Books on Eschatology

danmpem · #1 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 05:56 AM

What book would you recommend I read so I could get the very best case and representation of your take on eschatology?

Sydnorphyn · #2 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 08:24 AM

Wow, this is a tough one in my opinion; Ridderbos and Ladd come to mind immediately. Karl Barth (on of my favorites - great for "devotions") is also worth engaging; most commentaries on Revelation deal at length with various eschatological positions - see G. Beale's commentary on Revelation and R. Bauckham's work on The Climax of Prophecy and the Theology of the Book of Revelation (these is a great book, expensive - TT Clark). Ok, one more; Adele Collins wrote a wonderful book on Revelation that addresses various eschatological positions (great source on intertestamential positions) - The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation (republished by Wife and Stock) - 1579107168

Ok, I am done

Shabat shalom

john

puritan lad · #3 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 08:41 AM

David Chilton - Days of Vengeance
Kenneth Gentry - Before Jerusalem Fell
Iain Murray - The Puritan Hope

Ivanhoe · #4 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 08:59 AM

George ladd
the kingdom of Christ by Russell Moore.

Anton Bruckner · #5 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 09:30 AM

J Marcellus Kik, "An Eschatology of Victory"

Ivanhoe · #6 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 09:36 AM

Keith Mathison probably has the best intro to Postmillennialism.
Riddlebarger is acclaimed for amillennialism (he swung hard and fast in this book, but he didn't always connect; a decent presentation of amil).

I have read some graet essays by premillennialists, but no books. The best presentations (which ultimately convinced me) were the relevant sections in Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, Craig Blaising's essay in Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond

toddpedlar · #7 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slippery

J Marcellus Kik, "An Eschatology of Victory"

Add to Kik the brief work "The Destruction of Jerusalem" by Holford, and with these, add the aforementioned "The Puritan Hope" by Murray and "Biblical Apocalyptics" by Terry which round out the package.

AV1611 · #8 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danmpem

What book would you recommend I read so I could get the very best case and representation of your take on eschatology?

A Case for Amillennialism by Riddlebarger
Daniel

Daniel by Edward J Young

More than Conquerors by William Hendriksen
Behold He Cometh by Hoeksema

Misc articles

Also: Riddleblog - Reformed Amillennialism

Pergamum · #9 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 02:18 PM

I will have to agree with Spear Dane (twice in one day..a regular love fest) and AV1611 on this one.......

PuritanBouncer · #10 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 02:31 PM

Amazon.com: Last Days Madness: Obsession of the...

ANT · #11 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddpedlar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slippery

J Marcellus Kik, "An Eschatology of Victory"

Add to Kik the brief work "The Destruction of Jerusalem" by Holford, and with these, add the aforementioned "The Puritan Hope" by Murray and "Biblical Apocalyptics" by Terry which round out the package.

I have read Biblical Hermeneutics By: Terry
I have always wanted to read Biblical Apocalyptics!
I haven't had time yet ... What did you think/like about it?

Daniel Ritchie · #12 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 09:43 AM

The best postmillennial book is Kenneth Gentry's He Shall Have Dominion.

VirginiaHuguenot · #13 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 10:11 AM

William Symington, Messiah the Prince
Loraine Boettner, The Millennium
Samuel Miller, The Earth Filled With the Glory of the Lord
Jonathan Edwards, History of the Work of Redemption
Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope
J. Marcellus Kik, An Eschatology of Victory

Dieter Schneider · #14 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danmpem

What book would you recommend I read so I could get the very best case and representation of your take on eschatology?

William Hendriksen 'The Bible on the life hereafter'
Samuel Waldron
Audio Lectures by Al Martin (scroll for The return of Jesus in New Testament belief and experience)
Monergism site
John Murray (various articles in his Collected Writings)
Misc.

Also check here

I am an optimistic A-Mill.

greenbaggins · #15 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 11:29 AM

I really like Hoekema's (not Hoeksema!) book The Bible and the Future. Venema's book The Promise of the Future is also excellent. Then for the interaction of various views, the Blaising book Three Views.

Daniel Ritchie · #16 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 05:23 PM

John Jefferson Davis' Christ's Victorious Kingdom might be useful - but I think its out of print.

KMK · #17 (**permalink**) 12-31-2007, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dieter Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by danmpem

What book would you recommend I read so I could get the very best case and representation of your take on eschatology?

William Hendriksen 'The Bible on the life hereafter'
Samuel Waldron
Audio Lectures by Al Martin (scroll for The return of Jesus in New Testament belief and experience)
Monergism site
John Murray (various articles in his Collected Writings)
Misc.

Also check here

I am an optimistic A-Mill.

I have also enjoyed Waldron's notes!

DMcFadden · #18 (**permalink**) 01-03-2008, 03:08 PM

OK, full disclosure, George Ladd was my prof in seminary. Most anything by Ladd (except for his mediocre Revelation commentary) rings true to me.

