40 Questions About the End Times (40 Questions Series) [Paperback]

Eckhard Schnabel (Author), Benjamin Merkle (Series Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2012 | Series: 40 Questions Series

Organized in an accessible FAQ format, 40 Questions About the End Times tackles common questions about the final period before Christ's second coming. In his clear, balanced style, Eckhard Schnabel cuts through the confusion and hype to offer meaningful answers through analysis of the relevant biblical texts as well as theological and practical conclusions. Questions include: Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7? Will the Church disappear in a rapture to heaven? Does national Israel have a special destiny? What will happen to believers on the day of judgment?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"At last. A concise, scholarly, common-sense guide to eschatology that will serve as an inspiration to countless Bible students and a gentle corrective to those for whom end-times zeal has been misguided." --Gary M. Burge, Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College and Graduate School

"The book's great value lies in its interpretive approach. Professor Schnabel expertly explains every critical eschatological text in the Bible within its own historical and cultural context. He then shows how the original message of those texts should shape Christian thinking and practice today." --Frank Thielman, Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School

"Schnabel brings the heart of a churchman, the careful analysis of one of our best New Testament scholars, and the clarity of a teacher born. Here he answers questions that many of us are asking." --George H. Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible, Union University

The book's great value lies in its interpretive approach. Professor Schnabel expertly explains every critical eschatological text in the Bible within its own historical and cultural context. He then shows how the original message of those texts should shape Christian thinking and practice today. --Frank Thielman, Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School

Schnabel brings…the heart of a churchman, the careful analysis of one of our best New Testament scholars, and the clarity of a teacher born. Here he answers questions that many of us are asking. --George H. Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible, Union University

From the Back Cover

Organized in an accessible FAQ format, 40 Questions About the End Times tackles common questions about the final period before Christ's second coming. In his clear, balanced style, Eckhard Schnabel cuts through the confusion and hype to offer meaningful answers through analysis of the relevant biblical texts as well as theological and practical conclusions. Questions include: Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7? Will the Church disappear in a rapture to heaven? Does national Israel have a special destiny? What will happen to believers on the day of judgment?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Academic & Professional (February 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825438969
• ISBN-13: 978-0825438967
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eckhard Schnabel, PhD University of Aberdeen, is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has also taught at Freie Theologische Akademie and Wiedenest Bible College in Germany, and at Asian Theological Seminary in the Philippines. He has served with Operation Mobilisation in Latin America and Europe, and with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in Asia.

He has published widely in journals, Festschriften, and volumes of collected essays.

Dr. Schnabel and his wife, Barbara, reside in Gurnee, Illinois. They have two children. In his spare time, Dr. Schnabel enjoys reading, hiking, and running.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Help for Understanding Biblical Eschatology February 12, 2012

By Daniel Chappell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had the distinct pleasure of taking a NT survey class under Dr. Schnabel. He is a magnificent teacher, scholar, and exegete. When he informed us in class that he would be writing "40 Questions About the End Times", I went straight home and per-ordered it on Amazon.

In this book, Dr. Schnabel provides a humble, yet much-needed corrective to the wide influence of what he calls "prophecy specialists" from the Dispensational Camp. His many years of biblical study, his unparallelled historical and cultural research, and his strong command of NT Greek allows Dr. Schnabel to address the most significant questions surrounding the end times, the return of Jesus, biblical prophecy, and the interpretation of key texts in Daniel, Ezekiel, Thessalonians, 2 Peter, and Revelation.

The 40 Questions format is very helpful and instructive; it gives a theologically-heavy work a practical feel. I highly recommend this book for everyone!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 40 Q. About the End Times March 10, 2012

By J. Tomes

Format:Paperback

40 Questions About the End Times by Eckhard Shnabel

This volume is an introductory and exegetical approach to the End Times. The author's purpose is not to present a system of eschatology but instead to approach the key texts (and questions) exegetically. This will surely leave some readers dissatisfied, particularly those who have enjoyed the imaginations of the End-Time "Specialists."

The book is arranged in four parts,
1. General Questions about the Future.
2. The Return of Jesus Christ.
3. The Millenium and Last Judgment.
4. Interpreting the End Times.

