe. . . .. 289 Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 303 Theological" Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches. . . .. 305 Book Review. - Literatur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 311 Em Prediger muss nicht allem weideR., also dasa er die Schafe unterwelse, wle aie rechte Christen sollen sein, sondern auch daneben den Woelfen tDe~r"", dass sie die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mit falscher Lehre verfuehren und Irrtum ein· tuehren. - LutMr. E> ist kem Ding, das die Leute mehr bei der Kirche behaelt denn die gute Predlgt. - Apologi8, Arl.!f. It the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the hattIe? 10or. 1J,8. Published for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. Concordia Theological M on th I)' Vol. VI APRIL, 1935 No.4 Notes on Chiliasm. (Oontinued.) Chiliasm, a mass of confusion, is furthermore a dangerous de- lusion, which because of its vicious tenets and pernicious influence must be banned from Christian theology. We shall present this matter under three heads. 1. Chiliasm denies clear teachings of Scripi1tre. - This, together with the methods it employs to harmonize its unscriptural teachings with Scripture, constitutes a crime against the authority and majesty of Scripture. Ohiliasm is guilty of flagrant denials of Scripture- truths. We have encountered a number of these anti-Scriptural teach- ings in discussing Dr. H. W. Frost's compendium of premillennialism, The Second Coming of Christ. We will examine only two of them. The first denies the doctrine of the general resurrection. Scripture teaches that all the dead will be raised up at one time, at the second coming of Ohrist, at the same time. Ohiliasm teaches a twofold resurrection, the last following the first after an interval of a thou- sand years. "It is evident from other parts of Scripture that there are two resurrections, that of the just (Luke 14, 14; Acts 24, 15), or - in other phraseology - that of life (John 5, 29), and that of damnation (John 5, 29). The first resurrection, then, is that of the righteous saints, upon whom the divine benediction is pronounced, over whom the second death has no power, and who, as priests of God and Ohrist, are given the rewarding of reigning with Christ for a thousand years; and the second resurrection is that of the wicked, who are left over from the first resurrection and who are not raised from the dead until the thousand years are :finished (Rev. 20, 5). There are, therefore, not more than two resurrections;1) they differ in the personalities involved; they are opposite in char- 1) Wean!! cha.rging Frost and a, number of other prernillennialists with teaching, contraJ'y to Scripture, a, twofold resurrection. Frost is here charging some of the premillennialists with teaching, contmry to Scripture, more than two resurrections. These insist that there an~ three resurrec- tions, first, "the resurrection of the Old Testame'llt saints a.t the Ra.pture, when Christ comes in the air"; second, "the resurrection of the Tribula.tion 16 242 Notes on Chiliasm. acter and result, and a thousand years lie between the two." (The Second Coming of Christ, p. 224.) Scripture plainly teaches that the resurrection of the righteous will be contemporaneous with that of the wicked. "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, al1d they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation," John 5, 28. 29.2) We cannot saintE! at the Revelation, when Chris,t comes to the ea,rth"; and, third, the resurrection of the res,t a,t the end of the thousand years (Jews is Corning, p. 54) . - We are not pa,rticula.rly interested in the dispute as to whether the final resurrection is preceded by one or two other resurrections. We ha,ve no doubt tha,t the three-resurrection men can make out aSI good a case as the twO'· resurrection men. - Not even the three alleged resurrections seem to cover the exigencies of the millennial situa,tion. We read in the Moody Monthly, December, 1934: "Millennial Believers. Question: Since after the millennium we find only the re'surrectiO'n of the wicked dead, what becomes of those believers whO' die during the, millennium? Answer: Appa,rently the death rate will be exceedingly low (Is. 65, 20). While nothing is said about any resurrection fO'r them, we, may rest assured tha,t GO'd will take ca,re of their bodies no less gloriously than those of the saints in all other ages." This is a choice bit O'f chiliastic theology. Offering Is. 65, 20, as, proof-text for the low mortality rate O'btaining in the millennial land is not so bad, - it is in line with the common chiliastic literalism. But one is surprised to see the low death rate mentioned at all. That has no bearing on the que'stiO'n propounded by the perplexed reader. Be the death rate never so low, dea,th still occurs, and the reader wants to know if and when the believers, who die during the' millennium will be raised. He has been told that the secO'nd resurrection is tha,t of the wicked. Well, it seems that the answer given points to a, fourth resurrection.- R. F. Weidner's Annotations on Revelation (in The Lu,theran Cornmentary) has this, to say on the matter: "The' rema,rks of Fausset a,re very sug- gestive': 'The wicked who had died from the time of Adam to Christ's second advent, and aU the righteous and wicked who had died during and aUer the millennium shall then have their ete'rnal portion assigned to them. . ..' These rema;rks of Fa.usset raise two questions, which the curious are anxiO'us to have answered. . .. The second question is: Do any believers die after the first res,urrection, either during the millennium or a,fterwards? Various answers have been given by premillennialists. Some maintain tha.t few dea,ths of believers will O'ccur, and if they should die, they will be immedia.tely glorified, and that before' the passing a,way of the hea;vens and the old ea,rth the, living a,n~ transfigured. But nearly all the'se quesltions are mainly ma,tter8 O'f speculation,. fO'r we know, after all, very little of the nature of the millennium" (p .. 