2000 silent years - why?

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

Don't you find it a little odd that God has been silent for 2000 years?

According to the traditional understanding, the canon is closed, and there is no new Scripture. God hasn't given prophesy to the world (at least, not in a way the world has heard). So why?

2000 years is a LONG time, a long silent dry time. Why?

~Anastasia~ · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
Don't you find it a little odd that God has been silent for 2000 years?

According to the traditional understanding, the canon is closed, and there is no new Scripture. God hasn't given prophesy to the world (at least, not in a way the world has heard). So why?

2000 years is a LONG time, a long silent dry time. Why?

Well, frankly I don't find God to be totally silent, but perhaps I am not speaking of the same things you are.

Still, if you examine the OT history, I believe you will find that there were some fairly long periods of silence then as well (from the standpoint of prophetic utterances).

Perhaps a better answer to what you may be asking is in Hebrews 1?

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 [a]in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [c]world.

The Bible tells us that from the time of Christ, God speaks to us through Jesus. And it is His Holy Spirit, living in all of those who follow Him, that teaches us now.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

So we are not alone, not without God speaking to us through the Bible and through His Holy Spirit.

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

Ok... so God's activities nowadays are limited to the workings of the HS?

What have those workings been?

~Anastasia~ · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
Ok... so God's activities nowadays are limited to the workings of the HS?

What have those workings been?

I don't think God's ACTIVITIES are limited to the workings of the Holy Spirit, but you specified God's direct communication. Did I understand you correctly?

And in that case, are you asking what his communications have been?

That's a bit of a broad question ... can you be more specific about what you are looking for?

bling · Jan 3, 2014

In this “age” every individual is to experience one on one Christ working with them, listening to them, teaching them, sharing with them, and being with them as much as they want. This is to be done through true Christians allowing Christ’s Spirit to live through them. Unfortunately there are just not many true Christians in the West (more might actually be found in communist China).

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

It just seems to me that 2000 years is a long long time for nothing to change.

There is no new communication from God like there was before.

So I'm wondering why?

Joshua260 · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
Don't you find it a little odd that God has been silent for 2000 years?

According to the traditional understanding, the canon is closed, and there is no new Scripture. God hasn't given prophesy to the world (at least, not in a way the world has heard). So why?

2000 years is a LONG time, a long silent dry time. Why?

Christ has come and has told us that he will come again. What else is there left to prophesy about?

Rattus58 · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
It just seems to me that 2000 years is a long long time for nothing to change.

There is no new communication from God like there was before.

So I'm wondering why?

Jesus died for you, and me and the rules were pretty well set about.... he didn't interfere with Jesus either.... Oh... and isn't there a new testament?

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

Rattus58 said:
Jesus died for you, and me and the rules were pretty well set about.... he didn't interfere with Jesus either.... Oh... and isn't there a new testament?

The NT was settled almost 2000 years ago... unless there is something I've missed?

hedrick · Jan 3, 2014

The Gospels end with Jesus commissioning his followers to carry on his mission.

Jesus' definition of the "good news" was the news that through him God was finally establishing his Kingdom. While the Kingdom won't be fully victorious until the end, it is currently like the seed growing secretly, present in the world among his followers. In effect the Church is the current form of the Kingdom.

While I don't rule out the possibility of God doing something completely new, I think the best reading of the NT is that God accomplished what he wanted by direct intervention, and it's now our job to carry on the work. I don't mean to imply that God is absent. But I don't expect to see the kind of direct, public activity that we see in the Bible.

Rattus58 · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
The NT was settled almost 2000 years ago... unless there is something I've missed?

Well that might the period that it was talking about...

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

hedrick said:
The Gospels end with Jesus commissioning his followers to carry on his mission.

Jesus' definition of the "good news" was the news that through him God was finally establishing his Kingdom. While the Kingdom won't be fully victorious until the end, it is currently like the seed growing secretly, present in the world among his followers. In effect the Church is the current form of the Kingdom.

While I don't rule out the possibility of God doing something completely new, I think the best reading of the NT is that God accomplished what he wanted by direct intervention, and it's now our job to carry on the work. I don't mean to imply that God is absent. But I don't expect to see the kind of direct, public activity that we see in the Bible.

OK. So the Church, as His body, is His representative on earth? When the church is active that is His representative action? This seems catholic in understanding (if I understand it correctly).

ebia · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
Don't you find it a little odd that God has been silent for 2000 years? According to the traditional understanding, the canon is closed, and there is no new Scripture. God hasn't given prophesy to the world (at least, not in a way the world has heard). So why? 2000 years is a LONG time, a long silent dry time. Why?

Silent? Or not saying something dramatically new?

The latter, because the next dramatically different event is general resurrection.

Sayre · Jan 3, 2014

Rattus58 said:
Well that might the period that it was talking about...

Huh?

~Anastasia~ · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
It just seems to me that 2000 years is a long long time for nothing to change.

There is no new communication from God like there was before.

So I'm wondering why?

