Canticle for Leibowitz
Tim Peterson
REL 480
Brandt
4/14/09 In A Canticle For Leibowitz, there is plenty of talk concerning the Apocalypse. The nuclear holocaust which creates an atmosphere of mass chaos, book burnings, killings, and mutants; the wandering Jew who waits for Christ’s second coming, apparently unable to die; and finally a second nuclear holocaust which appears to do away with many things save some marine life, a certain mutant who represents the new creation, and of course, the wandering Jew has to still be around. There is a number of views of the end times in which this scenario by Miller could either be explained with hope still intact, or left a confused mess where no one knows if Christ is even coming anymore. This paper looks at three views and attempts to see if there is any view left in which Christ might still be the hope for humanity when it appears that it would be ideal for Him to come again and He is nowhere to be found. There are three main perspectives on the subject of the eschaton. One view is called Pre-millennialism which tends to take depictions of the end of the world both literally and linearly. Much of it is based on the first portion of Revelation 20 where it would appear that Christ literally returns and sets up an earthly kingdom which is established for 1000 years before the Great White Throne Judgment. The actual circumstances of what will happen vary because different people focus on different events, but the general timelines tends to be similar. There is the year of church age, followed by the tribulation, which is then followed by a millennial reign of Christ, which is then followed by Satan being loosed for a short while, and finally comes the great white throne judgment. Some believe the judgments are predominantly natural events which will occur by the just hand of God, yet others believe it will be it will be a mixture of nature and humanity itself which leads to destruction, but not complete destruction, for man will
REL 480
Brandt
4/14/09 In A Canticle For Leibowitz, there is plenty of talk concerning the Apocalypse. The nuclear holocaust which creates an atmosphere of mass chaos, book burnings, killings, and mutants; the wandering Jew who waits for Christ’s second coming, apparently unable to die; and finally a second nuclear holocaust which appears to do away with many things save some marine life, a certain mutant who represents the new creation, and of course, the wandering Jew has to still be around. There is a number of views of the end times in which this scenario by Miller could either be explained with hope still intact, or left a confused mess where no one knows if Christ is even coming anymore. This paper looks at three views and attempts to see if there is any view left in which Christ might still be the hope for humanity when it appears that it would be ideal for Him to come again and He is nowhere to be found. There are three main perspectives on the subject of the eschaton. One view is called Pre-millennialism which tends to take depictions of the end of the world both literally and linearly. Much of it is based on the first portion of Revelation 20 where it would appear that Christ literally returns and sets up an earthly kingdom which is established for 1000 years before the Great White Throne Judgment. The actual circumstances of what will happen vary because different people focus on different events, but the general timelines tends to be similar. There is the year of church age, followed by the tribulation, which is then followed by a millennial reign of Christ, which is then followed by Satan being loosed for a short while, and finally comes the great white throne judgment. Some believe the judgments are predominantly natural events which will occur by the just hand of God, yet others believe it will be it will be a mixture of nature and humanity itself which leads to destruction, but not complete destruction, for man will
Bibliography: Bauckham, Richard. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Chafer, Lawis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1948. Glasson, T. F., The Revelation of John London: Cambridge University Press, 1965. Koester, Craig R. Revelation and the End of All Things. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001. LeHaye, Tim. Revelation Unveiled. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pusblishing House, 1999. MacArthur, John. Explains the Book of Reveation Because the Time is Near. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007. Miller, Jr., Walter M. A Canticle For Leibowitz New York: Bantam Books, 1959. Morris, Leon. Revelation. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1969. The “End Times.” A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, 1989. [ 3 ]. John MacArthur, Explains the Book of Reveation Because the Time is Near (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007), 295. [ 4 ]. Tim LeHaye, Revelation Unveiled (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pusblishing House, 1999), 136. [ 6 ]. Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 2. [ 7 ]. Lawis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1948), 237. [ 8 ]. The “End Times” A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, 1989, 6. [ 10 ]. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 93.