289 f.) . If Weidner had not been a chiliast, the question, When are the believers who die during the millennium raised? would certainly have been answered differently.- Th. Zahn's chiliasm does away with the present difficulty. All chiliasts ought to accept his view: "Wo keine ans:teckenden Krankheiten und keine Pein und keine schaedliohen Naturereignisse oder TernpC1'atu1'zus:taende sind, lcann auch, soweit die hier geschilderte tausendjaehrige Weltherr- schaft Christi, rnit seiner Gerneinde a1~f Erden reicht, kein Mensch ste1·ben." (Kornrn. z. N. 'I'., Offenbarung, p. 592.) 2) "Note the important and decisive navu" 'all,' and the attributive phra,se, madel such beyond question by the a;rticle, 'aU in their tombs,' i. e., an the bodily dead. . ... Then the voice of omnipotence sounds, in the last trump, and all the bodily dead shall hea,r it, for that voice comes with resistless power, 'and shall come out' of their graves, raised, an of them, from bodily dea,th, their bodies, once more joined to their souls. This s,ta,tement of Jesus is the foundatiO'n for the one resurrection, and that ,at the Last Da~." (R. Lenski, Interpretation of St. John's: Gospel, p. 383 f.) Notes on Chiliasm. 243 and will not accept that, says chiliasm; all the dead will not arise in the same hour; the hour of the resurrection of the wicked comes one thousand years after the hour of the resurrection of the righteous. - When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, all nations shall be gathered before Him, all the dead shall be raised and with all the quick placed before His judgment-seat. So says Scripture, Matt. 25, 31--46; 24, 30--41. Nay, says chiliasm; when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, only the saints shall be resurrected; those who are left over from this first resurrection, the wicked, will be raised at another time. - "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the Last Day," John 6, 40.3) Not at the Last Day, says the chiliast; the resurrection of the believers shall not take place at what is really the Last Day, but a thousand years before the end.- "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,' for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed," 1 Oor. 15, 52. The trumpet at whose sound the dead believers shall be raised and the living believers changed is the last trumpet, sounded on the day of the general resurrection and judgment. No, says the chiliast. - 2 Thess. 1, 7-10 tells this story: When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, two scenes will be enacted: He will take vengeance in flaming fire on the unbelievers and punish them with everlasting destruction; and at this same coming He will glorify His saints. Paul is not telling the story in our way, says the chiliast; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed fTom heaven with His mighty angels, He will Taise and glorify His saints; when He shall come the third time, He will raise and judge the unbelieveTs. - Read Matt. 13, 40--49. The separation of the just and the wicked will take place at the end of the world, at that time when the wicked are cast into a furnace of fire. No, says the chiliast; the saints will be separated fTom the wicked before the judgment on the wicked. Again: "He shall cast them into a furnace of fire. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their FatheT." No, says the chiliast; the Tighteous have been glorified long before. Those who teach a twofold (or a threefold) resurrection are thus 3) "Das Neue Testament eTwaTtet die Auferstehung als Tat des wie- derkommenden Olwislus, a,lso am Ende der Weltgeschichte, am 'Juengsten Tage' (Joh. 6,39 f. H. 54·; 11, :24). Nicht jeaer Mensch zu anderer Zeit, sondeTn die ganze Men8chheit wird gleichzeitig, gemeinsam erweckt. An- deTs koennen ailoh wiT m:cht lehTen. . .. Man hat immer wiede1' an die Stelle deT einen gleichz'eitigen Auferstehung am Juengsten Tage das Nach- einandeT und N ebeneinande1' individueUer Auferstehunge1~ setzen wollen " so vielfach die 'l'heo8ophie, neuerdings die AntMoposophie." (P. Althaus, Die 1etzten Dinge, p.135.) John 6,. 40 and 5, 28f. means as, little to the theosophist as to the chiliast. 244 Notes on Chiliasm. in direct and pronounced opposition to Scripture. The chiliastic system imposes upon its adherents the necessity of denying the one general resurrection. The basic idea in the system is that the saints shall rule the earth in the millennial kingdom. That requires that the departed saints be raised from the dead at the inception of this kingdom.4) And for the sake of the system its adherents are willing to deny a plain teaching of Scripture. It is a vicious delusion in its demands and a strong delusion in that it can enforce its demands. Before we enlarge on this, it will be well to show more at length what the chiliast is ready to do with Scripture in the interest of his system. It is easy to deny a teaching of Scripture. It is not so easy to square such denial with the words of Scripture, for then Scripture 4) In passing, we would point out that the concomitant idea - this, tha,t the once departed saints will e,xchange the hea;venly blisS' for earthly bliss or, perhapS', take up into their heavenly occupation the occupa,tion with ea.rthly affairs, - is a grotesque and unscriptural conception. "It