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Andrew Rillera Profile picture
Andrew Rillera
@AndrewRillera
PhD @dukereligion, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies & Theology
5 subscribers
Sep 21 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
The "rapture" is not what many think. 1 Thess is a cosmic Adventus procession ceremony. The dead are raised first to lead the procession & then those still living meet them in the air & they all provide a royal escort for Jesus BACK DOWN TO EARTH. It's essentially a U-turn.🧵 Picture depicting the mainstream evangelical Christian understanding of the “rapture” where believers supposedly get UFOed into heaven before the great tribulation. Here are some of my lecture slides on the topic: "We will be caught up in the clouds to escort the Lord in the air" -Apostle Paul (1 Thess 4:17) • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 • The Roman Adventus Ceremony • Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province Macedonia •απάντησις (apantēsis, “escort,” 1 Thess 4:17) is the technical term for an Adventus Ceremony (MacCormack, 724-25). • "St. Paul's description of this scene is clearly inspired by the ceremonial arrivals of which he and his readers must have seen as are it wilatect the wille cosmos, and everyone, living the dord of dead...will take part in it." -Sabine MacCorma...
King David in 2 Samuel 19:14-41 (esp. vv. 31, 39-41). • The people come out of the city (Jerusalem) to meet David and immediately turn around to escort him into Jerusalem. • The so-called "triumphal entry" is actually an Adventus. • The people come out of Jerusalem (like with king David above) and provide a royal escort for Jesus's entry into Jerusalem (John 12:12-19; cf. Matt 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29- 39). • John's account uses υπαντησις (hypantēsis), which is the technical term for the first half of the ritual procession of going out to meet the ruler on the road (the s...
Back to 1 Thess 4:13-18 • Not a "left behind" rapture; this is a royal escort • Paul is speaking about the bodily resurrection in 1 Thess 4, not some sort of heavenly disembodied existence. • Paul is saying the those who are still living go out to meet Jesus in the air in order to be his royal escort as he arrives on earth. • Christ is coming "from heaven" (4:16; cf. Phil 3:20-21) in order to arrive on earth in an Adventus ceremony (cf. Rev 21:2). • Importantly, while we tend to be concerned about what happens to those who are still alive, Paul's main point in his contex...
It's a U-Turn! • This whole section of 1 Thess 4 only makes sense on the assumption that everyone was expecting to participate in the royal escort parade of Jesus back down to earth. • The Thessalonians were sad their dead loved ones would miss out! • Paul says those who are still alive at "the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died...the dead in Christ will rise first... after that we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in air [on his way down to rule the earth]" (4:15-17). • Essentially, the &q...
Aug 12 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
So Leithart's review, even if he's right about everything (which, no surprise, I don't think so—see my response in the QT), does nothing for the Penal Substitutionary Atonement defenders. His critiques do not impact my arguments against *substitution*. 1/ But there are some who get that *that* is what may be the silver bullet against PSA. Gathercole is going to be catching strays now b/c PSA defenders are having to reject Gathercole's careful def of “substitution” since they seem to agree that G’s substitution is not in the NT. 2/ Image
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Aug 11 • 34 tweets • 9 min read
Thanks for removing the paywall. Nice to have something more substantive to respond to. I'll start w the briefer points then the multi-part ones.🧵 re the burnt offering see LotF, 30n11 & pg 90. (I also suggest reading Jonathan Klawans’ books on sacrifice.) Regardless, even if we say the burnt offering always atones, it’s still not atoning *people*, but rather the altar. (I’ll return to this point since PL contests this.)
Nov 30, 2024 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Good (understandable) question. But ISTM both the ? & many replies presume a model of human relationality that is flawed. As if bc we are in union w God somehow this doesn't leave "room" for relating to any others whom we r somehow indefinitely if not infinitely separated from?? If God/Christ is "all things in all things" (1 Cor 15:28; Col 3:11) & "in him all things in heaven & on earth r recapitulated" (Eph 1:10) & his "Body is the fullness of the One who fills all things in all things" (1:23), then our relation to Christ guarantees our relation to all.
Nov 8, 2024 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
A lot of damage will come from the inevitable in-fighting. MAGA attracts submissive sycophants *&* blowhard self-assured egomaniacs. "MAGA loyalty" isn't sufficient to keep the living Dunning-Kruger graphs releasing hot air tolerating let alone *cooperating* w each other bc they+ all want to be the superior big brain credited w any "success" that happens & reject any responsibility for any mistake. They fear being "wrong" so much that their go-to blame deflecting finger pointing defence mechanism (usually pointed at "the Left") will be toward each other.+
Nov 6, 2024 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Trump knows Mammon inside & out. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that this spells economic disaster for the US. He may lead the US into a “golden age” as he said in his victory speech. Ofc, the Christian nationalists will take it as vindication that he’s+ indeed God’s anointed. I just hope this Mammon prosperity doesn’t woo & deceive the current anti-Trumpers who aren’t those who actually stand to have their material conditions worsen under Trump to slowly accept it. It’ll be a beastly luxurious opulence secured+
Oct 20, 2024 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
“The end” that Paul envisions in 1 Cor 15:24 is nothing less than the resurrection of “all” “in Adam” who “die” (v22). Christ is the first fruits of those raised, then “those of Christ” will be raised (v23), & then “the end” is when the rest of “all in Adam” (v22) are raised.🧵 Paul characterizes “the end” as “when he has abolished every Ruler and every Authority and Power" (v24) and when “he all enemies under his feet” (v25)—and the very last of these Rulers/Authorities/Powers/enemies is “Death” (26).
Sep 20, 2024 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
ATTN Christians: Contextualizing Jesus's Sabbath disputes (eg,. Mark 2–3; Matt 12; Luke 6) is one way to stop perpetuating anti-Jewish exegesis rooted in historical ignorance.

