The Arrival of the End of the Ages in the 1st Century

The Arrival of the End of the Ages in the 1st Century

Below is the 31st of multiple excerpts from The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "NEARNESS OF THE APPROACHING CONSUMMATION. "1 Cor. vii. 29-31 [1 Cor. 7:29-31].---‘But this I say, brethren, the time henceforth is short (the time that remains is short): in order that both they that have wives be as though they had none: and they that weep as though they wept not; and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abusing [not fully using] it: for the fashion [Greek: schema, 'shape' or 'form'] of this world is passing away.’ "No words could more distinctly show the deep impression on the mind of the apostle [Paul] that a great crisis was near, which would powerfully affect all the relations of life, and all the possessions of this world. There is a significance in this language, as spoken at that time [circa A.D. 57], very different from that which it has in these days. These are not the ordinary platitudes about the brevity of time and the vanity of the world, the stock common-places of moralists and divines. Time is always short, and the world always vain; but there is an emphasis and an urgency in the declaration of the apostle which imply a speciality in the time then present: he knew that they were on the verge of a great catastrophe, and that all earthly interests and possessions were held by a slight and uncertain tenure. It is not necessary to ask what that expected catastrophe was. It was the coming of the day of the Lord [1 Cor. 3:13, 4:5, 5:5] already alluded to, and the near approach of which is implied in all his exhortations. [Henry] Alford correctly expresses the force of the expression, ‘the time is shortened henceforth, i.e. the interval between now and the coming of the Lord has arrived at an extremely contracted period.’ But, unhappily, he [Alford] goes on to treat the opinion of St. Paul as a mistaken one: ‘Since he wrote, the unfolding of God’s providence has taught us more of the interval before the coming of the Lord than it was given even to an inspired apostle to see.’ ...We are really not competent to say how far the shock of the tremendous convulsion [i.e., Rome's then-impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70] that took place at ‘the end of the [Old Covenant] age’ may have extended, but every one can see that the exhortations of the apostle would have been peculiarly appropriate within the bounds of Palestine. As we pursue this investigation, the area affected by the Parousia [Second Coming] seems to grow and expand: it is more than a national, it becomes an ecumenical, crisis. Certainly we must infer from the representation of the apostles, as well as from the sayings of the Master, that the Parousia had a significance for Christians everywhere, whether within or without [outside] the boundaries of Judea. It is more seemly to inquire into the true import of the doctrine of the apostles on this subject [of the Second Coming] than to assume that they were mistaken [about its imminence], and invent apologies for their error. If it be an error, it is common to the whole teaching of the New Testament, and will meet us in the writings of St. Peter and St. John, for they, no less than St. Paul, declare that ‘the end of all things is at hand,’ and that ‘the world is passing away, and the lust thereof’ (1 Pet. iv. 7 [1 Pet. 4:7]; 1 John ii. 17 [1 John 2:17]). "THE END OF THE AGES ALREADY ARRIVED. "1 Cor. x. 11 [1 Cor. 10:11].---‘Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [as examples], and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: ta tele ton aionon] are come.’ (to whom the ends of the ages have arrived). "The phrase ‘the end of the ages’ ([Greek:] ta tele ton aionon) is equivalent to 'the end of the age' (he sunteleia tou aionos), and 'the end' (to telos). They all refer to the same period, viz. [that is] the close of the Jewish age, or [Old Covenant] dispensation, which was now at hand. It will be observed that in this chapter [1 Cor. 10] St. Paul brings together some of the great historical incidents which took place at the commencement of that dispensation, as affording warning to those who were living near its close. He evidently [i.e., in an evident manner, thus clearly] regards the early history of the dispensation, especially in so far as it was supernatural, as having a typical [symbolic] and educational character. ‘These things happened unto them by way of ensample; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.’ [1 Cor. 10:11] ... "[W.J.] Conybeare and [J.S.] Howson have the following note on this passage:---‘The coming of Christ was "the end of the ages," i.e. the commencement of a new period of the world’s existence. ...This note does not distinguish with accuracy which coming [first or second] of Christ was the end of the age. It is [clearly] the Parousia, the second coming [prophesied to occur within Jesus' own generation, evidenced by Matt. 10:23, 16:28, 24:34, 26:64; Mark 9:1, 13:30, 14:62; Luke 9:27, 21:32, 22:69; Rev. 1:7] which is always so represented. That event [Christ's Second Coming] was, therefore, believed to be at hand when the end of the age, or ages, was declared to have arrived. "It is sometimes said that the whole period between the incarnation and the end of the world [Greek: age] is regarded in the New Testament as ‘the end of the age.’ But this bears a manifest incongruity in its very front. How could the end of a period be a long protracted duration? Especially how could it be longer than the period of which it is the end? More time has already elapsed [2,000 years] since the incarnation than from the giving of the law [circa 15th century B.C.] to the first coming of Christ: so that, on this hypothesis the end of the age is [already] a great deal longer than the [Mosaic] age itself. Into such paradoxes interpreters are led by a false theory. ..."

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