is not conceivable tha,t the' glorified sa.ints should come down from heaven to live aga.in in, the midst of sinful environmentS'.'" (Popular SymbolicB, p.375·.) "To have informed these glorified martyrS', who had entered into the privileges and joys of the victoriouS' and reigning Christ, that they would be sent back to earth to live in the flesh for a literal thousand years and then the devil would be set loose again would, I fancy, have had but a poor and melancholy BOund to their sainted ea,rS'." (Edward B .. Pollard. See Theol. Monthly, 192,1, p.278.) "Welch ein wunderlioher G-edanke: eine geistleiblich vollendete, selige G-ottesgemeinde, ihren verklaerten H errn in der MUte, inmitten einer Mensohheit, in der nooh Suende und Tod wohnt, und dann eine G-esohichte dieser G-emeinde, die abermalB in eine Bedraengnis von aussen her, ja in eine A.rt Leidensgesohiohte auslaeutt I . .. liJine G-e- meinde der auferstandenen G-ereohten laesst sioh; nioht denken ohne Ver- klaerung der N atur j eine VoelkerweZt aber, in der nooh die M oegliohkeit des AngriftB auf jene besteht, kann zur Staette ihrer liJxiBtenz nur die alte, nooh unverklaerte Welt haben." (G. Thomasius" Ohristi PerBon und Werk, III, 2, p. 464 f.; quoted in P. Altha,us, Die letzten Dinge, p. 304.) The chiliast indeed insists tha,t his conception is' not incongruous with Scrip- ture. C .. E. Lindberg, a premillennialist, writes: "To the millennial gov- ernment the' objection haS' been raised that the peculiar situation would arise that glorified men with spiritual bodies would associate with the inha,bitants of the earth. The adherents of premillennialism answer tha,t the Logos led the children of Israel in the wilderness, and they point out the repeated theophanies in the Old TeSltament, the appea·rance of Moses and Elias on the Mount of Transfigura,tion and the appearance of our Lord between His resurrection and a.scension. The visible a,ppearance and associa,tion of glorified saints with men on earth would be like Christ's appearanceS' between His resurrection and ascension. But with Christ the saintsl would rule from the New Jerusalem in the sky." (Ohr. Dogmatics, p. 532, f.) Suffice it to saiV: 1) The Theophanies have no bearing on the ques,tion a,t all. 2) The a,ppea,rance of Moses and Elia,s on the Mount and of Christ during the forty daiVS and the activities of the saints in the millennium are not parallel cases; Moses and Elias and Christ during the forty daiVs indeed appeared visibly on ea,rth, but did not take OVer the administra,tion of earthly businesS'. 3) The alleged fact tha,t the sa,ints rule "from the New Jerusalem in the sky" does not remove the difficulty, does not remove these saints from the occupation with earthly affairs. 4) Scripture, in Phil.. 1, 22-24, explicitly informs us that the occupation with temporal affairs comes to an end when the believer has depa;rted to be with Christ. Notes on Chiliasm. 245 needs to be perverted all along the line. For instance, there is the term "the Last Day." To us that means that the resurrection of the believers and of the wicked will occur at the same time, since all will be raised "at the Last Day," John 6, 40; 5,28. 29. Unless this term can be given a new meaning, the whole scheme of pre- millennialism breaks down. Well, chiliastic theology insists that here "Last Day" has lost its first and obvious meaning and has taken on the meaning "a period of one thousand years." How can Scrip- ture be made to mean that? A sample of chiliastic exegetics is here- with submitted: "The Last Day. Again we hear it objected that Ohrist said He would raise up those who believe in Him at the Last Day (John 6, 39. 40. 44. 45), and if it is at the Last Day, there cannot follow a thousand years before the unbelievers are raised. But Peter says: 'One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day,' 2 Pet. 3, 8. This is the great millennial day, ushered in and ending with resurrection and judgment, and during which Ohrist shall rule the nations and judge the world in righteous- ness. It is 'the day of an age,' as the Holy Spirit designates it in 2 Pet. 3, 18. See the Greek qp,seav aiwvo. (heemeran aionos). In harmony with this we find that the same word qp,tea (heemera, day) signifies 'a long period,' in John8,56; 9,4; Rom.l0,21; 20or.6,2; Heb.4, 7. 8. . .. In Hos. 6,2 we read: 'Mter two days will He re- vive us; in the third day He will raise us up.' Those are evidently three days of one thousand years each, for 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years.' So 'that Day' (Is. 2,20; Zeph. 1, 15) is doubt- less the last thousand-year day of God's great week of aions (ages)." (Jesus is Coming, p. 54 f.) Remarks: 1) It is an act of desperation to argue that, because one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, "the Last Day" must have a length of a thousand years. That would follow only if it had been established that wherever Scripture uses the term "day" it means a thousand years. Then Luke 2,21 would mean that the Ohild was circumcised after eight thousand years were accomplished. 