Customer Reviews

The End Times

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Having had the author as a student where he taught at Grace Theological Seminary, his text is an outstanding review of his lectures. Dr Hoyt gives a thorough analysis of the various views of Biblical Eschatology. This text is a most both for the serious laymen and the person behind the lecturn who wish to expand their knowledge of "things to come".

J. Dwight Pentecost produced a massive 600 page study of the end times back in 1958. This softcover book by Herman Hoyt is a good alternative for those who don't want to read Pentecost's weighty tome. Hoyt begins with an overview of biblical eschatology, defining terms such as end, last, Second Coming, Imminent, Tribulation, and Mediatorial Kingdom.

The author proceeds into a study of what the Bible says about death and the intermediate state between death and bodily resurrection. He concludes from such texts as 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Phillipians 1:21-23 that the souls of believers are ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord the moment they die.

There is also a chapter about the second coming of Jesus Christ and how this event (described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 19) differs from the coming of Christ to rapture the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). While not everyone will agree with Hoyt about seeing the coming of Christ as a two stage event, he does a good job of presenting the view. He labors hard to show why the partial rapture view and the mid tribulational and posttribulation views of the rapture are not as biblically sound as the pretribulational view. Hoyt repeatedly charges those who disagree with his take on the end times as not having a consistently literal interpretation of the Bible. I feel that this is not always the case, as there are many people who hold to different views of the rapture who do attempt to interpret literally.

There is also a helpful chapter about what the seven year tribulation will be like and another chapter about the rise of the antichrist and his evil nature. Hoyt also discusses the one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, the different judgments in scripture, and the eternal state. The two surprises from my perspective were that a. Hoyt believes that the raptured church will be in heaven for the entire millennial reign of Christ and b. There will be an eternal distinction between Israel, the tribulation saints, the Old Testament saints, and the Church. The Church will have a greater position in eternity than the other groups, although Israel will be the greatest nation.

My problem with this last teaching is that the Bible seems to teach that we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28, 1 Cor 12;13) and that there is only one people of God (1 Peter 2:9, John 10:16).

But all in all, I really liked the book.

I found this book difficult to `sit and read' as it is much more of a `handbook,' requiring detailed attention to the enclosed topics. My highlighter and pen were constant companions as I explored biblical eschatology from a premillennial dispensational view in "The End Times." This is a book that I will keep as a reference and `go to' guide for years to come.

This is a Theology book on the end times (eschatology) it teaches from a dispensational point of view. It is a basic book and could be used as a text book on the subject in Bible college. The arthor of the book is now was considered one of the top in dispensational Theology. If you are new to the study of last things, then this is a great book to start with. Dr. Hoyt is a brillant theologian. This handles the basics of end time studies.