Well f you're looking for prophets standing in the street proclaiming "Thus saith The Lord" I think we're expecting the Two Witnesses from Revelation (I guess that depends on your interpretation of Scripture though).

If you're looking for a new part of the Bible, it seems as though the last part we've been given already carries us through the end of this current world (again depending on your interpretation).

God can be very active in the personal lives of His followers, teaching, leading, and so on.

I also don't mean to limit God. I mean, He can do what He has planned, and maybe He has something else in mind that He hasn't told us about yet. But I'm not looking for anything like that, and have what I need in this life, as everyone else has or can have.

football5680 · Jan 3, 2014

The canon is closed, it does not mean God has been silent. He has talked to many Saints and has performed miracles as well. The canon is closed because we have received the final covenant that will last until judgment day and we do not need to add anything more.

When God talks to the Saints it is usually to call people back to the church and repent of their sins. He will also lead individuals in a certain direction to accomplish what he wants through them. An example of this would be Saint Joan of Arc. Her message was relevant for her time but the situation has completely changed. I believe God talked to her but even if I didn't it wouldn't affect my salvation. I do not have to believe in this to be saved so it is not necessary to include it in the canon of scripture.

God still delivers prophecies as well. The Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal and God performed a miracle witnessed by thousands of people there as well. This Prophecy was delivered near the end of WW1 and Mary said that this war would come to an end but if people did not cease offending God and if Russia did not convert then there would be a worse war. WW1 was the most destructive war that the world had ever seen and it would be hard to imagine something worse. But a little over 20 years later WW2 killed twice as many people and caused far more destruction.

hedrick · Jan 3, 2014

Sayre said:
OK. So the Church, as His body, is His representative on earth? When the church is active that is His representative action? This seems catholic in understanding (if I understand it correctly).

The first-generation churches of the Reformation were, by today's standards, high church. Luther and Calvin both saw the Church as the place where the Word is preached and the sacraments are celebrated, and thus as the place where for most of us our Christian lives are grounded. Of course the Church also looks outward to the world, as the place where we serve.

The 19th Cent liberal Christian tradition (on which today's mainline churches are based, together of course with the Reformation heritage) had a strong concept of the Church as the visible vehicle of the Kingdom. It perhaps pushes more strongly on the Church in its dual roles of prophet and servant. But much of that is changed cultural situation. In the 16th Cent (at least for the magisterial Reformation) the Church was the community. By the late 19th Cent, the Church was a much smaller part of the community, thus having a clearer responsibility for witness and service outside its own bounds.

Mainline Christianity continues this. A strong doctrine of the Church is not restricted to the Roman Catholic Church.

"Me and my Bible" is a post-Reformation development, that I think owes more to pop Christianity than any serious theological tradition.

For today's mainline Protestantism, the high church sensibilities of the Reformers are joined by historical Jesus scholarship. This has recognized that Jesus' mission was focuses on establishing a Kingdom more than on individual salvation. Of course individuals are accountable for how they respond to Jesus' call to be part of the Kingdom. But still, there's a more corporate focus than when the Gospel is defined as Jesus dying to save me from going to hell.

talitha · Jan 4, 2014

Sayre said:
Don't you find it a little odd that God has been silent for 2000 years?

Mercy.
As ebia said, the next big thing is the resurrection.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (from 2 Peter 3)

ViaCrucis · Jan 5, 2014

God speaks to me every time I go to Mass.

He forgives me in the Words of Absolution, He speaks His Word to me in the preaching of Law and Gospel in the sermon, and He delivers Himself to me in the Sacrament of His Table where I receive the true flesh and blood of Jesus in and under the bread and wine, Jesus Himself.

Wherever the Word is preached and the Sacraments administered God is most certainly speaking. It is how He has chosen to speak and act toward us, for this is Christ Himself speaking and living in and through and for His Church.

-CryptoLutheran

AFM · Jan 5, 2014

I've heard it said that there were a Jewish sect that predicted that there are 3 periods of 2000 years. They predicted this before Jesus' coming, I believe. The first was without the law, the second was with the law, and the third, this one, is the one with the law completed through Christ. And then the fourth period would be one of 1000 years. This seems to be a decent theory, as it would make perfect sense, what with God's use of the number 7. 2000 + 2000 + 2000 = 6000 years of man's imperfection (6 being then number of imperfection), + 1000 years of an Earthly Kingdom established by God, would equal 7000 years (7 being the number of perfection).

As talitha said, for God a thousand years is as one day, and vice versa. I've heard it explained that God is timeless and has made time for our benefit, which makes perfect sense to me. That would explain how He doesn't change - He's in the exact same state now as He was a thousand years ago. He simultaneously makes all decisions that He's made in our world, because time does not exist for Him.

In addition, the law and the prophets were fulfilled through Christ, in that while with the law there was condemnation and no salvation, and in the first period there was no law at all, now there is both the old law, cast aside, and salvation. We don't need more revelation because God has given us all we need for this period.

2000 silent years - why?

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