2) We readily admit that "day" frequently signifies "a long period," as in John 8, 56, etc. But we cannot understand the reasoning processes by which a person convinces himself that this usage has any decisive bearing on our question. You can prove that "day" frequently signifies a long period. But the question is: Must it have that meaning in John 6, 39? And can it have that meaning? - The old and ever valid rule governing this matter is of course this: We take every word in Scripture Cand in every other writing) in its native, original sense unless Scripture itself plainly indicates that it is used in a wider, etc., sense. We insist that, when Jesus speaks of events occurring on "the Last Day," He nowhere indicates that He means anything else than a real, common day, the last day in a long series of days of twenty-four hours. What is the meaning 246 Notes on Chiliasm. of "day" in Luke17,27~ And in v.29~ And then in v.30? We do not say that the Last Day is going to measure twenty-four hours. It is the day that links time with eternity. On that day events of an eternal nature will occur. The "changing" will take place "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," 1 Cor. 15, 52. So also the resurrection and the judgment. It will not take twenty-four hours. But it will take place on a day which sets in as the last of a series of common every-day days.5) - 3) It is hard to believe that anyone can honestly believe that Hosea's three days are "evidently" (since "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years") three days of one thousand years each; that Hosea here has in mind "God's great week of aions (ages)"; and that the contrite and repentant Israelites are looking to God, who had smitten them, to bind them up after the lapse of two thousand years. But Blackstone assures us that he honestly believes that; we will have to believe it. 4) And what is this? The concluding words of St. Peter's Second Epistle "To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen" ("forever = the day of an age") refer to the great millennial day? Do they actually believe that an apostle would end his epistle, would end his hymn of praise, on a millennial note? They do so. We have read premillennialist books which, setting forth the glorious works of God, end with the 5) Note', in pass,ing, that the terms "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," to be applied also in 1 ThooS1. 4,16.17, do not fit in with the chiliastic scheme, according to which the "rapture" and related events a,re sepa,rated from other events, the so-called "second resurrection," the final Judgment, etc., by many years. Thousand yea,rs do not pass in the twinkling of an eye. And since the Last Day ushers in eternity, no room is left for an intermediate ea;rthIy millennial period. Cp. Luther on 1 Cor. 15,52 (VIII, 1257): "Damit zeigt er an, dass es alles zugleich. in einem Nu soll zugehen, dass die Toten hervor aus den Graebern gerueokt und wir mit hingeraf/t, wie una wo wir gefunden werden, und weggerissen aus aem sterbliohen Leben und Wesen, zugleioh miteinander verklaert sollen wer- den. . .. Gatt wv/'a seine allmaeohtige GewaU und Majestaet erzeigen, dass alles in einem Augenbliok verzehrt muss werden, was auf Erden ist, und die ganze Welt auf einem Haufen liegen und anders werden und wir ewiglioh neb en und bei Ohristo sein " die andern, aber, so nioht gegZaubt haben, in ewige Qual verstossen werden." Simila,rly IX, 139'4. Cpo Lenski on Matt. 24, 31: "And so we might a,sk how both hemispheres shan a,t once see the Son of Man in the clouds, hear the angel trumpet, and yield up the dead, or, with our notions of space, how all those millions that have lived on earth shall find room to stand, and how long it will take, with our conceptions, of time', till the last name is reached for jUdgment. The answer to all these questions is that after verse 29 [Matt. 24] none of these present limitations of ours will exist any longer, and to urge them with skeptic motives is, only to expose our poor folly." K. Heim: "Der Juengste Tag ist, von dM' einen Seite gesehen, ein letzter Zeitpunkt, von] der andern Seite gesehen, Ewigkeit." (P. Althaus, Die letzten Dinge, p.242. Gp. Leht'e u. Wehre, 6, p.312.) Here we agree with Frost: Christ declared "that the advent, whenever it would occur, would take place with a rush or in a flash; that is, its beginning would almost be its ending, for its beginning and ending would be practically at the same moment of time." P.178.} Notes on Chiliasm. 247 millennium as the climax. Such writers can easily believe that St. Peter would do the same.6) They commit other acts of desperation. "Tregelles, who is sup- ported by the Jewish commentators, renders Dan. 12,2 as follows: 'And many f1'om among the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake; these shall be unto everlasting life; but those (the rest of the sleepers, who do not awake at this time) shall be unto shame." (See Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown on this passage.) It is needless to add that this most intensely confirms the doctrine of the first resurrection." (Jesus is Cowing, p.57.) Yes, A. R. Fausset's com- mentary confirms Blackstone's teaching. Quoting Tregelles's trans- lation, it says: "Not the general resurrection, but that of those who share in the first resurrection, the rest of the dead being not to rise till the end of the thousand years. . .. The Jewish commentators support Tregelles." It will suffice to point out, first, that the words of Tregelles (an ardent premillennialist; member of one of the Plymouth Brethren groups) "who do not awake at this time" are not an interpretation, but virtually an interpolation; and, secondly, that the text reads: "some to everlasting life",' nothing that is here said implies that they awake to the millennial life. "The last trump," 1 Oor. 15, 52, which calls the believers out of the grave, is the last trump, 'When it sounds, the end is come. Our readers must pardon us for explaining self-explanatory statements. They must not say: Nobody is going to dispute that "the last trump" means the trumpet which will be sounded on the Last Day, the day of thi3 end of all temporal things. Some are going to dispute that. For that reason we shall also call attention to what is apparent to most every reader, to the