Did you know Jesus aligns w the same principles of prioritization in the Mishnah & Talmud re Sabbath?🧵
handshake meme: Jesus and the Rabbis agree that saving life > temple service > sabbath These Sabbath disputes are intra-Jewish debates over proper *halakha* (torah-observance) by discerning which command overrides others when in conflict. Jesus isn't saying, “no more halakha.” Rather, these scenes establish the *halakhic legality* of Jesus's/his disciples' actions.
Aug 17, 2024 • 21 tweets • 5 min read
Key aspects of my practical & public political theology summed up by 3 biblical texts.🧵

Preamble: The governments of this world are not the Church, & the Church is not the government. In representative democracies, however, the government reflects the collective will of voters. See my article “Voting w/in the Framework of Christian Discipleship” for more. It’s written initially for US voters, but applicable in any representative democracy. Here's snippets re voting as having an official voice at the table:
madeforpax.medium.com/voting-within-…

The fundamental task of disciples of Jesus is the bear witness to his Kingdom to all nations (Matt 28:18–20). The Apostle Paul describes Christians as divine royal ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20). Most of the people we read about in Scripture did not get invited by the worldly powers to have a voice at their table. Jesus and Paul did not have an “official” voice. But some people did get invited by the worldly powers to have an official voice[...]and they used it as simply one more way to speak as ambassadors for the Kingdom of God — and crucially, they remained loyal to their Kingdom allegiance ev...
So how ought we use our [vote] to speak to our nation...? [...]we need to be asking questions for each policy and for each candidate at all levels of elected office such as: What will alleviate more suffering? What will have a more positive impact on the material conditions of those on the margins, the poor, the oppressed, the sick, and “the least of these”? How can I be a voice for the voiceless, for those who do not have an official voice at the table (e.g., immigrants, the unjustly disenfranchised, future generations, peoples in other nations that will have to live with the results of Am...
Aug 15, 2024 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Great ? to ponder. The cover is a section of the Ghent Altarpiece (& u can explain that as u see fit), but I'll take a crack re the points throughout the book. My kids are 13 & 11 now, but I'll use some of what I recall my wife & I talking w them about when they were younger.🧵 This all is obvs too much for a literal 3 yr old (esp. all at once). The way I recall talking w our kids when they were that young is basically just points 1–3: God loves all creation & nothing can stop God's love. Not our mistakes & not even death. We know this bc of Jesus.
May 8, 2024 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
🚨PSA🚨 When discussing PSA (penal substitutionary atonement), scholars and theologians need to agree on definitions. I think anything other than Gathercole's definition in his book _Defending Substitution_ will likely be too capacious to be useful.+ Since Gathercole has already set the definitions and agenda for the substitution discussion, we (at least "we" scholars and theologians in the guilds) need to have this discussion on these terms. Anything else and we'll be speaking past each other—speaking different dialects.+
May 7, 2024 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
Penal substitutionary atonement says that Jesus’s crucifixion is him suffering the wrath/justice of *God* toward humanity.

But the NT says otherwise.

Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 3:16; 4:9–12; Rm 5:8; 8:35, 37, 39 all say the cross is an act of God's *love.*

"But wait! There's more!" 🧵 Acts 4:25–28 says the crucifixion is Jesus suffering the wrath/injustice/enmity of *humanity* toward God! Although I affirm the Trinity, this isn't a "Jesus is God" claim. The crucifixion is the wrath of *humanity* toward God precisely because it is toward another *human being*!+
Apr 14, 2024 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Another🧵This is helping me pull more things together I’ve been responding to in the various comments. Still processing & trying to account for the interrelated nature of things (pushing 1 bit influences the rest) & what's there or missing. Let's just put in on the table & see.+ J was expected to return: Act 1:11 & 3:20–21. But I think these texts—Mt 26:64; 28:18; Lk 22:69; Acts 1:9–10; 2:31–35; 7:55–56—indicate that "coming on the clouds" corresponds exactly to Dn 7:13–14, which is an ascension/enthronement to receive "authority."
Apr 13, 2024 • 29 tweets • 7 min read
This conversation re “imminence" came to an interesting place. I want to sum up some things & hopefully sharpen my thinking bc I haven’t put a ton of time into this. Although there *is* evidence that some early Jesus followers expected his return to be w/in their lifetime,+ it’s noteworthy that it does not appear 1) in any relation to the apostolic kerygma, 2) as the grounds for basic "ethic" of conforming to Jesus' death in any NT text, or 3) as the grounds for the gentile mission. But it's these v things that those who think imminence is "core”+
Aug 15, 2023 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
If I say "*all* have sinned & are being justified as a gift by God's grace" you'd know I'm clearly a universalist, but if I point out that Paul said this in Rom 3:23–24, then it's suddenly "underdetermined/ambiguous."🧵 If I say, "one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all" you'd know I'm clearly a universalist, but if I point out Paul said this in Rom 5:18, then it's suddenly "underdetermined/ambiguous."
Aug 14, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I don’t know why some think it’s so implausible that Paul would be a universalist, as if the notion first arose after him w Origen or something…even though it’s also found in Second Temple Jewish texts that predate Paul & he consistently makes explicit universalist claims… Apparently Paul can’t mean what he says & be a universalist bc of the alternative fact that no one ever thought about that as a possibility until Origen. So Paul consistently misspoke (& his imitators in Eph & Col & Tim did so as well) & Origen misunderstood that Paul misspoke.
Jun 29, 2023 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
Y'all know I'm a big fan of @bibleproject @timmackie & although "The City E7" & series r great, this episode (see QT) misses a significant point re Joseph.

🧵on y I think Joseph's famine response (Gn 41:33–56, 47:13–26) is an example of exactly what *not* to do per the Torah.1/ Whereas TBP says the Joseph story shows how "a city...can become a source of life under the leadership of a wise human image of God" Joseph creates the economic-land structure in Gen 47 God hates. Joseph is an example of unwise rule that brings *slavery* (Gn Gen 47:19, 25).2/
Apr 4, 2023 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
The key premise in non-universalist accounts (“soft” or “hard”) of hell is that there is no possibility of repentance/salvation after death. But this can’t be anchored in Scripture, while the exact opposite can be (1 Pet 4:5–6 & 1 Cor 3:12-15; 5:5; Rev’s open gates) & + there is a plethora of Second Temple Jewish (& Jesus-movement) texts that affirm this very possibly. Ironically, the “plain sense” champions have to ignore these Scriptures to maintain their opinion that repentance & salvation r impossible after death.
Mar 20, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Denny Burk's essay arguing for Eternal Conscious Torment in _Four Views on Hell_ is embarrassingly bad. I can't even believe it was published. I would have solicited another contributor. I would give it a D only bc the grammar is fine. The only upside is that it might be a nec corollary to the untenable nature of ETC itself. Just letting people read it & then the responses from the other contributors is more than enough for readers to go: OK, ETC is obviously a load of crap. Let's consider the other views now.
Mar 16, 2023 • 38 tweets • 7 min read
As a follow up to this 🧵& my other ones on Paul, the keen reader of Paul's letters will wonder about the judgment schema in Rom 2:5-11, which quite clearly expresses a principle of soteriological meritocracy (salvation on the basis of good works). Lets get into it below. I conclude in my diss that this is the v schema Paul is directly opposing in Romans. This is the view of the person Paul addresses & corrects in Rom 2:1, 3, &17ff. *But even if u don't agree w that*, I want to show how Rom 2 is fundamentally incompatible w the rest of the letter.
Mar 15, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Paul: A *pornos*, one who practices *porneia* (sexual immorality), “will not inherit the kingdom” (1 Cor 6:9–10; cf. Gal 5:19–21).

So that unrepentant Corinthian pornos is a goner (5:1)?

P: Well, his flesh will be destroyed, but he'll be "saved in the day [of judgment]" (5:5). ???

P: Well, he'll go thru the purifying & purgative flames of divine judgment (3:12–15; see “the Day” 3:13 w 5:5) just like anyone else: “If anyone’s works/deeds are burned up, they will suffer loss; but they themselves will be saved, but in this way: as through fire” (3:15).