Original Research
The second coming of Christ as the golden key to unlock the Book of Daniel: an analysis of a Pentecostal interpretation of the dream in Daniel 2
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi | Vol 42, No 3 | a276 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v42i3.276
| © 2008 M. Nel
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 27 July 2008 | Published: 27 July 2008
Submitted: 27 July 2008 | Published: 27 July 2008
About the author(s)
M. Nel, School for Biblical Science and Biblical, Languages, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, South AfricaFull Text:
PDF (130KB)Abstract
Pentecostals regard the doctrine of the second coming of Christ as very important. All passages in the Bible deemed to be “prophetical” are interpreted in premillennialist terms. Bennie Kleynhans’ interpretation of the dream in Daniel 2 is used to demonstrate how an endeavour to find relevance through a contemporary interpretation of a Biblical passage, easily be- comes outdated. He was of the opinion that communism, the Council on Foreign Relations and the European Economic Community with its ten members would introduce the Antichrist as the leader of a one-world government, eventually leading to the second coming of Christ. Daniel 2 is read as “prophecy”, describing the global situation at the latter half of the twentieth century. This demonstrates that the differences in interpreting the dream in Daniel 2 reflect different ways of viewing and treating the Bible. A fundamentalist perspective sees the Bible as a blueprint of what God is going to do in future and how he is going to do this. The “future” – the “last days” just before the second coming of Christ – is inevitably linked to the present day.
Keywords
End Of Times; Eschatology; Premillennialist; Prophecy
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