In God's Time
The Bible and the Future
Author Craig C. Hill ISBN 9780802860903 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date September 27, 2002 Size 152 x 229 mm
Enormous confusion exists today concerning the Bible's teaching about the future. Millions of contemporary Christians are caught up in "rapture" fever, evidenced by the phenomenal success of the Left
Enormous confusion exists today concerning the Bible's teaching about the future. Millions of contemporary Christians are caught up in "rapture" fever, evidenced by the phenomenal success of the Left Behind novels. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those, such as the leaders of the Jesus Seminar, who believe that Jesus did not teach about the approaching Kingdom of God.
In God's Time offers an alternative to these two poles in the debate, an alternative that is at once faithful and sane, readable and scholarly. Author Craig C. Hill encourages Christians both to take seriously and to think sensibly about the hope of God's ultimate victory. His new book includes chapters on the nature of the Bible, the history of prophecy, the meaning of apocalyptic writings, the interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, the expectations of Jesus, and the hopes of the early Christians. It also includes an appendix ("Not Left Behind") on the subject of the rapture.
Endorsed by a wide array of top scholars and church leaders, In God's Time is a reliable guide to this often bewildering but always fascinating subject.
In God's Time offers an alternative to these two poles in the debate, an alternative that is at once faithful and sane, readable and scholarly. Author Craig C. Hill encourages Christians both to take seriously and to think sensibly about the hope of God's ultimate victory. His new book includes chapters on the nature of the Bible, the history of prophecy, the meaning of apocalyptic writings, the interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, the expectations of Jesus, and the hopes of the early Christians. It also includes an appendix ("Not Left Behind") on the subject of the rapture.
Endorsed by a wide array of top scholars and church leaders, In God's Time is a reliable guide to this often bewildering but always fascinating subject.
Eugene Peterson
author of The Message
"Sane, convincing, biblical writing. Pastors, teachers, and parents — all of us who are responsible for providing Christian guidance through the verbal clutter and emotional hysteria associated with the 'end times' — will welcome Craig Hill's accessible and timely teaching."
Graham Stanton
University of Cambridge
"This is a splendid, well-written book on a topic of continuing importance for the health of the church. A gifted teacher and a wise guide, Craig Hill explains the Bible's teaching on 'God's time' clearly and judiciously. He doesn't assume any prior knowledge, nor does he duck the awkward questions his readers are likely to have. His book is packed with helpful insights for a wide range of readers. Many will wish the could have read this book years ago."
A. Katherine Grieb
Virginia Theological Seminary
"Thanks to Craig Hill for this powerful and timely word calling the church to take seriously its eschatological beginnings. A must-read for understanding the Christian faith."
Luke Timothy Johnson
Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"Hill writes for Christians who don't know what (or how)to think about the End Time and what Scripture sa s about it. He tackles the hard questions and comes up with answers that are both specific and remarkably sane. While completely informed by the best scholarship, his prose is lively, unaffected, and clear. Here is the sort of writing too seldom found — work by an expert who actually says something helpful to ordinary people."
Pheme Perkins
Boston College
"Every Sunday Christians confess belief in the 'last things' — the second coming of Jesus, resurrection of the dead, and final judgment. Hill here provides students, pastors, and interested laity with a much-needed guide to New Testament eschatology and its Jewish roots. He includes a helpful guide to reading apocalypses like Daniel and Revelation and explains the origins of contemporary beliefs about 'the rapture.' This book should be required seminary reading. Christians living in the twenty-first century need not abandon the core elements of their ancestors' faith."
Walter Brueggemann
Columbia Theological Seminary
"Craig Hill's book ranges widely over the biblical text to consider the way the Bible hopes. The book is attentive to the many different nuances given the permeating act of hope in Scripture.Hill shows how characteristic and crucial is hope for biblical faith and yet how liable it is to distortion and misreading. His book is an invitation to rethink the odd claim of faith in a cultural context where hope is either impossible or transposed into fanciful escape."
Charlotte Allen
author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus
"This is a wonderful study of the book of Revelation and of Jesus' own words in the Gospels about the End Times. Hill argues persuasively that these texts require neither an ultraliteral 'left behind' interpretation nor the skepticism of the Jesus Seminar, which has dismissed the texts as inauthentic. Hill demonstrates that apocalyptic literature was a popular Jewish religious genre during Jesus' time, a poetic wat of talking about God's dramatic intervention in the world on behalf of his people. To the earliest Christians, who were all Jewish, the culmination of that intervention was, of course, Jesus himself."
Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
"When Christians talk about the end of the world, they often think that they are repeating what the Bible says when in fact the text is far more subtle and interesting. Craig Hill is both a first-rate scholar and a lucid communicator, and he manages in this admirable book to clarify decisively what Scripture does and doesn't say about the last days. He cuts through much nonsense and helps us see the really important themes in the texts he discusses. "
Richard B. Wilke
founder of the DISCIPLE Bible study series
"Such clarity, such vigor, such color! I love the metaphors, down-home examples, and faith insights — mixed right in with erudite scholarship. In God's Time is a must-read book for all serious students of Scripture. "
Tony Campolo
Eastern University
"Craig Hill has done the Christian community a great service by spelling out in a sensible, scholarly, and readable manner what the Bible says about the end times. At a time when popular books on the second coming are leading to confusion and a right-wi
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author of The Message
"Sane, convincing, biblical writing. Pastors, teachers, and parents — all of us who are responsible for providing Christian guidance through the verbal clutter and emotional hysteria associated with the 'end times' — will welcome Craig Hill's accessible and timely teaching."
Graham Stanton
University of Cambridge
"This is a splendid, well-written book on a topic of continuing importance for the health of the church. A gifted teacher and a wise guide, Craig Hill explains the Bible's teaching on 'God's time' clearly and judiciously. He doesn't assume any prior knowledge, nor does he duck the awkward questions his readers are likely to have. His book is packed with helpful insights for a wide range of readers. Many will wish the could have read this book years ago."
A. Katherine Grieb
Virginia Theological Seminary
"Thanks to Craig Hill for this powerful and timely word calling the church to take seriously its eschatological beginnings. A must-read for understanding the Christian faith."
Luke Timothy Johnson
Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"Hill writes for Christians who don't know what (or how)to think about the End Time and what Scripture sa s about it. He tackles the hard questions and comes up with answers that are both specific and remarkably sane. While completely informed by the best scholarship, his prose is lively, unaffected, and clear. Here is the sort of writing too seldom found — work by an expert who actually says something helpful to ordinary people."
Pheme Perkins
Boston College
"Every Sunday Christians confess belief in the 'last things' — the second coming of Jesus, resurrection of the dead, and final judgment. Hill here provides students, pastors, and interested laity with a much-needed guide to New Testament eschatology and its Jewish roots. He includes a helpful guide to reading apocalypses like Daniel and Revelation and explains the origins of contemporary beliefs about 'the rapture.' This book should be required seminary reading. Christians living in the twenty-first century need not abandon the core elements of their ancestors' faith."
Walter Brueggemann
Columbia Theological Seminary
"Craig Hill's book ranges widely over the biblical text to consider the way the Bible hopes. The book is attentive to the many different nuances given the permeating act of hope in Scripture.Hill shows how characteristic and crucial is hope for biblical faith and yet how liable it is to distortion and misreading. His book is an invitation to rethink the odd claim of faith in a cultural context where hope is either impossible or transposed into fanciful escape."
Charlotte Allen
author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus
"This is a wonderful study of the book of Revelation and of Jesus' own words in the Gospels about the End Times. Hill argues persuasively that these texts require neither an ultraliteral 'left behind' interpretation nor the skepticism of the Jesus Seminar, which has dismissed the texts as inauthentic. Hill demonstrates that apocalyptic literature was a popular Jewish religious genre during Jesus' time, a poetic wat of talking about God's dramatic intervention in the world on behalf of his people. To the earliest Christians, who were all Jewish, the culmination of that intervention was, of course, Jesus himself."
Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
"When Christians talk about the end of the world, they often think that they are repeating what the Bible says when in fact the text is far more subtle and interesting. Craig Hill is both a first-rate scholar and a lucid communicator, and he manages in this admirable book to clarify decisively what Scripture does and doesn't say about the last days. He cuts through much nonsense and helps us see the really important themes in the texts he discusses. "
Richard B. Wilke
founder of the DISCIPLE Bible study series
"Such clarity, such vigor, such color! I love the metaphors, down-home examples, and faith insights — mixed right in with erudite scholarship. In God's Time is a must-read book for all serious students of Scripture. "
Tony Campolo
Eastern University
"Craig Hill has done the Christian community a great service by spelling out in a sensible, scholarly, and readable manner what the Bible says about the end times. At a time when popular books on the second coming are leading to confusion and a right-wi