The New Testament seems to contain a strange mixture of optimism and pessimism. On the optimistic side there is a heaven and so everything must work out all right in the end. But on the pessimistic side is some of the teaching of Jesus: ‘Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be terrible earthquakes, famines and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky.’ So what are Christians - optimists or pessimists? Read more
The New Testament teaching about the future is not that we look forward to what we do not have at the moment. For the Christian, the present and the future are closely tied together. So before we look at how Christians should prepare for the future, we need to look at the way the present and the future affect each other. Read more
Mark’s Gospel summarizes the theme of Jesus‘ preaching when he returned to Galilee after Herod had thrown John in prison: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’
This summary gives us three main themes in Jesus‘ preaching. Read more
