Many Christians look to the Bible for answers to what happens at the end of our lives, to the history of the world, and beyond this realm. In Death, the End of History, and Beyond, Greg Carey offers resources for dealing with multiple, even conflicting, ways that the Bible imagines these ultimate realities, read against the background of extrabiblical texts. Laying out an interpretive framework for approaching eschatological texts, Carey explores eschatology in the wider ancient Near East and Mediterranean, in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in ancient Judaism, before delving into eschatology’s bearing on the good news of Jesus Christ through a reading of apocalyptic motifs as reflected throughout the New Testament. Working from a Christian theological perspective, Carey offers a proposal for how contemporary Christians might imagine the kingdom of God, the second coming, and the course of history, without opting for simplistic predictive readings of the Scriptures. Instead, Carey opens up the Scriptures with a breadth of insight that acknowledges its diversity of viewpoints about what lies beyond the veil. Death, the End of History, and Beyond demonstrates how, in all its diversity, the Scriptures center hope in God’s action to bring good out of evil now, in our personal journeys through death, and in visions of resurrection and justice restored.
An appendix on preaching invites clergy to help their communities imagine when and how eschatology is important to our lived realities.
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