Customer Reviews

Basic Guide to Eschatology, A: Making Sense of the Millennium

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new edition of an earlier work is a very evenly balanced, scholarly work. It reads like a history book in some places and like a textbook in others. There are no dogmatic assertions made for any position, and the author's own opinion is well hidden -- you do not even know what it is until the end of the book.

The book covers a great deal of material including overviews of the traditional viewpoints of the millenium and the timing of the rapture. It includes basic arguments from each position and the persons who are the spokesmen for those positions. One of the prominent features is that evaluations are given of both positive and negative aspects of each position which is a big plus. While the arguments do not go into the greatest detail, they are not unduly brief so as to be unuseful. The scholar as well as the layman will find the book inviting.

Although the book is a newer addition and covers the recent trends in dispensationalism for example, it does not have information about the prewrath rapture position, which is becoming a major theory. It does however cover some of the less popular, or "mediating" positions such as the partial rapture view and the imminent posttribulational view.

This is a very informative and well written book. The author is quite fair to all positions and never engages in personal attacks. The book was written at the request of seminary students for an objective reference to the different eschatological options they would have when they would someday minister. Written by a scholar with the heart of a minister, their request has been well served in this book.

What I appreciate most about this book is its organization. In particular, part 2 of the book, the various millennial positions, employs these subheadings for each chapter: Overview, History, Tenets, and Evaluation (both positive and negative); since each view uses the same subheadings, it allows for easy comparison. Part 1 of the book, Background Views, was interesting reading; however, I didn't see how it connected with parts 2 and 3. Then again, I confess I haven't read widely in this field. I thought the presentation of each of the millennial views was more clear in this book than in Clouse's "The Meaning of the Millenium," although I enjoyed and recommend that book, as well.

Erickson does an excellent job of presenting various Eschatological views on the the Millenium and return of Christ. For each of the major views he presents a brief summary, history, the basic arguement for the position and its advantages and disadvantages. He presents each position from such a balanced perspective that one does not even know what his own view is until the very end.

My only disapointment with the book and the reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is that he barely even mentions the preterist view, as if it is not even worth considering.

Millard Erickson has done a fantastic job of giving an objective overview of the different positions of the end times. He tells his position in the conclusion of the book, but with a careful reading his position can be determined throughout the book. He gives a basic overview of each position and some history before telling their strengths and weaknesses. The problem comes in with some of the language he uses in this book. If the reader has no background in Kione Greek (Biblical Greek), then there are many sections that will be aggravating to the reader and they might become discouraged, because Erickson has assumed the reader to have a basic understanding and comprehension of Greek. Overall this is a fantastic book.

Dr. Erikson presents four competing views of end times theology, providing arguments both for and against each view. Although Erickson is historic premillennial, he presents a very unbiased description of each view in a fairly easy to read format. This is an great starting point for those who want to investigate the different end times positions. It has received excellent reviews from the evangelical community.

It was a very informative writing. I was enlightened by all of the different views on end times. The book came on time which is very important because I am in school. Thank you.

Erickson's book is well-written and includes a thorough explanation and evaluation of each of the eschatological views. He does a superb job at finding both strengths and weaknesses in each of the positions. However, I do believe he gets too caught up in the debate. This is a subject that is unclear and vague in Scripture. God gave us the information about it not so we could debate and argue over various positions, but to give us an urgency to spread His Word. The heart of God's message is lost in all the debates and disagreements. I am disappointed this book didn't give more focus on what is definitely going to happen in the end times and what God is saying to His church.