
This review is reported from the Journal for Theology and Ministry. For free access to more articles and reviews, click the link.
Ched Spellman is an adjunct professor and PhD student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is in the process of completing his dissertation Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of Scripture. He also has his own blog, chedspellman.com.
Who cares about eschatology? In many circles this query would receive a sharply negative response: no one. We live in a society where increasing numbers of people are becoming less concerned than ever about being “left behind.” However, the churches have the privilege and responsibility of demonstrating the urgent need for clear thinking about what will happen at the “end of days.” Because extravagant caricatures of biblically based eschatological reflection are not hard to find, there is a consistent need for balanced discourse about the end times and the return of Christ. In this volume, David Allen and Steve Lemke seek to provide a cogent and reflective presentation of these issues from a “premillennial perspective.”
Allen and Lemke divide the volume into two main parts that serve two different purposes. In part one, they gather the messages given at the Acts 1:11 Conference that took place in 2009 at North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The presenters are all prominent figures within the Southern Baptist Convention and each deal with an important eschatological topic. Jerry Vines begins the volume with a sermon on the central text that served as the launch pad for the conference. From the words of the heavenly messengers spoken to the disciples after Jesus’ ascension, Vines exhorts believers to be “soul winners” rather than “stargazers.” He also highlights the theme of the volume and the motivation for believers to think carefully about eschatology by pointing to the promise that “this same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come” (Acts 1:11).
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