THE LAST THINGS

1. The Parousia.

The word "manifest" in the last-mentioned passage introduces us to yet another line of doctrinal truth, which the Revised Version helps to make clear. Christ's coming or "presence," as the margin of the Revised Version more correctly renders the Greek word,1 is represented by all the Apostolic writers as far more than an appearing. It is a manifestation, a showing forth of Himself openly to the world as He actually is — Col. iii. 4, "When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory"; 1 Pet. v. 4, "And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away"; 1 John ii. 28, "And now, my little children, abide in Him; that, if He shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." And the result of such manifestation is that men too shall be made manifest — 2 Cor. v. 10, "For we must all be made manifest before the judgement seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad." All outward disguises by which men have deceived themselves or the world will be stripped from them. They will be shown in their inmost being, and, consequently on this showing, the appropriate reward or punishment will immediately and necessarily follow. Those whose life has been "hid with Christ in God" shall then "also with Him be manifested in glory" (Col. iii. 4) : and then too "shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus.. shall bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming" (2 Thess. ii. 8).2 How familiar indeed the thought of this great Day was to the minds of the early Christians, and how vividly its imagery was conceived, is proved by the constant use of the definite article with reference to its accompaniments. It is with "the clouds" that Christ comes (Rev. i. 7), and by "the falling away" and the revealing of "the man of sin," that that coming will be preceded (2 Thess. ii. 3; cf. 2 John 7, "This is the deceiver and the antichrist"). Not merely into "outer darkness" but into "the outer darkness" shall the unprofitable be cast, where shall be "the weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt, viii. 12; cf. ib. xiii. 42, 50, xxii. 13, xxiv. 51, xxv. 30, Luke xiii. 28). It is again from "the wrath," and not from "wrath" generally, that Christ's people are saved (Rom. v. 9), and "in the white robes" that those who have come out of "the great tribulation" are arrayed (Rev. vii. 13, 14). Nor is it only for "a city which hath foundations" that they are encouraged to look, but for "the city which hath the foundations" (Heb. xi. 10) — those glorious foundations which are so fully described in the Revelation of St. John (xxi. 14, 19, 20).

2. The Hereafter.

The bearing of the Revised Version upon the Future State opens up too many questions to be discussed in the closing sentences of this book. But how significant its bearing is, and how widely it may come to modify the popular views of the Hereafter must be obvious to all who keep in view the following facts: (1) The words "damnation," "damned," "damnable," have wholly disappeared — "condemnation," "judgement," and their cognates, taking their place; (2) "Hell," when referring generally to the unseen world beyond the grave, becomes "Hades"; when punishment, as a part of that state, is implied, it is retained, but even then "Gehenna," the literal meaning of the word in the original, always finds a place in the margin; and (3) "everlasting," as applied alike to future bliss or future woe, is replaced by "eternal," a word which does not so much express endless duration in time, as that which transcends time, very much what we otherwise designate "spiritual," or, if the element of time does enter into it, it rather suggests a fixed period, "age-long," or "through the ages."3

There are many other points on which, if space had permitted, I would gladly have dealt, but enough I trust has been said to show how true it is that "every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching" (2 Tim. iii. 16, R.V.), and at least to give a glimpse of the rich field of inquiry that lies before the student in the careful comparison of our Authorized and Revised Versions.

1 παρουσία: see Matt. xxiv. 3; 1 Cor. xv. 23; 1 Thess. ii. 19, etc. It is perhaps unfortunate that in these passages the Revisers did not boldly anglicize the Greek, word and translate by "Parousia." On the full force of the term in the light of recent discovery see G. Milligan, St. Paul' Epistles to tie Thessalonians, London, 1908, pp. 145 ff.

2 We may here call attention to the emphasis laid on the personality of the Devil in the Revised renderings of Matt. v. 37 (cf. ver. 39), vi. 13; John xvii. 1 5 5 Eph. vi. 16; 2 Thess. iii. 3; 1 John v. 18, 19. The masculine pronoun in Mark xiii. 14, "But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως ἑστηκότα ὅπου οὐ δεῖ)," should also be noted.

3 See these changes discussed from his own point of view, but with great moderation of language in a paper by Dr. Samuel Cox in The Expositor, 1st ser. iii. pp. 434 ff. Some remarks by Professor A. Roberts on the same subject will be found in The Expository Times, iii. pp. 549 ff