Forthcoming Book on Eschatology

OOOOh!!!  I just discovered a new forthcoming book on eschatological issues being put out by Baker Academic: A Case for Historic Premillenialism: An Alternative to “Left Behind” Eschatology.  Baker Academic, forthcoming, Feb 2009.

Here’s a description from the Baker website:

Twentieth- and twenty-first-century American evangelicalism, particularly at the popular level, has been virtually saturated with the eschatology of dispensational premillennialism.  The distinctive teachings of that system, in particular its affirmation of the pretribulation rapture of the church, have become so pervasive that many evangelicals would be hard pressed to identify an alternative approach.  Popular novels that disseminate dispensationalism to a wider readership have only furthered that trend.

The contributors to this volume provide a thoughtful alternative.  They present compelling arguments for historic or classic premillennialism–a position widely held throughout church history (and popularly advanced in the writings of George Eldon Ladd).  An introductory chapter examines the differences within premillennial eschatology and considers reasons for the widespread popularity of dispensationalism in the twentieth century.  This is followed by biblical, theological, historical, and missiological studies that reexamine classic premillennialism, particularly with regard to its understanding of the return of Christ.

The authors, all respected scholars in their fields, present arguments for a return to an eschatological theology that was widely held for many centuries.  Their engaging studies should be of great interest to evangelical readers–both in the academy and in the church.

Contributors:

Craig L. Blomberg; Oscar A. Campos; Sung Wook Chung; Helene Dallaire; Donald Fairbairn; Richard S. Hess; Don J. Payne; Timothy P. Weber.

Endorsements:

“It’s about time we had a scholarly presentation and defense of historic premillennialism, which is probably the majority view of the ‘end times’ among theologically trained evangelicals. These authors are eminently qualified to give us that, and here they have done it. All evangelicals and others interested in alternatives to the popular folk religious beliefs about the ‘end times’ must read this book. If read carefully by many, it will turn the growing tide of ‘pretrib rapturism’ and restore the eschatology of the Bible and the church fathers.”–Roger E. Olson, professor of theology, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University.

 

“This book provides a welcome alternative to popular notions of the end-times, which sometimes seem to be recycled news headlines. Particularly helpful is the book’s critique of ‘left-behind’ theology, which I believe can be defended only by taking a lot of Scripture out of context.” — Craig Keener, professor of New Testament, Palmer Seminary; author of the NIV Application Commentary on Revelation.

This is going to be good, and much needed!   It should bring a fresh newness to an often tired but very important biblical theme!