Are you looking forward with expectation? Although premillennialism continues to be popular today, it is by no means a new doctrine. Rather, because of its solid foundation in biblical truth, premillennialism has been a prominent system of interpretation throughout church history. Dr. Ryrie begins this book by introducing systems of interpretation and their vital importance in studying prophecy. He then proceeds to trace how premillennialism has its basis in history, hermeneutics, the Abrahamic covenant, Davidic covenant, new covenant, ecclesiology, and eschatology. Whether you are new to premillennialist teaching, or whether you are interested in a more systematic understanding of its basis in scripture, the contents of this book will clarify, instruct, and inspire. - Back cover.
The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.
Premillennialism is not a fundamental doctrine of evangelical faith. For example, the Bible certainly does not set it forth in the same unequivocal terms or give it the same central position that the deity of Christ, the vicarious atonement, or the second coming have. Yet to many evangelicals, premillennialism is not merely what the Bible teaches on some minor point. It has a special significance of its own among the "loci" of Christian faith. This view has increased immensely during the last century .... The cause of this relatively sudden shift toward premillennialism has never been adequately explained. Several factors certainly influenced it, such as the vastly increased depth of Bible study ..., the hermeneutical shift in churchly interpretation with its emphasis on the natural meaning of a passage in the context of the history and culture in which it was first given ..., and modern studies of the early church (which seem) to show it was not really amillennial but premillennial ... This book seeks to set forth in ... comprehensive fashion the biblical basis for premillennialism and its significance for evangelical faith.
Are these the last days? Could Jesus return at any time to establish his thousand-year reign on earth? What is the nature of Christ's millennial kingdom referred to in the book of Revelation? What must happen before Jesus returns, and what part does the church play? Three predominant views held by evangelicals seek to answer these and related questions: premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial. This book gives each view a forum for presentation, critique, and defense. Besides each contributor's personal perspective, various interpretations of the different positions are discussed in the essays. Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond lets you compare and contrast three important eschatological viewpoints to gain a better understanding of how Christianity's great hope, the return of Jesus, is understood by the church. The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.
Since its inception in the early nineteenth century, the basic tenet of dispensationalism (a school of Protestant theology which holds that God deals with humankind in different ways in different periods of time called dispensations) has been that the church and Israel are two sharply distinct peoples of God. The distinction is theological in nature; specifically, anthropological (pertaining to humanity), soteriological (pertaining to salvation), and eschatological (pertaining to last things). The tenet of theological distinctiveness has always been the cornerstone for the dispensationalist's belief in the pretribulation rapture of the church: the belief that at the first stage of Christ's two-stage second advent he will endue all who comprise the true church with a resurrected body like his own, and transport; i.e., rapture, all to heaven before the seven year period of turmoil known as the Tribulation begins on earth. The rapture marks the end of one dispensation when God focused his attention primarily on the church, and the start of another when God will focus his attention primarily on Israel. Today, almost two centuries later, progressive dispensationalists have rejected the view of a sharp theological distinction. From their study of Scripture they observe a soft non-theological distinction. They describe the church and Israel as different redemptive dimensions of the same humanity that share in a holistic and unified eternal salvation. An already and not yet eschatological framework is the cornerstone of their system. This thesis will argue that progressive dispensationalism cannot integrate the pretribulation rapture doctrine into its reconstructed dispensational system on any basis of theological distinctiveness between the church and Israel. This will be accomplished by first setting forth the theological systems of the three major forms of dispensationalism that have existed during its history, namely, classical, revised, and progressive dispensationalism, and second, by showing that each of three kinds of theological distinctiveness, namely, anthropological, soteriological, and eschatological distinctiveness, are present in the classical and revised systems and therefore these systems can support the rapture's integration, but are not present in the progressive system and therefore this system cannot support the rapture's integration. The thesis closes with an explanation as to why progressive dispensationalism is more compatible with amillennialism than with premillennialism.
The meaning of "the millennium"--the thousand-year reign of Christ spoken of in Revelation 20--has been controversial for much of the church's history, and even the main perspectives on the matter turn out to be more variegated than is often realized. This book takes the oldest of those options, premillennialism, and offers an excellent introduction to a variety of models of premillennialism currently available, including classical dispensationalism, progressive dispensationalism, historic premillennialism, thematic premillennialism, and historic premillennialism in Asian context. The product of collaboration between a systematic theologian and a New Testament scholar, this book provides a fascinating reference tool for anyone interested in what Scripture teaches about the last things of redemptive history, the Parousia, and the millennial kingdom.
The impact of The Late Great Planet Earth cannot be overstated. The New York Times called it the "no. 1 non-fiction bestseller of the decade." For Christians and non-Christians of the 1970s, Hal Lindsey's blockbuster served as a wake-up call on events soon to come and events already unfolding -- all leading up to the greatest event of all: the return of Jesus Christ. The years since have confirmed Lindsey's insights into what biblical prophecy says about the times we live in. Whether you're a church-going believer or someone who wouldn't darken the door of a Christian institution, the Bible has much to tell you about the imminent future of this planet. In the midst of an out-of-control generation, it reveals a grand design that's unfolding exactly according to plan. The rebirth of Israel. The threat of war in the Middle East. An increase in natural catastrophes. The revival of Satanism and witchcraft. These and other signs, foreseen by prophets from Moses to Jesus, portend the coming of an antichrist . . . of a war which will bring humanity to the brink of destruction . . . and of incredible deliverance for a desperate, dying planet.
