Rick Ludwig | Grace College and Theological Seminary (original) (raw)
Papers by Rick Ludwig
THE HOPE OF A FUTURE LIFE IN THE PSALMS, 1991
The hope for a future life based on the resurrection from the dead is a fundamental tenet of the ... more The hope for a future life based on the resurrection from the dead is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith. Not only is Christ's own resurrection at the very foundation of Christianity, but the hope of a future resurrection of believers themselves is an integral part of the inheritance promised in the New Testament. The doctrine is explicit and undeniable, whether one comprehends it with personal faith or not.
When the Christian moves through the pages of the Old Testament, however, he finds the language less clear, less explicit. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are so closely tied the land of Canaan, and to the perpetuation of a "seed," that is, descendants, that one wonders exactly what the Old Testament believer thought about the future; what he thought about life and death and immortality: about resurrection. For the Christian, there is no Old Testament book in which this question has more significance than the Psalter. The Psalms have been used since the end of the apostolic age to provide comfort and hope for suffering and disillusioned believers, and indeed, for believers who certainly saw a firm hope of eternity with God expressed in those very Psalms. The apostles certainly applied specific Psalms to Jesus, as He also did to Himself, and one is tempted to conclude that the Church's appropriation of the Psalter almost as a New Testament document is justified, at least devotionally.
The question that must be asked, however, and which this paper will address is this: did the Old Testament believers, specifically the writers of the Psalms, express a belief that after dying they would someday be resurrected to share eternal life with God? In other words, do the Psalms express, ever, an undeniable hope in a future resurrection? This paper will attempt to demonstrate that such a belief is indeed present in certain Psalms, and that it is, in essence if not in detail, the same kind of eschatological hope as the New Testament doctrine of resurrection. That is, the Psalmist's hope in resurrection was tied to a future day of miraculous intervention by the LORD, although the details are necessarily missing, since Christ had not yet come to die and be raised as the first fruits.
Sovereignty and Access, 1992
There is a basic need in the evangelical community for a presentation of the relationship of God ... more There is a basic need in the evangelical community for a presentation of the relationship of God to time based exclusively (to the extent possible) upon the Biblical data. This type of presentation is needed particularly as opposed to philosophical or logical arguments which speculate what that relationship could or must be. The recognition of God's people as both a forward-looking people (eschatological), and a backward-looking people (historical) suggest a basic concern with time, and how God works His purposes in relation to time as time is understood by redeemed humans.
The purpose of this paper is to determine God's relationship to time as revealed in the Bible with a view to a proper understanding of how He then works out His purposes in time. The Bible's presentation of how God relates to time in terms of His sovereignty over His creations seems to be the key, and this paper has a primary purpose of describing that relationship.
The Bible presents God as sovereign over time, a concept which has as a primary corollary the idea of access, which allows for His presence and activity in humanly-measured time during and since the creation, and in the incarnation.1 Stated otherwise, God's relationship to time presented in the Bible is inseparable from His to His creation, over which He is sovereign, and to which He has sovereign access.
The thesis proper will be defended from the Biblical record, and those who rely on such. Philosophical speculation about time and eternity as presented by Christians will be summarized in an appendix, but will not be defended or disputed in the body of the paper except as they seem to rely upon or contradict the Biblical data.2 Likewise, ontological attributes traditionally ascribed to God by theologians such foreknowledge such foreknowledge, omniscience, immutability, and so on, will not be defended or disputed here.3
The thesis will be developed in the following manner. First, terminology will be discussed which is relevant to a basic presentation of time and eternity in the Bible. This will provide a basic over view of the appropriate Hebrew and Greek words, and help the reader understand the range of meanings which are relevant to this study.
The second chapter will focus on the concepts of God's sovereignty and access as related to the material creation. This will provide a foundation upon which to build an analogy of God's sovereignty and access in relation to time.
Third, the relationship between God and time will be examined as seen God's activity in the present creation, with a view to demonstrating God's essential sovereignty over time during His creative activity and during specific redemptive activity. This section will examine primary passages in the first chapter of Genesis, and include brief discussions of other selected passages relevant to particular manifestations of God's presence in redemptive activity.
Fourth, the unique of the incarnation of Jesus Christ will be examined for its special contribution to the thesis. Passages will be considered both in light of the evidence gathered from the present and new creations, and as they supply new or unique implications for the total picture of God's relationship to time.
Fifth, God's presence and activity in the New Creation will examined in terms of what they reveal about His sovereignty over and access to time. This will both build on the evidence gathered from the present creation, and examine elements of the New Creation that shed new light on God's relationship to time.
1 The Bible contains no revelation of God's relationship to time before the Creation. It is probably more Biblical to speak of "eternity as a mode of existence for God, rather than a type of time during which God exists. Either way God is not subject to inherent temporal limitations.
2 That is, the current debate on whether God is fundamentally eternal or everlasting cannot be a major in this paper, since the categories currently used are not described in Biblical terms. For a concise History of the debate see James H. Stover, "An Historical Development and Evaluation of the Time-Eternity Dichotomy in Orthodox Theology," unpub. ThM Thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1983.
3 Although This writer often finds the assignation of the classic "attributes" to God somewhat artificial and misleading in relation to Biblical presentations of God, they are nonetheless useful as descriptive terms to summarize characteristics which God frequently demonstrates.