Eckhard Schnabel is a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. This institution has a history of "historic premillenialism." Those wishing to conform their eschatological presuppositions once again to God's Word will appreciate Dr. Schnabel's rigorously exegetical approach to the text. While finding areas to disagree, all readers will benefit and learn from this writers approach to the text.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A corrective to wild prophetic teachings today, will educate and encourage believers April 27, 2012

By R. Hayton VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Few subjects spark such controversy among Christians as end times theology. For some, the only controversy lies in the inexplicable reluctance of some to fully embrace the truth. Why can't everyone be so moved and excited by the very evident relevance of Biblical prophecy? Can't they see just by picking up a newspaper how we are living in the last days? Others make it their mission to pop the bubble of the many believers who practice such a newspaper-theology. Whether they advocate preterism, pre-wrath, post-millennialism or some other minority position, they turn every conversation into a discussion of their favored end times view. Still others have been burned by churches for abandoning the official eschatological position. And many would rather avoid this subject than see another passionate argument arise.

Given the many opportunities to engender strife on such a volatile subject, we must assume that Eckhard Schnabel was perhaps a bit hesitant to put forth yet another book that aims to navigate the mine-field of eschatology. Whatever the case, Schnabel's new book "40 Questions about the End Times" (Kregel, 2012) will certainly prove to be an important and helpful contribution. I hope it receives wide attention as it offers a helpful corrective to careless end-times speculation and steers clear of divisiveness.

"40 Questions" is informative and expansive without being exhaustive. The format of attacking the subject by means of 40 separate questions allows the book to aim for a systematic treatment of the topic in small segmented bites. This approach means that it can't cover every relevant passage and answer every conceivable question, but it has its merits too. The book can serve as a manual to be referenced when one is looking for information specific to one question (the millennium, the rapture, Hell and judgement, etc.). And the approach keeps the book moving and on track.

Schnabel masterfully employs charts and comparisons between parallel passages and betrays a true mastery of the literature. Yet he doesn't write for scholars. He stays both practical and accessible, even as his footnotes point the way for further study. He tries his best to avoid discussing eschatological positions directly, preferring to cover the relevant Biblical texts exegetically. It is apparent that he is premillennial but not dispensational. He would be post-tribulational in a sense as well, but is more historic premil. And for the most part, he is right in the mainstream of evangelical scholarship: he defends eternal conscious punishment, but holds to a strange view of the millennium that sees the Gog and Magog rebellion at the end of the thousand years as a release of the unrepentant followers of Satan who are deceived and judged again. (This may just be strange to me, as I have not come across this view before. Yet, I can't help but suspecting this is a minority view at best in scholarship today.)

Throughout the book, Schnabel obliquely references "end times specialists" who presume that certain prophecies can only be fulfilled given modern technological advances. Such views are anachronistic, and worse: they represent "new prophecies", since they give a prophetic significance to history. He puts the claims that Babylon will be rebuilt and that a third temple will be built into this category. I have to agree with him that the false predictions and constantly modified interpretive declarations about end times theology (such as the identification of the European Union with the 10-kings who support the Beast) present a problem for the church. Schnabel elaborates:

"If the prophecy writer tries again and adjusts his prophecy, and the new prediction does not come to pass, the end-time `specialist' is clearly neither a specialist nor a prophet. Prophecy writers who get it wrong must apologize and they should stop writing, speaking, blogging, and tweeting about matters related to prophecy." (pg. 311)

This book, however, is more than a mere eschatological handbook or polemic against modern-day false prophets. It is a call for the Church to live in light of the big central truths of prophecy. Christ is returning at any moment, and He will judge the dead and reward the faithful. His kingdom will never end and everything wrong will be made right.

Even if one disagrees with some of Schnabel's particular interpretations, his discussion of the relevant arguments on each question will be both helpful and enlightening. But the book will especially be a help to those who remain "willing to consider the truth of other interpretations of biblical passages," and when warranted, "willing to concede that [they] may have to adjust [their] understanding" (pg. 315). Ultimately, what Schnabel says of Revelation applies to this book: it is written "not to satisfy our curiosity about God's timetable for the end times but in order to encourage believers who are suffering and to exhort believers who are in danger of compromising their faith" (pg. 316).

This book will both educate and encourage the believer. I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Kregel Publications for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.