Eschatology And The Saviour

Focusing on dialogue gospels and the 'Gospel of Mary', this book highlights the complexity and diversity of early Christian literature.

This volume makes a systematic theological statement in light of the unique revelation of God and humankind that has come to us in Jesus, the Messiah, as recorded in Scripture. It is the companion to the author's 'Jesus Christ Our Lord' (1987, 1990). There are chapters on Jesus Christ as the lens through which we receive theological insight, revelation, God, humanity, the Holy Spirit, the church, and last things, all understood through God's self-disclosure in Christ. From within the Anabaptist theological tradition, Kraus offers a biblically oriented alternative to rationalistic orthodoxy and to liberalism. He takes Scripture as the normative witness to the meaning of Christ, the authoritative source for theological reflection, and thus makes a thoroughly evangelical statement. Yet this evangel begins with salvation as newness of life in resurrection with Christ, not simply as juridical justification. The emphasis is on God as source of creative potential rather than on God as instigator of legal judgment. Christ, the Second Adam, the truest image of God, is both the climax of creation and the means through which humanity can attain that image and respond to God in personal relationship. Kraus views the Holy Spirit as the enlivening presence of the risen Christ, the church as the continuing saving mission of Christ, and eschatology as the victory of Christ over the powers of evil and death.

Includes the following: The Christian Hope and the Sure Word of Prophecy. The Jews in relation to the Coming of the Lord. The Gentiles in relation to the Coming of the Lord. The Church of God in Relation to the Coming of the Lord. The Rapture of the Saints Raised or Changed at Christ's Coming. The Tribulation, and those who are to pass through it. The Appearing and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The Judgment and the Eternal State. On the Lord's Announcement of Gentile Judgments.

"The reader must understand is a more forceful translation of the words usually rendered ""let the reader understand"" in Mark 13:14. Translated this way, this volume's title stresses the importance of eschatology for Bible readers and theologians. Eschatology, the study of ""the last things,"" is central to New Testament studies and, indeed, is not without importance for the Old Testament. The Bible's eschatology and its place in Christian theology must therefore be taken very seriously. The essays in this volume, most of which were presented at the Tyndale Fellowship Triennial Conference 1997, offer new and important ideas and analysis. They cover five main areas--biblical theology, Old Testament, New Testament, Christian doctrine, and practical theology--and significant contributions are made in each area "

Schwarz guides readers through the range of opinions on the subject of the future, telling how readers' understanding of eschatology has developed and laying out the factors that must be considered when speaking meaningfully about the Christian hope in the 21st century. He surveys the teachings about the future in the Old and New Testaments and addresses the views of Christian and secular thinkers throughout history.