Customer Reviews

The Last Days Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Different Views of Prophecy

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Written from a pre-trib perspective, the author does a good job in presenting his case as objectively as he can. He sumarizes other viewpoints well without falling into the pitfall of name-calling which runs rampant in other works. This latest edition also includes the prewrath position, which unfortunately is misrepresented, although most likely unintentionally, noting that the author has a reputation for producing balanced, scholarly works. His concern for discussing our differences in a Christ-like manner are evident, and he even remarks, "Great shame and disgrace has already been brought to the cause of Christ by us over evangelical eschatologies." Written with the layman in mind, the book will give you a basic overview of endtime theories. If you want a good example of how to present your own perspective without sounding condescending to the others, read this book.

A good overview of all the end times positions that are out there. Lightner does a good job of presenting an unbiased, objective view - at least in this first edition of the book. But the second edition which came out in 1998 is much more subjective and slanted, which in my opinion ruins the book. So try to get the 1990 edition and avoid the 1998 version (which for some reason isn't nearly as well written, either).

Have you every been confused or discouraged about the variety of conceptions about evangelical eschatology or come to the conclusion that it is valueless? Then this book is one of the most helpful places to recover your vision. The author strikes an effective balance between a broad survey of views and a presentation of important variations, like the "pre-wrath rapture view" and Warfield's optimistic version of amillenialism. It is written in a clear and accessible style that is useful to both to the struggling layperson and seminarian cramming for comps. There is hope for the study of hope after all.