If you have not made up your mind concerning the “last things,” this book is for you. If you have made up your mind but are seeking an impartial pre¬sentation of other views concerning the millennium and the tribulation, you have found it.
Here in one volume is an even-handed treatment of amillennialism, postmillennialism, and premillennialism, followedby chapters on dispensationalism, pretribulationism, posttribulationism, and mediating tribulational views (midtribulationism, the partial-rapture view, and imminent posttribulationism). To help communicate “the general mood or milieu contributing to the construction” of these evangelical positions, the author devotes the first two chapters to “a number of other alternatives that have been popular in the nine-teenth and twentieth centuries” — including consistent eschatology, realized eschatology, existential eschatology, and the theology of hope.
Each chapter begins with a brief overview that is followed by a history of the position, a more thorough examination of its major concepts and arguments, and finally an evaluation.
The author wrote this book “with the prayer that it will stimulate and encourage the reader’s interest in the important issues of eschatology, deepen his confidence in the fact of the Lord’s blessed coming, stimulate him to ‘search the Scriptures’ to determine the things which are true, and increase his under-standing of and appreciation for the convictions of those whose views differ from his.” Intended primarily as a seminary and college textbook, this volume is useful as well for the pastor and thoughtful layman.