Dale Allison in Night Comes points out that even in movies and novels today the last things often receive more attention than they do in mainline pulpits. He thinks we are short-changing people by not talking about last things. By leaving this topic alone the church allows people’s ideas to be shaped by either secularism, the latest excitement of the people who say the Bible talks about specific current events, or sensational new age speculations based on things like Near Death Experiences.
Also he sees how ignoring life after death cheapens this life. In the New Testament the nearness of the end gives a special moral intensity to this life (Romans 13:11-14 and 1 Peter 4:7-10). Also think about the statement attributed to Jesus in John 9:4 that night comes when it will be impossible to work (from this verse Allison gets his title: “night comes”).
A common…
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