fact that according to 1 Oor. 15, 52-57 nothing intervenes between the sounding of the last trumpet and the final consummation. When the last trumpet sounds, the final vic- tory is won, the last enemy vanquished, vv, 54-57. One cannot blame the co=entators for writing: "At the sounding of the trumpet on the Last Day . . " Or the Spirit by St, Paul hints that the other trumpets mentioned subsequently in the Apocalypse shall precede and that this shall be the last of all" (A. R. Fausset). "The final trumpet 6) Those Lutheran theologians who ha,ve joined the chiliastic camp ha:ve additional troubles. They need to squa,re the twofold resurrection with the teaching of the Confe&sions of their Church. The Sman Ga,t- echism distinctly says: "- and at the La,st Day will raise up me and all the dea.d." (Cp, Augsb. Cont., XVII; Apo~., XVII; Large Cat.: "-until finally, at the Last Day, He will completely part and separate us from the wicked world, the de:vil, death, sin, etc.") But no chiliast can make Luther's ''Last Day" mean a, long period of time, covering a thousand or more years. Luther's "Last Day" passes very quickly. See VIII, 1257, quoted above. And IX, 1394: "Und in so~ohem g1'ossen Kraohen wird der Tag daherreissen und -p~atzen, wie em gross Gewitter, dass in einem Augen- b~iok alles muss verzehrt werden, 2 Petro 3, 8-10." (Gp. also Lutheraner, 1847, p. 11 ff., on Chiliasm and Augsb. Cont., XVI!.) 248 Notes on Chiliasm. will sound, and the dead, all of them, will arise" (P. E. Kretzmann). ULetzte Posaune, das heisst, am Ende der Well, wenn Gott die Toten erwecken wird" (Hirschberger BibeO. Of course, if a thousand years must follow the sounding of this last trumpet, a different meaning than the obvious one must attach to this term. And so it does, says P. Bachmann, a believer in the twofold resurrection: "BEIM SCHALL DER LETZTEN (naemlich der das Letzte einleitenden, weil den zur Er- weckung seiner Toten kommenden Herrn begleitenden) POSAUNE" (Zahn's Kommentar), meaning it is called the last trumpet because it inauguartes the last period; the time of the millennium. A. C. Gae- belein has a different explanation of the troublesome term. "It will be at the last trump. This trumpet has nothing whatever to do with the seventh trumpet in Revelation." (No need to investigate that.) "Before any trumpet has sounded, before the Lamb of God opens the seals, He comes for His saints. . .. The trumpet is a military term. The first trumpet bade the armies to rise and be ready; the last trumpet commanded them to depart; it was the signal to march." (The Annotated Bible.) Who would have thought of that?7) What about Matt. 25,31-46? We are told that we have been misreading this passage: it does not treat of the general Judgment. It does not prove that the believers and the unbelievers will be raised up at the same time. It does not state that before Him shall at that time be gathered all nations. This is how Dr. Frost treats Scripture. "The Matthew passage says that the judgment is that of 'all nations,' which cannot point to a time after death, for 'nations' in the Scrip- ture are only related to the present life and the existing earthly social order (Gen. 10, 32; 17, 4; Matt. 28, 19; Acts 17, 26) .... This judgment takes place at the end of the present age, just sub- sequent to the seven-year reign of Antichrist, and thus it is the out- come of that time and event. Antichrist has hated and persecuted all godly persons, particularly godly Jews; these last have been driven from Palestine broadcast throughout the nations; multitudes of persons among the Gentile nations have joined the Antichrist in his persecutions of the Jews, while some have opposed him by showing compassion upon them. . .. The Jew always has been the divine test as to what the nations think of God. . .. The judgment is in respect to what the nations have or have not done to the King's 'brethren,' namely, godly Jews. The result of the judgment is, on the one hand, life and the kingdom and, on the other, death and everlasting punish- ment (vv. 34. 41. 46). It is to be observed that the 'kingdom' spoken of v. 34 is not the heavenly one, because the nations as such will 7) One does not quite know wha,t to make of Fausset's co=ent. It seems' correct. It does full justice to St. Paul'so words. But he believes in the twofold resurrection. See preceding pa;ragraph and his notes on 1 Thess. 4, 16. Do his words as quoted above carry a, hidden meaning? Notes on Chiliasm. 249 have no place there, but the earthly one, that is, the millennial, unto which those who are spared from death will enter as living persons, to be nationally recognized therein under Christ's benignant reign." (P. 115 f.) Matt.25 treats of the fifth of Dr. Frost's seven judg- ments, the seventh being that of the wicked dead, which takes place much later. And so Matt. 25 does not stand in the way of the twofold resurrection. Greater arbitrariness in interpretation and a more merciless mutilation of Scripture terms is hardly conceivable. 