Customer Reviews

The Millennial Maze

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Grenz has accomplished the impossible in this small volume. He has become one of the first authors to present the different perspectives on this debate in a fair and even-handed manner. Typically in books on eschatology, opposing viewpoints are caricatured rather than described and mocked rather than carefully criticized. Grenz avoids all of this nonsense.

In the first chapter he introduces the Biblical background of apocalyptic literature which frames the whole debate. In chapter two, he presents an overview of millennarianism in the history of the church. The following four chapters deal with postmillennialism, dispensationalism, historic premillennialism and amillennialism respectively. The seventh chapter asks the question, "So what?" by dealing with the significance of the whole debate. The book concludes with a chapter explaining how eschatology should shape us here and now.

This book and the Counterpoints volume edited by Darrell Bock "Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond" are the two must read books for those desiring a good overview and explanation of the millennial debate.

I have always loathed eschatology. All the date setting and charts, mil's and trib's made my head spin and just seemed to be a distraction from the heart of the faith. However, when I was finally forced to tackle it, I (unsurprisingly) found myself in able hands with Grenz. He is even handed, biblically literate, historically comprehensive and, ultimately, relevant.

He conducts biblical and historical surveys of postmillennialism, dispensationalism, historic premillennialism and amillennialism with balance and insight. (I actually found the postmil chapter the most interesting as my unilateral association with it and old line Liberalism was patently discredited). He closes with two profound chapters about how any of these millennial positions will impact personal and church theology and practice and finally some thoughts "corporate eschatology." Very much recommended if you are planning to tackle this subject.

The Millennial Maze is a great introduction to the different perspectives on the millennium. I had very little knowledge of the differences in the perspectives on the millennium before reading this book, and came away with a greater understanding of each. For this type of book, Mr. Grenz has a very commendable tone when it comes to perspectives other than his own (amillennialism.) He starts off the book with a call for understanding, and successfully carries the tone through the rest of the book.

"Rather, because there are deeper issues at stake in this debate, we must strive to see clearly the world view represented by each of the major positions. And having done so, we can then listen intently to what the Spirit is saying to the church through each."

The book starts off with an introduction to the millennial perspectives and the Bible, followed by an account of millennial views throughout church history. The church history portion is especially interesting and could serve as a good starting point for a more thorough examination of the subject. Fascinating to see how much church history and world history seems to influence the dominant millennial view for any specific era. For example, American was largely postmillennial in the early yeas of democracy when it seemed as if the entire nation would be Christianized. Contrast that with the America of today dominated by dispensational premillennialism, a perspective that does hold to the optimism that the postmillennial perspective does.

Each of the four perspectives then gets its own chapter, including an introduction to the perspective, history behind the perspective, and, finally, a brief analysis of each one's strengths and weaknesses.

Postmillennial: Widely misunderstood as "liberal," this minority view was treated fairly in the book. One thing to note that I did know before- Jonathan Edwards, my favorite American theologian, was postmillennial.

Premillennial (Dispensational): While Grenz did a great job explaining this position, I would have liked to see more of the arguments for this position. Some of the tenants of the position were presented as little more than straw men, and I'm sure that the arguments for this perspective are better than presented here. The reader will be able to tell that Grenz finds himself farthest from this position. In any book attempting to interact with multiple perspectives, this is to be expected. Grenz does an admirable job and rightly highlights some of the major differences. The explanation of the doctrine of the rapture and the dispensational perspective on the separation of the church and Israel were the highlights of this chapter. Dispensationalism is the only perspective that strictly divides the church and Israel.

Premillennial (Historic): Very good account of this history of this view and a brief explanation of where it falls on the millennial spectrum. The shortest chapter of the different views, but very helpful.

Amillennial: Grenz does a nice job with this view and presents a compelling case for perspective, which is distinguished as the only view that does not expect an early millennium. The chapter is well done and a great introduction to this perspective.

Finally, Grenz wraps up the book by again calling for unity and pointing out that the church has much to gain from each of these perspectives. His continued pursuit of unity among evangelicals is refreshing.

The book is highly recommended and a great start for millennial studies. As Grenz says on the back cover . . . "On this issue evangelicals are all united: Jesus is coming back!"

The pages turned quickly. This book does a good job of presenting the different views currently and historically held about the Millennium. I did not find Grenz practicing any overtly biased writing toward any particular view. I found the information to be very helpful. The most striking and interesting information gleaned from the pages was the apparent impact each view has had on society. It is so obvious once brought to your attention, and also somewhat disconcerting how each view can effect ones behavior and that of society. Each can and is classified into Pessimistic, Optimistic, and Realistic. It is definitely recommended for anyone who is or will be studying eschatology.

other reviewers here give good overall information - I just want to add that Grenz asserts the amillennial position so readers will be aware of what to expect.

Easy to read and offers excellent summaries of the various eschatological viewpoints and their histories. Very interesting. Definitely worthwhile. If you're interested in learning more about the various approaches to the End of time, this book is for you.

I have read several books by Stanley Grenz and I like very much his writing stile and the way he provides an abundant and excellent documentation on the subject matter he is writing about.

Stanley J. Grenz has written an excellent overview of the four main eschatological positions within contemporary evangelicalism: dispensationalist premillennialism, historic premillennialism, amillenialism and postmillennialism. Or perhaps five, since the school of thought known as progressive dispensationalism is obviously different from "classical" dispensationalism.

While Grenz focuses on the debates between modern evangelicals, the book could also be read by those interested in Christianity in general, since the viewpoints described (except for dispensationalism) have deep roots in Church history.

Grenz describes the four versions of eschatology quite fairly and objectively. He explains the real or perceived Biblical proofs for each viewpoint, and also gives the reader an overview of the criticisms that exist of each scenario. The book ends with two more personal chapters in which the author discusses his own views, and why the millennial issue is theologically important. Grenz describes himself as an amillennialist with sympathies for postmillennialism.

As already mentioned, the author includes progressive dispensationalism in his chapter on dispensationalist premillennialism, which may rub the traditional dispensationalists the wrong way. In passing, he also mentions the "reconstructionists" in the chapter on postmillennialism.

There are several books in Zondervan's Counterpoint series which deal with various interpretations of Revelation or the meaning of the millennium. Those are heavier reading. Grenz' book is a good introductory text to the subject for those who find detailed theological exposition too awkward.

Final point. The book was published in 1992 and may therefore be somewhat dated in some of its statements. For instance, I wonder whether the dialogue between classical dispensationalists and covenant theologians really got off the ground? Maybe at some obscure seminary, but the present millennial maze surely seems to favour good old "Left Behind" pre-trib pre-mill dispensationalism as usual!

I definitely got an older edition than what I ordered. However, it worked for what I needed it for. I just needed it for class so I took what I could get. So far the book is interesting... I'm not finished yet.