If you want a fair treatment of the millennial question: Clouse's The Meaning of the Millennium is great for pro-con dialogue. If you want to look at options among premillennialists, try Stan Gundry's Three Views on the Rapture.

Erickson's theology has a fair statement of the eschatological positions as does Grudem. Not to be passed over, Loraine Boettner's The Millennium can be gotten from Doxa along with 9 (!!!) of his other books in computer form for only $10 (Ten Boettner books for $10, wow!).

JM · #19 (**permalink**) 01-03-2008, 03:52 PM

The best work on Premillennialism:

THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM: The Theocratic Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus, the Christ, as Covenanted in the Old Testament and Presented in the New Testament contents

Quote:

Reprint Edition; Three volumes
Kregel Publications, 2175 pgs.
ISBN: 0825435404
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches

One of the most exhaustive pre-millennial works ever written on the Kingdom of God exhibiting profound scholarship and extensive study of literature, history, science, theology, and prophecy. Peters quotes from over 4,000 different authorities from the early church fathers to the end of the 19th century. Peters unfolds the entire scope of prophetic truth related to the Kingdom. The complete work in three volumes!

George N. H. Peters (1825-1909), during a long life of increasingly debilitating sickness and near-blindness, produced the most exhaustive single work of pre-millennial thought ever published. Born in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, and after graduating from Wittenberg College, he pastored a number of Lutheran churches in Ohio.

His encroaching blindness, however, did not stop him from writing several commentaries on New Testament books and other subjects, although The Theocratic Kingdom is the only work presently in print.

His bio:

Quote:

George N. H. Peters (1825-1909) is one of the most mysterious and fascinating premillennial scholars of the nineteenth century. Giving most of his life to a study of the return of the Lord, he penned the classic three-volume work, The Theocratic Kingdom. The title actually continues: . . . of our Lord Jesus, The Christ, as Covenanted in The Old Testament and Presented in The New Testament. Why he was so driven in his premillennial convictions (yet being a Lutheran), is not fully known, except he was apparently influenced by the great Lutheran prophecy scholar, Dr. S. S. Schmucker. Schmucker also taught and inspired Joseph A. Seiss.

Peters attended and later graduated from Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, in 1850. He held pastorates in Xenia and Springfield. How and when he began writing The Theocratic Kingdom is not clear. But he must have read hundreds, if not thousands, of references in theology (especially prophecy), history, science, and literature. Years must have passed before the 2,100 pages (some in small print) were completed. Amazingly, Peters has over four thousand quotes in this work. The "author lived and worked in an oblivion that seems almost mysterious, and experienced so little recognition at the time of the [first] publication of his work that one must almost believe that there was an organized determination to ignore its appearance" (Smith).

Though Peters lived during a period when there was an explosion of interest in Bible prophecy both in America and England, there was great opposition to such studies in the circles within which he lived. Peters writes of "deep despondency" because of criticism from brethren who opposed him. For many years in Springfield, a hundred laymen and pastors met for weekly prophecy studies. But he writes, his love of the prophetic Word brought upon him bitter and unrelenting abuse. Peters never fully explains the nature of the opposition. He writes that "his motive is assailed, his piety is doubted, his character is privately and publicly traduced, his learning and ability are lowered." All in "the defense of the truth."

In the introduction to The Theocratic Kingdom, Peters writes that all things are "tending toward the kingdom to be hereafter established by Christ, that the dispensations from Adam, to the present are only preparatory stages for its coming manifestation." He adds "that we cannot properly comprehend the Divine economy. . . unless we . . . consider the manifestation of its ultimate result as exhibited in this [coming] kingdom." Peters believed that modern rationalists had given untrustworthy definitions to the kingdom and we must return "to accept of the old view of the kingdom as the one clearly taught by the prophets, Jesus, the disciples, the apostles." Finally, Peters writes, after long investigation he was compelled with a sense of duty to publish his work. He notes he tried to set forth "the Millenarian views of the ancient and modern believers, and [to be] paving the way for a more strict and consistent interpretation of the kingdom, this itself would already be sufficient justification for its publication."

The Theocratic Kingdom may be one of the most complete compilations of quotes from all the writings of the last two thousand years dealing with the kingdom and the literal return of Christ to earth.

Peace,

j

Daniel Ritchie · #20 (**permalink**) 01-07-2008, 10:45 AM

A good general introduction to eschatology, written from an amillennial perspective, is W.J. Grier's small book The Momentous Event (published by Banner of Truth)

danmpem · #21 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 06:09 AM

Thank you all! I just got my supply of books in the mail, so I have plenty to chew on for a while.

David_A_Reed · #22 (**permalink**) 04-23-2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danmpem

What book would you recommend I read so I could get the very best case and representation of your take on eschatology?

My take on eschatology would be found in my own book on the subject. But you don't need to buy a copy to read it. I have recently completed converting it to HTML, so you can read (and search) it online for free at Left Behind Answered Verse by Verse.

Links now allow the online reader to go directly to prophetic passages illuminated by quotes from Calvin, Knox, Luther, Wesley, Spurgeon and many others.