1) "Brethren" here means "godly Jews." 2) "These shall go into everlasting punishment" - that may stand; they are consigned to eternal death. "The righteous into life eternal" - that cannot stand as it reads. It cannot mean the heavenly kingdom. It must mean the millennium. We have not the time now to discuss Dr. Frost's misinterpretation of "all nations" and his story of the seven-year reign of Antichrist. - A. C. Gaebelein (in the Annotated Bible) does not agree with H. VV. Frost on the number of the resurrections. He is a three-resurrection man. But he joins forces with the two- resurrection man in the assault on the plain meaning of our passage and offers an additional exegetical reason for the chiliastic inter- pretation. "The King returned will occupy the throne of His glory. The judgment is not a judgment of the entire human race. None of the dead are here. The dead saints are raised when He comes in the air to receive His own, and the dead martyrs of the Tribula- tion period will also have been raised at the close of that period. The rest of the dead does not live till the thousand years of the Kingdom are ended (Rev. 20, 5). Here the living nations are seen judged. The standard is the treatment they accorded to the last messengers of the King; these are 'the brethren' of the King, of the Jewish race. If these nations believed that testimony, they treated the messengers with kindness; if they rejected this final message, they refused help to the messengers. The righteous nations who believed will remain on the earth for the Kingdom. The unrighteous will go into everlasting punishment." The exegetical proof offered for the notion that this judgment cannot be the general Judgment of the Ecumenic Creeds ("from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead") is this: "None of the dead are here." Sure enough, our passage does not mention the resurrection of the dead. And: "living nations are seen judged." (The Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1036, employs the same subterfuge.) Sure enough, our pas- sage does state that the Judge is speaking, not to corpses, but to living persons. Dr. Gaebelein and Dr. Scofield have stated two un- deniable truths; let them make the most of it. As for the rest, Dr. Gaebelein cares as little as Dr. Frost for the meaning and value of words. "The righteous (enter) into eternal life," the life of heavenly bliss, means, "the righteous will remain on the earth." And 250 Notes on Chiliasm. he derives the idea that the ''brethren of the King" are of the Jewish race from Dr. Frost's source: he picks it out of the air. The Lutheran R F. Weidner will not accept the monstrous inter- pretation of Frost and Gaebelein, but he comes to the aid of the first-resurrection men, who are bothered by Matt. 25, 31-46, in this wise : "Nor does their doctrine of the first resurrection come in con- :fiict with Ohrist's description of Judgment as recorded in Matt. 25, 31-46; for this description is in harmony with Rev. 20, 11-15, for all the risen saints shall be present at the final Judgment, although they do not come into the Judgment (John5,24), and shall even in some way take part in the Judgment (1001'.6,2.3)." (Annotations on Rev., p.361.) That will not do. True enough, the believers will not be condemned in the Judgment. So says John 5, 24 and so says Matt. 25,31-46. And it is absolutely true that they will judge the world. But that phase of the Judgment is not described in our pas- sage. In our passage the believers and the unbelievers stand before the same Judge, at the same time. - Now as to the original question: Will the saints be mised at a different time than the wicked? our pas- sage should be decisive to those who, like Weidner, agree that it describes the final Judgment. (Those chiliasts who believe that it does not refer to the final Judgment will not pay any attention to our present remarks.) The :first-resUl'rection men hold that the final Judgment in the case of the believers takes place at the alleged first resurrection. Resurrection and judgment go together, they say; and so we say. But our passage links the final judgment of the believers with that of the unbelievers; therefore also their resurrection. That is also brought out by the term "separate." In the first-resUl'rection theory the separation has taken place long before the judgment of the wicked. - As to the fact that the general resurrection is not men- tioned here in so many words, that does not bother us. It is implied. Dr. Gaebelein insisted a while ago that "living nations are judged." Exactly. So that part of "all nations" which will not be living at the end will have to be resurrected. But might it not be conceivable that the final judgment will be pronounced on the souls alone ~ Oon- ceivable or not, this conception is ruled out by Scripture. Men will be judged on the Last Day in their bodies, John 5, 2'1-29; 6,40; 1001'. 15,23. 24; 1 Thess. 4, 16; Rev. 20, 12. 13. Mark also this: 1£ the premillennialist interpretation of Matt. 25,31-46 is correct, Ohrist did not know how to express His thoughts in unmistakable language. In the words of David Brown (J amieson- Fausset-Brown Com.): "'Before Him shall be gathered all nations,' or 'all the nations.' That this should be understood to mean heathen nations, or all except believers in Ohrist, will seem amazing to any simple reader. Yes, this is the exposition of Olshausen, Stier, Reil, Alford, ... and of a number, though not all, of those who hold that Notes on Chiliasm. 251 Ohrist will come the second time before the millennium and that the saints will be caught up to meet Him in the air before His appearing . . . . But here we may just say that, if this scene do not describe a personal, public, final judgment on men, ... we shall have to con- sider again whether our Lord's teaching on the greatest themes of human interest does indeed possess that incomparable simplicity and transparency of meaning which by universal consent has been ascribed to it." - "Lord, on that day, that wrathful day, When man to Judg- ment W'akes from clay, Be Thou the trembling sinner's stay, Though heaven and earth shall pass away." Ohanging the meaning of Scripture terms constitutes one half of the chiliastic Scripture-proof for the "first resurrection." The other half consists in inserting the needed thought into texts which do not contain it. When men insert new words into the actual text, that is called interpolation. And that is an unlawful proceeding. Ohiliasm will not do that. It has never constructed a text which reads, in so many words: The first resurrection precedes the last resurrection by a long period. But its adherents do offer to show us several passages where this thought is distinctly and incontrovert- liby expressed. They tell us to look up, for instance, 1 Thess. 