Many people believe nuclear war to be inevitable, citing 2 Peter 2:10, “The heavens shall pass with a noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” or Zechariah 14:12, “Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their mouth,” as proof texts for this conclusion. They believe nuclear weapons are the divine means by which judgment will be poured out on mankind. They hope to avoid this judgment by rapture.
The danger of this view is that it creates a social apathy among many people commanded to be “light” and “salt” among the nations. This “nuclear dispensationalism” as some have called it revels in a kind of “eschatological glee” at the signs of the approaching doomsday. All talk of arms control, peace accords or limitations on nuclear weapons proliferation is met immediately with scorn. All such human attempts at peace will not save the earth from its foreordained date with destruction. Only the coming of Jesus will save us.
Eschatology has become the rubric through which we view the nuclear problem. All attempts at solving the ethical dilemma of nuclear war are cast aside as irrelevant. The problem may simply be stated, we cannot use nuclear weapons because of their destructive power and we must use nuclear weapons for self-defense. The issue is skirted by references to Armageddon and the imminent return of Christ. There is no need to deal with this problem or maintain controls on the use of nuclear weapons, because they see the bible predicating what eventually will happen.
It is my contention that the responsible people must reject this end times paradigm, through which the issue is currently dealt with. Instead we must deal with the hard questions of nuclear war through the grid of just war tradition grounding our response on the Christian ethic of love.[1] We cannot reject responsibility for peace by claiming war is inevitable. This means nuclear proliferation treaties are grounded on an ethic of the value of human life and basic right to survival. This means we cannot give priority to our eschatological systems. Eschatology must take a back seat to the primal biblical teaching of responsibility. Our eschatological systems must be tempered with a candid admission of indefiniteness. “I don’t know!”[2] the high priest of rock ‘n’ roll Ozzy Osborn sings when asked the question about the end of the world.
The point here is not to argue hermeneutics, whether this or that verse actually teaches that God will judge the world through nuclear war, but to question that tacit assumption of the inevitability of nuclear war in our times or the future based on bible prophecy and to counteract the social apathy such a view creates. Let us keep in mind that eschatology is the study of the Last Things. It is an aspect of systematic theology which focuses on the end time events leading to the Second Advent and has always been tentative in its conclusions. In other words we don’t know exactly when the end will come, so we must stay ever vigilant. Eschatology represents a field a theological speculation. The myriad of explanations and scenarios and possibilities are endless. We may take the perspective that we were wrong and nuclear war is not inevitable.
Let us not allow these conditions and critical interpretations to override the biblical mandate to be overseers in the creation (Genesis 1:26) and the light and salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13, 14) in a way that will negatively impact international negotiations and policy that will lead to a peaceful solutions. Eschatology certainly has its place and its primary tenet of our Lord’s return represents fundamental doctrine; but the contemporary conclusion or recent belief should not be imposed on the more primary scriptural teaching of the Christian ethic of love thy neighbor. The problem we face in this fatalism is a reasoning which interprets all future events according to its own preconceived scenario with no regard with what the rest of scripture may teach.
Indeed, there is a tension between imminence and social concern. However, the solution is not to abandon either but to embrace both and live with the tension. Imminent consequences of destruction should be a great motivating influence on fixing the problem, before it becomes too late. God pours out judgment and grace. Mercy wins over justice; it always has the last word. “For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13 NABRE). Yes, Christ’s return must be soon. We all embrace the day. Yet our hope of his return should not lead us to forsake the mission for the church today: the Divine Mandate to save the earth from a holocaust, nuclear, environmental or world war, will be to preach the greatest sermon. The end of the world is known only to God. Last Things are his responsibility, his concerns not ours. We cannot forsake the role of the church in modern or technological society because Christ is coming soon. “Why polish the brass on a sinking ship?” D. L. Moody once said. God will pour out judgment in his time, but we must go on with what is our responsibility to maintain. In the parable of the ten coins the people thought the kingdom would immediately brake out, instead Jesus gave us the task “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13 KJV) or as the NABRE says, “engage in trade with these (Gold Coins) until I return.” The nobleman expected a profitable return on the money he invested for the long haul. Jesus praised the sons of this world for being wiser than the sons of light for their shrewdness in the way they conducted business (Luke 16:1-13). This means we are to be busy engaging the world for positive gains, while we wait for the Lord’s Return. We maintain a healthy relationship with the world system without being deceived by it, be like those “that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that used this world as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away (1 Corinthians 7:30, 31 KJV). We should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). We are to pray for those in power that we may live in peace (1 Timothy 2:1, 2). Peace is the end goal of civil authority of all civil participation, of all ethical behavior.
Inevitability represents a dangerous doctrine militarily. Those who believe war is inevitable will always fire the first shot. The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor was motived by the notion that war between the Japanese Empire and the United States was inevitable. The Confederates also believed war between the North and the South was inevitable and took the first shot at Charleston. What should alarm us is that China believes a war over Taiwan to be inevitable.
Armageddon Theology is fatalism in its ugliest form. A destiny not derived in pagan gods that often demanded child sacrifices in order to grant fertility, but the fatalism that arises out of a misunderstanding of the biblical text and the proper application to society. This apathy affects a broad range of topics, not just peace, but starvation and environmental destruction. Why save a planet that is already doomed? We can only hope that people will begin to think in terms the Judeo-Christian framework in regards to the issues of the times and not according to the nebulous interpretations of the doomsayers.
[1] See the author’s Master’s Thesis, The Just War Tradition and Nuclear Weapons In The Post Cold War Era (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1994) or a shorten radio version Just War Tradition and the Present Crisis; https://probe.org/the-just-war-tradition-in-the-present-crisis/
[2] People look to me and say
“Is the end near, when is the final day?”
What’s the future of mankind
How do I know, I got left behind
Everyone goes through changes
Looking to find the truth
Don’t look at me for answers
Don’t ask me, I don’t know
How am I supposed to know
Hidden meanings that will never show?
Fools and prophets from the past
Life’s a stage and we’re all in the cast
You gotta believe in someone
Asking me who is right
Asking me who to follow
Don’t ask me, I don’t know
I don’t know
I don’t know
I don’t know
Nobody ever told me, I found out for myself
You gotta believe in foolish miracles
It’s not how you play the game, it’s if you win or lose
You can choose, don’t confuse
Win or lose, it’s up to you
It’s up to you
It’s up to you
It’s up to you
Go, go, go
People look to me and say
“Is the end near, when is the final day?”
What’s the future of mankind
How do I know, I got left behind, I’m lost
Everyone goes through changes
Looking to find the truth
Don’t look at me for answers
Don’t ask me, I don’t know
Ozzy Osbourne, “I Don’t Know” in Blizzard of Oz (Blizzards Music, Ltd), 1980.