Springboarding off the previous post, I was reflecting today on how incredibly myopic the prevailing views on eschatology can be. In the aforementioned Bible Study, the "signs of the time" were discussed. I tried to raise the question of why we always assume that our "declining Western Civilization" is the standard for determining how fast the world is going down the tubes. When I've noted how rapidly Christianity was spreading in other parts of the world, the prevailing attitude seems to have been "So? Those people don't count." Obviously, this wasn't stated in so many words, but someone incredulously asked "So are you saying that this means that China is going to become a Christian nation?"

And thinking about it, why not? In the first century, was it even remotely feasible that the persecuted minority of Christians would eventually bring Rome to its knees - before the cross - within a few centuries? Pagan Rome was just as bad, if not worse, than modern America, Communist China, etc. Is God no longer able to subdue His enemies? Thankfully, I believe He's just as powerful as He's always been, and will continue to put His enemies underneath His feet.