4, 16. P. Bachmann (Zahn'g Commentary) tells us, in his exposition of 1 Oor. 15, 52, to do so. H. E. Jacobs (Lutheran Com.), on 100r. 15,23, tells us to do so. And Fausset, in his interpretation of Phil. 3,11 says: "'The resurrection from (out of) the dead,' viz., the first resurrection; that of believers at Ohrist's coming (1 Oor. 15,23; 1 Thess. 4, 15; Rev. 20, 5. 6)." And so the Scofield Reference Bible reads our text in this wise: "Not church saints only, but all bodies of the saved, of whatever dispensation, are included in the first resur- rection (see 1 Oor. 15, 52, note), as here described." The note says: "The 'first resurrection' will occur at the second coming of Ohrist .... After the thousand years the 'resurrection unto judgment' occurs." We look up 1 Thess. 4, 16 and read: "The dead in Ohrist shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them." Pray, my masters, where do you see anything said con- cerning a first resurrection as distinct from a later resurrection ~ There is the word "first" indeed, and it surely modifies a verb denoting resurrection; and where there is a "first," we usually look for some- thing that follows. But what here follows is not another resurrection. You say that the "first" indicates that there is a second resurrection. The text says something altogether different. The contrast is between the "first" and the "then," between what will befall the dead believers and the living believers. First the dead in Ohrist will arise; then the living believers will be changed. The text itself says that you are interpolating a foreign thought if you establish a contrast between such as rise first and others who do not rise till later. "The passage 252 Notes ,on Chiliasm. in 1 Thess. 4, 16. 1'[ which is often quoted in support of a first and second bQdily resurrection does not teach such a doctrine. 'The dead in Ohrist shall rise first' does nQt mean that they shall rise before the unbelieving dead, but that they shall rise before those who are alive at Ohrist's coming shall be caught up with Him in the air. The purpose of the apostle is not to teach that there are two bodily resur- rections, but to assure the Thessalonians that their friends who have died will rise from the dead and share with the living the joy of being caught up with Ohrist." (Joseph Stump, The Ohristian Faith, p. 399 f. Op. Lehre und Wehre, 6, p.312.) Even the Lange-Schaff Oommentary, which believes in the twofold resurrection, declares that in 1 Thess. 4, 16. 1'[ it cannot be found. And even Fausset interprets: " 'Shall rise first' - previously to the living being 'caught up.' The 'first' here has no reference to the first resurrection as contrasted with that of 'the rest of the dead.' That reference occurs elsewhere (Matt. 13,41.42.50; John 5, 29; 1 001'. 15,23.24; Rev. 20, 5. 6)." Only those who first have read their teaching of the twofold resurrection into 1 Thess. 4, 16 will adduce this text as a proof-text for it.S) There is no reference to the first resurrection in 1 Thess. 4, says Fausset, but elsewhere that reference occurs, for instance, 10or. 15,23 f. Scofield Ref61'ence Bible, p. 1228: "The 'first resurrection,' that 'unto life,' will occur at the second coming of Ohrist, 1 001'. 15,23." Weidner: "Of the first resurrection our Savior likewise speaks (Luke 14, 14) and designates it as the resurrection of the just; and Paul also, 1 001'. 15, 23." (Gp. cit., p. 356.) G. Wohlenberg (Zahn, Kom.) on 1 Thess. 4, 14: "Wir wissen aus anderen Schrift- stellen zur Genuege, dass die Unterscheidung eine?' ersten und zwei- ten, einer ersten, nur den treu gebliebenen Ohristen widerfahrenden, und einer zweiten, alle Menschen umfassenden, zeitlich durch eine H errschaft Ohristi auf Erden innerhalb seiner verklaerten Gemeinde geschiedenen, Auferstehung zum Allgemeingut christlicher Verkuen- digung und U eberzeugutng gehoerte. V gl. Gffenb. 20,1 ff.; 1 Kor. 15,23 f.,' Phil. 3, 11; demnaechst auch Luk. 14, 14; J oh. 5,29." All right, we will look very closely at 1 001'. 15,23 f. "Every man in his own order: Ohrist the :First-fruits; afterward they that are Ohrist's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father." Pray, my masters, where 8) Here is, a somewha,t disconcerting quirk. Fausset had just referred us to 1 Thess. 4, 15 as prQving his twofold re'surrediQn and now tells us to forge,t about 1 ThesB. 4, 15. - Weidner, in hill' Annotations on Rev., p.361, makes a useless remark. "In 1 Thess. 4, 16. 17 Paul, ,on the ,one hand, dQe,s nQt dra,w a, distinction between the first resurrectiQn of believers and the second resurrection of unbelievers, but, ,on the ,other hand, this passage does not exclude such a distinctiQn." Why this last remark? And how dQes tha.t help his case? Notes on Chiliasm. 