2014 Word Guild Award (Biblical Studies)
Named a 2014 Jesus Creed Book of the Year (Theology)
Best Theology Book of 2014, Englewood Review of Books
Best Book of Biblical Studies for 2014, Hearts & Minds Books
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.
Publishers Weekly,Theologian Middleton tackles a huge question: is a glorious afterlife the best hope Christianity can offer, or does the promise of a new, redeemed Earth give humans hope for today? His biblically grounded answer is the latter. To make a convincing argument for what he calls "holistic eschatology," he goes through both testaments of the Bible, deep down to its Greek- and Hebrew-language roots, and also takes on the received wisdom of many a Christian hymn that extols the far-off heavenly shore, provocatively calling the latter "singing lies in church." Most of the book is more carefully footnoted than provocatively put, in keeping with the rules for academic persuasion. But the implications for lived faith are bold, and the air this brings into theological discourse about what God intends for human creation is fresh and bracing. (Dec.) ??? Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
