The study of end times often gets bogged down in minutiae that rarely affects daily life. Or we find ourselves passively waiting for God's future,
Avoiding both of these traps, Essential Eschatology gets to the heart of the matter by examining how the Christian hope and practice of resurrection affects Christian mission and everyday life. Author John Phelan notes, «Eschatology is not about the end only but the beginning and middle of faith and life as well. Christianity…is eschatological to its core.»
Raised with Christ, Jesus' followers are called to practice resurrection, which reshapes relationships with our families, our neighbors and the world at large. «All that is anticipated in the new heavens and the new earth is to be lived out in the Christian community—a community that has already died and been raised with Christ.» This creates within the world a unique community hope.
Essential Eschatology explores Christian hope in relation to — the failure of modernism
— living in the midst of empire
— the resurrection and judgment
— the kingdom of God and Christian mission
— the return of Jesus and the millennium
— God's promises to IsraelIn Essential Eschatology professors, students and pastors will find a sure guide in a frequently misunderstood and often confusing theological landscape. With the thoroughly biblical perspective found in this book, we discover the future spilling into the present.