253 do you see anything said concerning your iisecond resurrection," that of the wicked? You are certain that you see it. Your Dr. Weidner sees this: "Paul evidently distinguishes here (1 00r.15, 23) three gradations of resurrection: Ohrist, the First-fruits, rose first; then they who belong to Him at His appearing; then-elm corresponding to [netTa, that preceded, and again introducing a considerable interval- the end, that is, the general resurrection." Op. cit., 356.) I can see only two gradations of resurrection mentioned here, that of Ohrist and that of the believers. I cannot see that dra corresponds to l/:rmm in that it introduces a considerable interval. An that a Greek eye can here see is that slm, "then," after the resurrection of the be- lievers, comes the end. A second resurrection, following the first, cannot be seen here. "End" certainly does not mean "resurrection." But the chiliast insists he can see all these things. Dr. H. E. Jacobs: "Three groups, or ranks, successively appear: 1) Ohrist; 2) 'then they that are Ohrist's,' viz., all believers; and 3) by implication the resurrection of the unbelieving is included in 'the end,' mentioned in the next verse. (Opo 1 Thesso 4, 16.)" (The Luth.Oommentary, on 1 Oor. 15.) Dr. Ph. Bachmann cannot see it, at times. In his com- mentary on 1 Oor. (Zahn, K om.) he writes, p. 443: "Von einer dritten Gruppe Auterstehender ist, buchstaeblich betracktet, auch weiterkin keine Rede." But then again he sees it. He adds: "N aeheres darueber siehe nack 1 Kor. 15,26; S. 445 t." And he says on p. 445: "Diese U ebergabe kann abel' nicld geschehen, ohne class ZUV01' au.ch diejenigen Lebendigzumachenden lebendig gemacht sind, die bei der Parusie Ohristi dessen nicht teilhattig wurden."9) We 9) Ph. Bachmann does not agree with other chiliasts (a common phenomenon, as, we ha;ve seen) on just what is to be seen in 1 Cor. 15,24. "Wer sind die Toten, dcren Auferwecktmg den Abschluss der Lebendig. machung bildet, wenn doch weder diejenigen dM'u1~te1' zu verstehen sind, die, wail sie glaeubige Anhaenger Ohristi gewesen waren, sohon bei seiner Parusie B1'weokt wurdclv, noch die, welohe nach dem Begrift von r;wono{'1rJtr; hier ueberhaupt nicht in Bet1'aoht kommen, die Z1Lm Verderbensgericht aus ihren Graebern Hervorgehenden?" The third group is formed, according to the common chiliastic reckoning,. by the wicked. NO', says Bachmann, I cannot see, tha,t; the resurrection O'f the wicked is not to be thought of here. Then wha,t class does form the alleged third group? "Die einst ohne Kenntnis von Ohristus und doch mit einem solchen Lebense1·trag Entschlafenen, dass sie fuel' die Teilhabe1"schaft am Reiohe Gottes, wie sie ihnen duroh Ohristus in jener Endzeit zu vermitteln sein wird, in Betracht kamman, wie z. B. DIE FROMMEN DES ALTEN BUNDES (Roem. :13, 11 ft.), ebenso die in den Krisen del' Endzeit dem Glauben sioh Zuwendenden und doch noah duroh das Todesgericht Hindurohzufuehrenden." And when Bachmann declares that the just of the Old Testament will be raised after the "first resurrection," Zahn declares (on Re;v. XX, p. 603) that he cannO't see that.. "Es kann keinem Zweifel unterliegen, dass alIa diese Mae1"tyre1" und P1'opheten naoh del' Darstellung del' Apokalypse an del' :n:eclrc1'j avarJ'!'a<1t, vollen Anteil haben we1"den, ... alle Gerechten von Abel an." :;sft hie Variata fl:)nergiftifclj unb mnjoriftifclj1 cannot see these things. It can be seen only when it is put into the text, and it can be seen only by those who are blinded by a precon- ceived opinion. The Expositor's Greek Testament, which is certainly not a tyro in exegetics, says: "It is incongruous to make a third 1:aYlla out of TO TBlo" as Bg. and Mr. would do, paraphrasing this as 'the last act (of the resurrection)," viz., the resurrection of non- Ohristians. Their introduction is irrelevant. 8n8t7:a, opp. of neGno", implied in a:n:aex~, is defined by EV 7:fj naeovo'q. . .. 6tm TO T8lo,: 'Then (is) the end,' sc., 'at His coming.' Ohrist's advent, attended with the resurrection of His redeemed to eternal life, concludes the world's history." A New Oommentary of Holy Scripture (Oharles Gore, etc.), which certainly is not biased in the direction of orthodoxy, says: "The word translated 'order' has a military significance equivalent to 'division'; but the only definite distinction made is between Ohrist, the First-fruits, and they that are Ohrist's. That 'the end' in v.24 means 'the rest,' and so another class, is improbable." Luther (this for the benefit of the Lutheran chiliasts: "'DARNACH DAS ENDE.' Wenn das Stuendlein kommen wird (will er sagen), dass wir, so Ohristo angehoeren, auferstehen und ihm nachfolgen sollen, so wira:s denn alles ausgerichtet sein, und das Ende, dahin die Schrift zeigt, dass dies W'eltliche Leben soll aufhoeren mit alZem seinem Jammer und Unglueck. . .. Summa, es sollein Ende sein aller Dinge auf Erden." And again (for the benefit of those who favor Bachmann's grouping): "Und wenn es Zeit sein wird, soll er AUF EINEN TAG alle, die ihm angehoeren, wieder hervor heissen kommen und mit sich fuehren." (VIII, 1165 f. Op. Lehre und Wehre, 6, 311.) But there is Rev. 20, 1-6! Here at any rate no thought- interpolation is required! Here are the very words "This is the first resurrection." - Let us study these words and their context during the next month. (To be oontinued.) TH. ENGELDER. ~ft bie Variata f~netgiftifdj nub mlljutiftifdj? "m5it oefennen un§ au bet erften, un g e ii n b e r ten Wug§ourgi~ ldjen ~onfeffion." (Trigl., 850, 5.) 5ratfadje aoer ift, bat man in rein lritifdjem @Sinne bon feiner Invariata reben fann. m5ebet bet beutfdje 5re;t;t, bie fogenannte mainaer SJanbfdjrift, nodj ber Iateinifdje, ein WO~ brucf ber bon ID1efandjtfjon oefotgten WU§gaoe ber Wug§outgifdjen ~on~ feffion, finb e;t; aft e 9'teprobuftionen ber bem Si:aif et iioerreidjten 5re;t;te. (Of. Trigl., Introductions, 21; R u. m5. 65, 219 ff.) ::Die neueften 'Wuguftanaftubien weifen jebodj nadj, bat bie 9'tebafteure be§ ~onforbien~ oudje§ nidjt fjinter§ Eidjt gefiifjt± worben finb, aI§ fie "bon wofjflieglau~ fiigten Eeuten" bie urfpriinglidjen 5re;t;te fjaoen genau betgleidjen laWen. (Trigl., 14.) m5ir fjaoen alfo mit bet Wu§nafjme bon gana unwefent~