How to think about the “end times”

If you want to think clearly about eschatology (what's going to happen at "the end"), the first step is to stop reading the Left Behind books. Seriously. Put them down. Don't look at them anymore.

The second step is to realize that the only descriptions we have of "the end" are metaphors, "sign posts pointing into a fog" as N.T. Wright says in the video below.

The third step is to pray for and await what God is going to do with joyful anticipation, because it will be, simultaneously, surprising and coherent. We will think "Wow" and "Duh" at the same time. There will be surprise-ness and of course-ness. See the 3-minute video below to hear Wright talk about it (eloquently, as usual).

(ht)