Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 27, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 48.

1181. Coming and “Parousia.”

In the last SIGNS OF THE TIMES (October 2) I could not quite agree with Mrs. White. I am no scholar, but I have often studied the Bible on Matt. 24:37: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Now please look up this word coming, and see if it is not parousia in Greek, and then see if this word parousia does not mean presence instead of coming. Luke 17:26 seems to explain it quite well. This word parousia is translated improperly fourteen times and twice properly in 2 Cor. 10:10 and Phil. 2:12, in the New Testament. Now, dear brother, if we are in the last days, then we are also in the presence of the Son of man, and He has already come. Watch, says the Saviour. Yours in the Redeemer, J. W. B.

1. In the article referred to no specific application was made of the word “coming” by Mrs. White. How does our correspondent know whether he agrees with the writer or not?

2. The word parousia is the present participle of pareimi, to be near at hand. Pareimi comes from para, meaning “near,” “at,” etc., and eimi, a form of the verb to be; the derived word meaning being near, at hand. Parousia means the drawing near, the being near. The Standard Greek Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott, define parousia as follows: (1) “A being present, presence of persons; (2) “arrival;” (3) “the advent.” It means in its completeness “personal, visible presence.” It does not, therefore, refer to a spiritual coming, or Christ coming by His Spirit, but to His personal presence, even as He promised. John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11. It therefore involves of necessity a coming. This is seen to be emphatically true by reference to 2 Cor. 10:10 and Phil. 2:12. Paul’s bodily, visible presence is set in contrast with his invisible absence. See also 1 Cor. 16:17; 2 Cor. 7:6, 7; Phil. 1:26, where the idea of coming is in each case involved.

3. The manner of Christ’s coming (parousia) is clearly revealed by Matt. 24:27; 1 Thess. 4:15, 16; 2 Thess. 2:8. He will come as the vivid lightning flash; with the sound of the trumpet will be His coming, and the voice of the archangel; the resurrection of the righteous dead, in martial array; the wicked will be consumed by the forthshining of His presence.

4. The word parousia occurs in the New Testament twenty-three times. It is rendered “presence” twice, and “coming” twenty-one times. See tract, “The Manner of His Coming,” Bible Student’s Library, No. 124, price 1 cent.

1182. Can Men Keep the Sabbath?

Is it possible to keep the seventh-day Sabbath on both sides of the globe? A minister says not. How did the day become changed? Was Sunday regarded by Pagan Rome before Christ? E. W. W.

1. It is not possible for a man to keep the Sabbath (or any other day) at the same time on “both sides of the globe;” for the simple reason that man can not occupy two places at the same time. This is one of God’s beneficent limitations placed upon His creatures. But man can keep the Sabbath when it comes to him, whether he be in Asia or America; in Patagonia or Zululand; in Greenland or Australia. Do men ever have or imagine any difficulty in observing Sunday in any civilized land?

2. The practice of keeping Sunday instead of the Sabbath by the church came in as the church went into apostasy. That backsliding turned the church back to the world and its customs, among which was the observance of the pagan Sunday. All this was very slow and gradual at first. It was developed and systematized by the Papacy, which sought to transform pagan temples, institutions, and customs into Christian. She succeeded in changing the name in many instances of the temples, institutions, and customs, but the great change came in placing upon the church a wholly worldly mold, utterly different in character from the primitive church. The pagan things became Christian in name; the church became pagan in fact.

3. Sunday, as happily expressed by a writer in the North British Review of a number of years ago, is “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times.” As sun-worship is the oldest idolatry, so Sunday observance is the oldest false institutional observance. See Bible Student’s Library Nos. 80 (price 15 cents), 107 (price 1½ cents), 134 (price 15 cents); Apples of Gold Library No. 45 (price 2 cents). All these are good, and give abundance of authority concerning the Sabbath and the Sunday.

1183. Matt. 27:52, 53. What City?

Please explain Matt. 27:52, 53. Was it the typical or heavenly city, and did they remain therein? E. E. W.

Evidently they went into Jerusalem. The graves were opened when Christ died. After His resurrection they came forth out of their graves and went into the city. When Jesus ascended, “He led captivity captive” (“a multitude of captives,” margin),—those who had been held captive by death. Eph. 4:8. They are now, doubtless, among His heavenly assistants in His priestly work. Rev. 4:4.