What I've Been Doing for the Past Several Years

Last month I successfully defended my Ph.D. dissertation, and on May 2 I will graduate from the University of Pittsburgh. As I write in the preface of my dissertation, “I am grateful for the prayerful support and encouragement I received from Old Union Presbyterian Church of Mars, Pennsylvania as their pastor undertook this challenge. Without their cheerful faith, this would not be possible.” So I’d like to tell you exactly what I’ve been working on all this time.

In the 13th chapter of Mark, Jesus describes what will happen in the future, including the collapse of the stars, the darkening of the sun and moon, his descent to the earth from the clouds, and the gathering of the elect from the far ends of the earth. A few verses later, he says that “all these things” will happen before “this generation” passes away. In case you haven’t noticed, the stars, moon, and sun haven’t changed. We’re still waiting for Jesus’ return, and God’s people are still scattered far and wide. It looks like the prediction of Mark 13 was wrong. Over the centuries, people have come up with all sorts of ways to solve this problem. Some people argue that “all these things” doesn’t include the ones I mentioned. Others claim that “this generation” means something different from what we usually think it does. Still others think that the prediction was fulfilled in some symbolic way. In my research, I’ve found that none of these explanations work. Mark 13 predicts that fantastic events will happen before the end of the first century at latest, and they haven’t. The prediction is wrong.

To come with an answer for this problem, I use the approach of a French philosopher named Paul Ricoeur. Ricoeur explains that a book can mean more than just what the author intended to say, and more than what the original readers understood from it. When a book is read in new situations, different meanings emerge from it. A book can’t just mean whatever you want it to mean, but it can mean more than what the author thought it did. According to Ricoeur (who was a Christian), the Bible in particular offers multiple meanings.

In my dissertation, I claim that Mark 13 can be read today as a metaphorical text, even though it wasn’t originally understood that way. As Ricoeur explains, metaphor isn’t just replacing a straightforward explanation with a fancier way to say things. Metaphor makes us see the world in new ways that we’d never recognize otherwise. And the possibilities that come from metaphor are more than you could ever completely explain. Ricoeur sees this characteristic of metaphor as a great way to express the richness of the gospel, which always has something more to say to us, no matter how much we’ve listened in the past.

Mark 13, as a metaphor, describes the powers of this world that appear to be in control. They deceive, they destroy, and they persecute God’s people. But their power isn’t as real as it seems. God limits how far they can go, and he takes care of his people through it all. There is a regular, ongoing interaction between these apparent powers and the true power of God, which will eventually be fully revealed.