THIRTEEN THEORIES to Rock Your World: The Thirteen Theories evolved over a period of about five years, an outgrowth of weekly Bible studies with intimate friends ~ rare gems who were not afraid to tread with us on sacred doctrinal ground. Together we discussed and dissected difficult scriptural concepts, massaging our minds and hearts to soften them to the Spirit's gentle nudges. We made every effort in these sessions to approach the Bible with fresh eyes and teachable hearts, deliberately eschewing commentaries and other "helps" (other than the occasional timeline or map). That practice alone allowed us to "see" things we hadn't seen before, and to be shown things that we'd never heard in any sermon or class, or read in any book. We began to study the Bible with our hearts and seek in it God's heart, a far distance from the word-parsing and language study of our past. One by one the theories emerged, clandestinely shaped in the inner reaches or, occasionally, dropped into our minds like an unexpected telegram from God (an El-egram!). Met initially with skeptical guffaws and taunts (even if liberally sprinkled with love and good-natured humor), a few of these revelations were able to gain a foothold even among the stalwart members of the family VonTreckk. We hope you, too, will enjoy exploring these ideas as we have. Feel free to email us with your own skeptical comments, questions, suggestions, criticisms, insights and corrections, all with goodly humor and wit, we hope.
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Herewith, the Thirteen Theories:
Preface
~ Please read this first! ~
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Theory #1: Adam and Eve
~ More than meets the eye ~
A view of the creation story that goes beyond traditional interpretations
to explain, in unique and, we believe, much richer terms,
the purpose of the first two chapters of Genesis.
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Theory #2: Who is This God?
~ A deeper look ~
What are the deeper implications of the view expressed in Theory #1?
How should this impact my thinking, my view of the world and how
I conduct myself in it, and indeed, how I relate to this God?
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Theory #3: Love Lost, Love Regained
~ or How did the devil get into God's illustration? ~
Chapter 3 gives us a look behind-the-scenes at the evil realm and
attempts to explain, from a legal perspective, how and why
Satan was permitted into the Garden of Eden.
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Theory #4: Jesus: God in a Man-Suit?
~ The mystery of Christ's humanity ~This chapter addresses two issues:
1) What gives God the right to redeem His creation in the first place?
Didn't Satan win the contest fair-and-square? and
2) Many teach that Jesus, because He was God in human flesh, could not
have sinned. We take a different perspective and we explain why.
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Theory #5: God's Prophetic Calendar~ God's timetable for redemption ~Moving into the section that focuses on where we are
in the prophetic timetable, this theory looks at the illustrations
God has embedded in the stars, in the Jewish annual feast cycle
and in the Hebrew wedding customs.
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Passover Chart
~ Illustrations in history ~This one-page chart illustrates the precision with which
God has communicated the reality of His plan,
both in type and in fulfillment.
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Theory #6: God's Redemptive Calendar
~ Lessons for those who listen ~
This chapter takes a peek at the architecture of the creation week.
God has communicated with us in a thousand and a thousand ways.
In this case, one day equals a thousand years.
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Theory #7: The "Times of the Gentiles"~ Those who have insight will understand ~This chapter offers a different take on the standard interpretation
of the "times of the Gentiles," one we think is more in keeping with
the biblical chronology. We also take a stab at closing in on
the timing of Christ's return. And yet, an interesting verse
in Matthew 24 adds an unexpected twist.
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Bible Timeline
~Highlights of history ~This two-page timeline is based on the principle attested to in 2 Peter 3:8:
"With God, a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years."
If you read it carefully, this timeline will leave you
with a deeper grasp of the momentous times in which we live.
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Theory #9: The Anti-Christ's Identity~ Who will this man of sin be? ~Though we don't claim to know, we narrow the field and espouse a view
that is slowly growing in popularity among endtimes sages.
We arrived at this perspective, however, is a most unusual way.
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Theory #10: Satan: Counterfeiter-in-Chief~ Master deceiver unmasked ~Just as Satan counterfeited the biblical prophecies of the first coming
of a Redeemer, turning them into the Babylonian mystery religion,
so he will again attempt to counterfeit prophecies
referencing the endtime appearance of a ruling Messiah.
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Theory #11: The Mark of the Beast
~ Use it and lose it ~
A description of the most likely implications of the prophecy
in Revelation 13 and what it means for those
inside and outside of the Church.
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Theory #12: The Beasts, the Ten Horns, the Seven Heads, and Babylon the Great
~ Beyond the veil ~
We take our best shot at these controversial questions.
Is the Beast a person or a system? Or both?
Is he a Jew or Gentile? And what about the False Prophet?
Who are the ten horns and the seven heads?
Plus a brief examination of the seven most bandied-about theories for
the identity of the mystery woman, Babylon the Great,
with our own view amply supported.
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Theory #13: The Rapture
~ Who goes, who stays and why ~
An indepth discussion of the Rapture and the implications
of this doctrine for your life and mine in light of earlier theories.
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Afterword
~ So where do we go from here? ~
Now that you have read and hopefully digested the 13 theories,
what difference should it make in your life?
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Appendix A: Salvation
~ What it is and how you get it or Who's your daddy? ~
The section gives a comprehensive explanation of the content
and means of salvation in light of earlier theories.
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Appendix B: Repentance
~ Who, what, when, why and how ~
An overview of the doctrine of repentance.
How necessary is it?
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Appendix C: Eternal Security
~ Once saved always saved? ~
Is this the biblical view? And can we agree that that is the proper question?
As always, our goal is truth here. Ultimately, our destiny depends on it.
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Appendix D: The Trinity
~ Three separate Persons? ~
We take another look at this often controversial topic
and give our own view using Scripture as a guide.
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Appendix E: The Cain Controversy
~ New answers to old questions ~
An hitherto unbroached solution to the problem of Cain.
Who did he marry? Of whom was he afraid?
We take a stab at unraveling these mysteries.
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— © 2006 K.C. Von Treckk
Last Updated 5-31-09
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