A New Heaven and a New Earth

Author: J. Richard Middleton
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441241388
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
In recent years, more and more Christians have come to appreciate the Bible's teaching that the ultimate blessed hope for the believer is not an otherworldly heaven; instead, it is full-bodied participation in a new heaven and a new earth brought into fullness through the coming of God's kingdom. Drawing on the full sweep of the biblical narrative, J. Richard Middleton unpacks key Old Testament and New Testament texts to make a case for the new earth as the appropriate Christian hope. He suggests its ethical and ecclesial implications, exploring the difference a holistic eschatology can make for living in a broken world.

Essential Eschatology

Author: John E. Phelan Jr.
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830864652
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
Study of eschatology often gets bogged down in minutiae that rarely seems to affect daily life. Avoiding this trap, John Phelan gets to the heart of the matter by examining how Christian hope and practice of resurrection impact everything.

Salvation Means Creation Healed

Author: Howard A. Snyder
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1608998886
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 279

Book Description
The Bible promises the renewal of all creation--a new heaven and earth--based on the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For centuries this promise has been sidelined or misunderstood because of the church's failure to grasp the full meaning of biblical teachings on creation and new creation. The Bible tells the story of the broken and restored relationship between God, people, and land, not just God and people. This is the full gospel, and it has the power to heal the church's long theological divorce between earth and heaven. Jesus' resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit is the key, and the church as Christ's body is the primary means by which God is reconciling all things through Jesus Christ. Jesus' ultimate healing of all creation is the great hope and promise of the gospel, and he calls the church to be his healing community now through evangelism, discipleship, and prophetic mission.

Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be

Author: J. Richard Middleton
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 9780830818563
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
J. Richard Middleton and Brian J. Walsh offer an introduction, evaluation and response to postmodern culture that comes straight from the heart of the gospel.

The Liberating Image

Author: J. Richard Middleton
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1587431106
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Offers a deeply informed take on a key Christian doctrine and its interpretation and relevance today.

Abraham's Silence

Author: J. Richard Middleton
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493430882
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
It is traditional to think we should praise Abraham for his willingness to sacrifice his son as proof of his love for God. But have we misread the point of the story? Is it possible that a careful reading of Genesis 22 could reveal that God was not pleased with Abraham's silent obedience? Widely respected biblical theologian, creative thinker, and public speaker J. Richard Middleton suggests we have misread and misapplied the story of the binding of Isaac and shows that God desires something other than silent obedience in difficult times. Middleton focuses on the ethical and theological problem of Abraham's silence and explores the rich biblical tradition of vigorous prayer, including the lament psalms, as a resource for faith. Middleton also examines the book of Job in terms of God validating Job's lament as "right speech," showing how the vocal Job provides an alternative to the silent Abraham. This book provides a fresh interpretation of Genesis 22 and reinforces the church's resurgent interest in lament as an appropriate response to God.

Grounded in Heaven

Author: Michael Allen
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467451266
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Book Description
Eschatology and ethics are joined at the hip, says Michael Allen, and both need theocentric reorientation. In Grounded in Heaven Allen retrieves the traditional concept of the beatific vision and seeks to bring Christ back into the heart of our theology and our lives on earth. Responding to the earthly-mindedness of much recent theology, Allen places his focus on God and the heavenly future while also appreciating ways in which the Reformed tradition provides a unique angle on broadly catholic concerns. Reaching back to classical ethics as well as its reformation by Calvin and other Reformed theologians, Grounded in Heaven offers a distinctly Protestant account of the ascetical calling to be heavenly-minded and to deny one’s self.

New Creation Eschatology and the Land

Author: Steven L. James
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498245242
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
What will the final state of the redeemed look like? Throughout the history of the church, conceptions of the final state have tended to minimize the promise of the new heavens and new earth. In contrast to the historical dominance of spiritual, heavenly, non-temporal conceptions of the final state, the last two decades have witnessed a rise in conceptions that include the redemption of material, earthly, and temporal reality. These "new creation" conceptions have included proposals regarding the fulfillment of Old Testament land promises. In New Creation Eschatology and the Land, Steven L. James argues that in recent new creation conceptions of the final state there is a logical inconsistency between the use of Old Testament texts to inform a renewed earth and the exclusion of the territory of Israel from that renewed earth. By examining a select group of new creationists, James shows that the exclusion of the territorial restoration of Israel in a new creation conception fails to appreciate the role of the particular territory in Old Testament prophetic texts and results in an inconsistent new creationism.

Surprised by Hope

Author: N. T. Wright
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0061551821
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it.

At the Scent of Water

Author: J. Gerald Janzen
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 080284829X
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 153

Book Description
"On the basis of a study of "east wind" in the Bible -- "whirlwind" in Job -- Janzen proposes that the prominence God gives to rain in Job 38, with its renewal of the parched earth and the ensuing vigor of all forms of life, signals God's response to Job's thirst, heals Job's bitterness, and restores him to a life at the end of which he dies contented. Janzen demonstrates how life-crippling bitterness is transcended and hope in life's worthwhileness is restored in the face of grievous evil. The resolution of the Joban question lies not in a vindication of divine justice but, rather, in God's renewal of Job's appetite for life. Janzen underscores this interpretation with a candid epilogue on his own struggle with aggressive prostate cancer, which enabled him to connect personally with Job's story and to find a fresh and illuminating grace."--From publisher description.