This morning I am ploughing my way through ‘The Stars will Fall from Heaven’ by Edward Adams. This book offers a challange to N.T. Wright’s view that cosmic catastrophe language in the N.T can often be reduced to socio-political events. Mark 13 being the obvious example. The SBL website somes up its contents.
The aim of this book is to establish and explore New Testament belief in the end of the world through an investigation of texts which – on the face of it – contain ‘end of the world’ language. It engages with recent discussion on how Jewish and early Christian ‘end of the world’ was meant to be understood, and interacts especially with N.T. Wright’s proposals.
A book review is found here.
In complete contrast to this I am also half way through the book The Coming of the Son of Man by Andrew Perriman. In this book he argues that ‘the central action of New Testament eschatology has not been reserved for a grand finale at the end of our world.’ A fulcrum review is found here.
If I had to choose between the two I would go for Perriman as his book is significantly cheaper….. In fact I think that Perriman and Adams go too far with their respective positions. As an anglcian I know that the true way is always the middle way……..
I read ‘The Coming of the Son of Man’ about a year ago. I thought it was quite engaging, and I sympathise quite a bit with Preterism. That said, I would agree that Perriman takes his understanding of it to an point I’m not comfortable with.
In the interpretation of cosmic apocoliptic language I fall a lot closer to Wright than either full Preterism on the one hand or U.S. style Dispensational ‘literalism’ on the other.
By: m slater on November 17, 2008
at 3:13 pm