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The Last Things
paperback
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- Length: 336 pages
- Dimensions: 6 × 9 in
- Published: December 02, 2005
- Imprint: IVP Academic
- Item Code: 2757
- ISBN: 9780830827572
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Other Retailers:
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In The Last Things Donald G. Bloesch takes up difficult and sometimes controversial themes such as the coming of the kingdom of God, the return of Jesus Christ, the life hereafter, the millennial hope, the final judgment, hell, heaven, purgatory and paradise.
Wrestling with biblical texts that often take metaphorical form, Bloesch avoids rationalistic reductionism as well as timid agnosticism. While he acknowledges mystery and even paradox, Bloesch finds biblical revelation much more than sufficient to illuminate the central truths of a Christian hope articulated throughout the history of the church.
The Last Things is not just a review of past Christian eschatology but a fresh articulation of the grace and glory of God yet to be consummated. The triumph of the grace of Jesus Christ and the dawning of hope beckon us to reach out in the power of the Spirit to receive that blessed future and the promise to renew the life of the church universal today.
Bloesch begins discussion of each topic with attention to a variety of biblical texts. Then he draws on the insights of Christian thinkers from the Church Fathers to the present, including evangelical, mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, Reformed, and Orthodox. As a result the reader acquires understanding and respect for the breadth of Christian thinking on any particualr topic as well as insight into how such diversity developed.
Bloesch's transparent piety shines through these pages, making theology what it should be, a form of doxology in praise of the Triune God of the gospel and Christian hope.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Preface
1. Introduction
Troeltsch's Typology
Alternate Pathways
Toward a Renewed Church
2. Controversial Themes in Eschatology
The Coming of the Kingdom
The Return of Jesus Christ
The Life Hereafter
The Invisible Communion
Humanity's Final Destiny
The Mission to Israel
3. Light Against Darkness
The Angelic Rebellion
The Victory of Jesus Christ
The Banishment of the Evil Powers
An Excursion on Angelology
4. The Day of the Lord
Christ's Visitation to His Church
The Encounter with Christ at Death
The Last Judgment
The Advance of the Kingdom
Signs of His Coming
The Blessed Hope
Appendix A: The Olivet Discourse
5. The Millennial Hope
Renewed Interest in the Millennium
Premillennialism
Dispensationalism
Amillenialism
Postmillennialism
Idealist-Symbolic Views
Moltmann's Millennial Explorations
Toward a New Understanding of the Millennium
6. The Resurrection of the Dead
The Resurrection of Jesus
Resurrection as Event and Process
The Crisis of Death
The Final Resurrection
7. The Interim State
The Worlds Beyond
Paradise
the Nether World of Spirits
Purgatory
8. The Communion of Saints
Witness of Sacred Tradition
Testimony of Hymns
Mystic Communion Between Earth and Heaven
What This Communion Involves
The Saints in the Work of Redemption
9. Predestined to Glory
The Unfolding of Predestination
Universalism and Particularism
A Theology of Paradox
Openness and Mystery
Appendix B: Theology's Emancipation from Rationalism
10. Israel's Salvation: The Supercessionist Controversy
The Mystery of Israel's Election and Rejection
Judaism and Christianity
Missions to the Jews?
11. The Triumph of Grace
The Last Judgment
The Meaning of Hell
The Glory of Heaven
Grace Invincible
Epilogue
12. The Dawning of Hope
The Ground and Goal of Hope
Self-Transcending Hope
The Certainty of Hope
Relative and Ultimate Hopes
Providence Versus Fate
Faith Versus Cynicism
Beyond Optimism and Pessimism
Faith, Hope and Love
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography of Writings by and about Donald G. Bloesch
Books: Author, Coauthor or Editor
Books: Contributor
Articles and Book Reviews
Books and Articles about Donald G. Bloesch
Translations of Works by Donald G. Bloesch
Index of Names
Index of Subjects
Index of Scripture