THE HOPE OF A FUTURE LIFE IN THE PSALMS, 1991
The hope for a future life based on the resurrection from the dead is a fundamental tenet of the ... more The hope for a future life based on the resurrection from the dead is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith. Not only is Christ's own resurrection at the very foundation of Christianity, but the hope of a future resurrection of believers themselves is an integral part of the inheritance promised in the New Testament. The doctrine is explicit and undeniable, whether one comprehends it with personal faith or not.
When the Christian moves through the pages of the Old Testament, however, he finds the language less clear, less explicit. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are so closely tied the land of Canaan, and to the perpetuation of a "seed," that is, descendants, that one wonders exactly what the Old Testament believer thought about the future; what he thought about life and death and immortality: about resurrection. For the Christian, there is no Old Testament book in which this question has more significance than the Psalter. The Psalms have been used since the end of the apostolic age to provide comfort and hope for suffering and disillusioned believers, and indeed, for believers who certainly saw a firm hope of eternity with God expressed in those very Psalms. The apostles certainly applied specific Psalms to Jesus, as He also did to Himself, and one is tempted to conclude that the Church's appropriation of the Psalter almost as a New Testament document is justified, at least devotionally.
The question that must be asked, however, and which this paper will address is this: did the Old Testament believers, specifically the writers of the Psalms, express a belief that after dying they would someday be resurrected to share eternal life with God? In other words, do the Psalms express, ever, an undeniable hope in a future resurrection? This paper will attempt to demonstrate that such a belief is indeed present in certain Psalms, and that it is, in essence if not in detail, the same kind of eschatological hope as the New Testament doctrine of resurrection. That is, the Psalmist's hope in resurrection was tied to a future day of miraculous intervention by the LORD, although the details are necessarily missing, since Christ had not yet come to die and be raised as the first fruits.
Sovereignty and Access, 1992
There is a basic need in the evangelical community for a presentation of the relationship of God ... more There is a basic need in the evangelical community for a presentation of the relationship of God to time based exclusively (to the extent possible) upon the Biblical data. This type of presentation is needed particularly as opposed to philosophical or logical arguments which speculate what that relationship could or must be. The recognition of God's people as both a forward-looking people (eschatological), and a backward-looking people (historical) suggest a basic concern with time, and how God works His purposes in relation to time as time is understood by redeemed humans.
The purpose of this paper is to determine God's relationship to time as revealed in the Bible with a view to a proper understanding of how He then works out His purposes in time. The Bible's presentation of how God relates to time in terms of His sovereignty over His creations seems to be the key, and this paper has a primary purpose of describing that relationship.
The Bible presents God as sovereign over time, a concept which has as a primary corollary the idea of access, which allows for His presence and activity in humanly-measured time during and since the creation, and in the incarnation.1 Stated otherwise, God's relationship to time presented in the Bible is inseparable from His to His creation, over which He is sovereign, and to which He has sovereign access.
The thesis proper will be defended from the Biblical record, and those who rely on such. Philosophical speculation about time and eternity as presented by Christians will be summarized in an appendix, but will not be defended or disputed in the body of the paper except as they seem to rely upon or contradict the Biblical data.2 Likewise, ontological attributes traditionally ascribed to God by theologians such foreknowledge such foreknowledge, omniscience, immutability, and so on, will not be defended or disputed here.3
The thesis will be developed in the following manner. First, terminology will be discussed which is relevant to a basic presentation of time and eternity in the Bible. This will provide a basic over view of the appropriate Hebrew and Greek words, and help the reader understand the range of meanings which are relevant to this study.
The second chapter will focus on the concepts of God's sovereignty and access as related to the material creation. This will provide a foundation upon which to build an analogy of God's sovereignty and access in relation to time.
Third, the relationship between God and time will be examined as seen God's activity in the present creation, with a view to demonstrating God's essential sovereignty over time during His creative activity and during specific redemptive activity. This section will examine primary passages in the first chapter of Genesis, and include brief discussions of other selected passages relevant to particular manifestations of God's presence in redemptive activity.
Fourth, the unique of the incarnation of Jesus Christ will be examined for its special contribution to the thesis. Passages will be considered both in light of the evidence gathered from the present and new creations, and as they supply new or unique implications for the total picture of God's relationship to time.
Fifth, God's presence and activity in the New Creation will examined in terms of what they reveal about His sovereignty over and access to time. This will both build on the evidence gathered from the present creation, and examine elements of the New Creation that shed new light on God's relationship to time.
1 The Bible contains no revelation of God's relationship to time before the Creation. It is probably more Biblical to speak of "eternity as a mode of existence for God, rather than a type of time during which God exists. Either way God is not subject to inherent temporal limitations.
2 That is, the current debate on whether God is fundamentally eternal or everlasting cannot be a major in this paper, since the categories currently used are not described in Biblical terms. For a concise History of the debate see James H. Stover, "An Historical Development and Evaluation of the Time-Eternity Dichotomy in Orthodox Theology," unpub. ThM Thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1983.
3 Although This writer often finds the assignation of the classic "attributes" to God somewhat artificial and misleading in relation to Biblical presentations of God, they are nonetheless useful as descriptive terms to summarize characteristics which God frequently demonstrates.