Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond [Paperback]

Stanley N. Gundry (Series Editor), Darrell L. Bock (Contributor), Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. (Contributor), Robert B. Strimple (Contributor), Craig A. Blaising (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Counterpoints: Bible and Theology | Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Are these the last days? Could Jesus return at any time to establish his thousand-year reign on earth? What is the nature of Christ's millennial kingdom referred to in the book of Revelation? What must happen before Jesus returns, and what part does the church play? Three predominant views held by evangelicals seek to answer these and related questions: premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial. This book gives each view a forum for presentation, critique, and defense. Besides each contributor's personal perspective, various interpretations of the different positions are discussed in the essays. Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond lets you compare and contrast three important eschatological viewpoints to gain a better understanding of how Christianity's great hope, the return of Jesus, is understood by the church. The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Book of Revelation. The Millennium. Two of the most fascinating and widely disputed topics in modern Christianity. What are we to make of the Bible's rich apocalyptic imagery? How much of it is a historical account? How much is prophecy that is unfolding today or that has yet to unfold, and how much illustrates timeless truths that transcend specific events of the past, present, or future? Two additions to the Counterpoints series now provide a forum for presentation and critique of, and interaction among, the predominant views on the book of Revelation and on the millennial reign of Christ and his Church. The contributors are eminently qualified to represent their various schools of thought. Like the other Counterpoints books, each of these volumes allows the reader to set the different views side by side to compare their strengths and weaknesses, gaining a better appreciation for other perspectives while strengthening or redefining his or her own. The premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial views are presented, critiqued, and defended in turn, beginning with editor Darrell Bock's overview of the different viewpoints.

From the Author

Darrell L. Bock (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary. Craig A. Blaising (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is the Joseph Emerson Brown professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological College in Louisville, Kentucky. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. (Th.D., Whitefield Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament at Bahnsen Theological Seminary in Placentia, California. Robert Strimple (Ph.D., Trinity College, University of Toronto) is professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310201438
• ISBN-13: 978-0310201434
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong on "Post" and "A", Mediocre on "Pre", January 8, 2002

By 

David R. Bess (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (Paperback)

I have read a few comparison books on eschatology in general and the millennium in particular. This one is the best yet on the millennium. I would have given it five stars, except for the mediocrity of the premillennial presentation.

Gentry, as usual, expresses himself very well and is very convincing, both in his own essay as well as in his responses. Strimple, considering the limitations of this work, does a fine job of covering various Scriptures that address the amillennialist position. The worst essay of the three is penned by Blaising, who takes entirely too many pages to explain the premillennial stance. He gets bogged down in the history of premillennialism, and then is so technical in the actual presentation of his own view that he is very tough to follow. The reader comes away scratching his/her head wondering what in the world did Blaising actually say! Premillennialism, however, is so commonplace that it requires the least explanation of the three positions.

Bock provides a very cordial, conciliatory conclusion, touching upon points that are crucial to formulating one's own view of Revelation 20:1-6. I was rather surprised when he revealed his own position near the end of his essay, for I certainly did not detect it through his earlier remarks.

This book gives a great presentation of the postmillennial and amillennial views. The presentation for premillennialism pales in comparison, but other readers may find Blaising's essay more helpful than I did.

Overall, this work is a good investment for anyone wanting to compare the three basic millennial views.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven presentation; OK discussion, but not concise, December 7, 2004

By 

Robert Burns (Royal Oak, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (Paperback)

In investigating the issue of the millennium, where should you start? Ultimately, I think this book makes the wrong choices in answering this question. While the discussion is interesting at times, I can't help but feel that Darrell Bock's summary essay should have been re-worked and presented at the beginning of the work. Basically, Bock writes that one's hermeneutical approach (the prism by which one interprets Scripture) largely determines what you believe the end times looks like. Bock notes how each passage deals with eschatological texts, and what questions each feels are key to understanding the nature of Jesus' return. If he had placed this at the beginning, I think it would be more helpful to the reader. Perhaps he could have then placed another essay "wrapping things up" at the end.

Kenneth Gentry Jr. contributes the postmillennial perspective, but does a much better job critiquing the positions of the others than advancing his own case. In his own essay, he really needed to a) explain his own hermeneutical approach in a coherent and distinctive fashion, rather than use generalities, and b) take the time to formulate a detailed explanation of how postmillennialism interprets Revelation 20 (the key text). As someone who considers himself sympathetic to postmillennialism's expectation that God's Kingdom is irrestibly advancing even in this current age, I really wanted Gentry to make a solid case. After all, Jonathan Edwards (arguably the greatest American mind ever) was post-mil, so surely it's a reasonable position. Alas.

Robert Strimple presents the amillennial position and does an excellent job presenting his overall hermeneutic and understanding of key passages. Of all the essays, his is probably the best. He boldly tackles Romans 11 to explain how amillennialism understands what is usually read as regarding a future conversion of Israel (although it seems Strimple only represents a portion of amil proponents who feel that Paul is not speaking 'prophetically' here).

Craig Blaising advances the premillennial position, and does a fair job with the exegesis portion, but I agree with the reviewer below who feels that premillennial positions come in basically two varities, and that each should have been allowed to speak for itself individually. Blaising spends too much on time on the history of thought regarding the nature of the eras beyond our own, and not enough time directly discussing the hermeneutics involved in how premillenialists arrive at the premillennial understanding of Revelation 20. In fairness, he is representing both the "George Ladd" premil folks (like me), and the much more strictly literal approach dispensationalist interpreters, so he's got to couch his argument in the shared understanding of the central text.

At any rate, I recommend Stanley Grenz's The Millennial Maze instead of this book. Grenz, although he is an amil guy, is extremely fair. Each position's history and hermeneutic is discussed in concise fashion, and followed with a targeted critique. I'm not finished reading it yet, but I actually thought that in presenting postmillennialism, he made a much better argument than Kenneth Gentry did in this book. In addition, I feel like I understand dispensationalism a WHOLE lot better than I ever did.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent summary of Millennial views, December 20, 1999

By 

Todd Grotenhuis "tgrotenhuis" (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (Paperback)

This book is an excellent exploration into the varying millennial views. Each author presents myriads of Biblical and theological evidence in making his case. For those who are uncertain of the basis for differing millennial views, this volume will clear up the questions. The responses that each author presents to his colleagues' views are also very well thought out. The book is somewhat technical and assumes the reader's understanding of some basic theological terms; I found myself needing to take extensive notes on the book to adequately process the information presented. Nonetheless, Bock and company do a marvelously comprehensive job of highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the differing positions, allowing the reader to make a fully informed decision him- or herself.