Dr Margaret's Treasure Chest

Imagine for a moment that you are going about your daily business and then, all of a sudden, you are gone. People no longer see you, but you have not died. You have simply vanished to enter another realm. Am I talking about science fiction or alien abduction? The answer is ‘No’. I am thinking of actual historic events, of encounters experienced by Enoch and Elijah. What’s more, I am thinking of something that is yet to happen, something that may affect you and me. Looking forward in time, the Bible predicts a third occurrence of transformations. First, let us take a look at Enoch’s experience. This man was born into the seventh generation from Adam and had a son called Methuselah. Paradoxically, Methuselah became the longest-living man on earth – 969 years, to be exact – while Enoch had the shortest life experience among his contemporaries. He was only 365 years old when he left this world, merely one third of the average ante-diluvian age. Why am I emphasising this fact? Becaus...

Photo by Ken Treloar on Unsplash How we see theology can make all the difference to our understanding of certain concepts. That brings me to my question: Have you ever wondered why theologians DISagree? Most of us tend to look up to and believe educated people, and especially those who are well known and/or have written books. And this is a good thing because we may learn much from them. It is also true that we are to submit to the leadership of our Elders. However, even learned men (and women) are fallible, and it is a fact that theologians disagree with one another. Not on who Jesus is, of course, and not on the fact that God shows Himself in three different ways: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; but they can disagree on many not quite so important issues. In the light of having a Bible that claims to be the inspired Word of God, this puzzled me, and so I made it my business to find out. After extensive studies of human behaviour (in the light of God's Wo...