In the history of western civilization that gained strong intellectual footing in the Greek period of the ancients five centuries before Christ there was an important interest cultivated in mankind’s worth and dignity. So it was that the philosophical development for the good life of secular persons gained sophistication in the western world, making a way to escape ignorance and superstition. This was addressed in language which was made convenient in emerging concepts known generally as Philosophy. Underlying emerging concepts was a sense of order and meaning, seen in the arts – the architecture, even the drama of the time. Although important, music was used, but not developed. That came centuries later.
One aspect of emerging awareness included either God, or the gods, as integral to mankind’s life activity. Plato sought the best government as a kind of utopia by establishing the philosopher-king as head of state, with powers, but also with gifts of good government for nations. Since that time there have been a variety of state theories, and relationships with or without God as part of theory. The Renaissance flourished after 1250 AD, with increasing influence in western culture, including leading names known and honored in our era. Development of sophisticated ideas, and production, gained in public life and education. The age of Luther, Columbus, Michelangelo and many others emerged in the 1400s and 1500s AD. Thomas Moore wrote the Utopia during the period. Utopia for most Christians means heaven, but utopian ideas were designed for earth. Abbeys and Nunneries advanced utopian-like ideas. Retreat centers harbored other-world ideas for the individual. The Mennonites, Mormons, Hutterites and others had and have utopian ideas for their earthly sojourn, with some amended biblical concepts of heaven, so impacting or shifting heavenly perceptions. Some of these movements remain in our period. Thoreau went to Walden Pond, partly to find a personal utopia. He didn’t stay long at it. Emerson and other persons, mixing intellectuals and commoners of the 18th century in America, a haven period for utopians, only toyed with the Thoreau experiment. Many individuals still do. They offer mixed conclusions for devoted persons.
We will not find utopia on earth. Earth is too noisy, demanding, changing, crowded and contradictory for us. Part of idealism can be resident in the heart of the individual. The soul can find rest. Anticipation for the Christian is understood in a belief in the ultimate return of Christ to make life as it was initiated and is meant to be. Since such a prophetic event is to be unique, there is an underlying belief that it is the figment of Christian imagination based on Christ’s words 2,000 years ago. Since it has not been fulfilled after so long period, it is not taken seriously by the general public. One notes that whether Jesus returns or not, such a decision will not relate to majority opinions, or on a timing schedule related to nature and human activity. God reserves his choices. He carries through with his own agenda – the will of God.
If one reads Scripture carefully, he or she gains conviction that God is not a time oriented person, unless he chooses to be, principally for the context of nature. We will never force time strictures on God. Time strictures rest on mankind. God’s dealings with us are always current, and follow a carefully designed pattern related to righteousness. What is related to the moment? What is my status now? So the story goes. The language of Scripture is readiness. Time, for God, is measured in lightning strokes, in a day of a thousand years, in three years of ministry, and eternity to carry it through to fulfillment. We may build utopian dreams for earth, but the eternal is God’s province, and we know only strong hints of it. For example, we interpret God’s city with golden streets. Gold would make poor pavement, macadam is better. The Apostle John wrote that streets shone like gold transparency – golden in reflection, but not gold. Earth’s gold is tinsel, heaven’s is everlasting. This business of nature and super-nature seems to get us in all kinds of trouble in prognostication, even contradiction about life and events. Mankind is known for common error and common truth. Reaching beyond the ordinary the human race does not do as well as needed. To counter human incapacity God offers love, faith, redemption, prayer, courage, peace, acceptance, Scripture, and presence in the Holy Spirit. Christians holding the biblical context for life, find that quite enough. Our main duty is not to prove Christianity, but declare it. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020