Customer Reviews

The Parousia: A Critical Inquiry into the New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord's Second Coming

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

 

 

The more one learns about the Jewishness of Christ, Paul, and the Apostles, the easier it becomes to understand their mindset when writing the New Testament. Situations, idioms, cultural knowledge, and history are different now than they were in the first century A.D.

Russel's proposition is this: if the Bible predicted a series of events, and if a part of history can be found in which those events were fulfilled to the letter, why presume that they haven't yet been fulfilled?

He uses Hebrew and Greek culture, historical writings, and language to map all of the predictions of the "End Time," one for one, to events and persons prominent in the Roman siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

The Bible predicts an end of the old world and the creation of a new world in which Christ reigns. In A.D. 70, Biblical Judaism was wiped out. The Temple was destroyed; there have been no more blood sacrifices since then; the Priesthood was abolished. The old world was destroyed.

Christ returned as predicted. He rescued the believers by getting them out of the city and up into the mountains (clouds). From this point on there could be no doubts that God had abolished Judaism and given the Kingdom over to the Church. A new world was created in which Christ reigns.

I hope this will whet your appetite for a deeper understanding of what took place in A.D. 70, and how it fulfilled all remaining Biblical prophecy.

First of all, the "interview" with J.S. Russell presented is a different J.S. Russell from the author of this book, which was written in the 1890's and is reprinted by Kingdom Council. The Parousia is a classical and thorough, well-written example of Biblical exegesis which argues the case for full Pretorism, the view that all of the prophecies written about in the Book of Revelation were fufilled during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. This view, which is recently regaining theological popularity, was the majority view until premillenial dispensationalism took over the theological thinking of evangelical Christians in the early 1900's. Since that time we've had endless speculations about "the Last Days" or the "End Times" which have bordered on the ridiculous ("Last Days Madness") and which have discredited Christians in the eyes of non-Christians all over the globe. If you are interested in an understanding of Revelation which does not make silly claims and reduce Christian theology to the level of Action comic books, then I most highly recommend you take the time to read this book. The only downside to the book is that it is written in a highly literate, pre-television fashion that requires real thought and attention to digest. It is well worth the effort, however, both in terms of challenging your ideas and also in terms of introducing you to a mannor of civilized thinking that is unfortunately becomming lost in our increasingly barbaric culture

If you consider yourself a student of the "Return of Christ", but have not read Russel's "The Parousia" you're missing a very important part of that study. In fact, I'd consider your research deficient without it and highly recommend you read this book!

James Stuart Russell (1816-1895) was a Congregationalist pastor and author. This book was published anonymously in 1878, then reprinted in 1887 in his name. Russell was not by every definition a "full" preterist (i.e., someone who believes that all biblical prophecy was fulfilled by 70 A.D.), since he believes that Revelation 20:5-10 is still to be fulfilled in the future. He also does not deny the Second Coming or the physical reality of the general resurrection, although he maintains that they are past events.

He states in the Preface, "The same event cannot be imminent at two different periods separated by nearly two thousand years. There must, therefore, be some grave misconception on the part of those who maintain that the Christian church of to-day occupies precisely the same relation, and should maintain the same attitude, towards the 'coming of the Lord' as the church in the days of St. Paul. The present volume is an attempt ... to clear up this misconception, and to ascertain the true meaning of the Word of God on a subject which holds so conspicuous a place in the teaching of our Lord and his apostles."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"They (i.e., New Testament believers) lived expecting a consummation which was to arrive in their own time, and which they might witness with their own eyes." (Pg. 26)

"Look at His words (in Mt 12:23). Can anything be more specific and more definite as to persons, place, time, and circumstance, than this prediction of our Lord? It is to the TWELVE that he speaks; it is the cities of ISRAEL which they are to evangelize; the subject is His own speedy coming; and the time so near, that before their work is complete His coming will take place." (Pg. 28)

"It is exactly such a way of speaking as would suit an interval of thirty or forty years, when the majority of the persons then present would have passed away, but some would survive and witness the event referred to." (Pg. 31)

"Ninety-nine persons in every hundred would undoubtedly understand His words (in Mt 24:34) as meaning that the predicted catastrophe would fall within the limits of the lifetime of the existing generation. Not that ALL would probably live to witness it, but that MOST or MANY would. There can be no question that this would be the interpretation which the disciples would place upon the words. Unless, therefore, our Lord intended to mystify His disciples." (Pg. 84)

"We are placed, therefore, in this dilemma---either the words of Jesus have failed, and the hopes of His disciples have been falsified; or else these words and hopes have been fulfilled, and the prophecy in all its parts has been fully accomplished." (Pg. 113)

"But the objection will recur, How could all this take place without notice or record? First, as regards the resurrection of the dead, it is to be considered how little we know of its conditions and characteristics. Must it come with observation? Must it be cognizable by material organs?" (Pg. 210)

"(W)e are therefore justified in concluding that the antichrist of St. John is identical with the apostasy predicted by St. Paul and St. Peter." (Pg. 331)

"This portentous wild beast, this potentate of the world, this plenipotentiary of Satan, can be no other than the master of the world, the Emperor of Rome, 'the man of sin,'---NERO." (Pg. 459)

"There is not a scintilla of evidence that the apostles and primitive Christians has any suspicion of a twofold reference in the predictions of Jesus concerning the end. No hint is anywhere dropped that a primary and partial fulfillment of His sayings was to take place in that generation, but that the complete and exhaustive fulfilment was reserved for a future and far distant period." (Pg. 545)

My only issue with this book is the numerous mistakes (typos) found on every page. It was difficult to get the full understanding of the author with so many errors by the scanning process used. This is a great book and deserves better.

This is an excellent resource to help understand "the end times." I don't think any serious bible student ought to be without it. The actual book I bought however fell apart before I got to the middle of it. The binding was defective and the print was very light. Probably was the reason it was sold cheaper than a new book.