Читать книгу Understanding the New Testament and the End Times, Second Edition - Rob Dalrymple - Страница 6

We chose to produce a second edition for one simple reason. I believe even more deeply now than I did five years ago when I published the first edition of this book (under the title Understanding Eschatology: Why it Matters) that the perspective presented in this book is critical for Christians—both in terms of our understanding of the Bible and for the discernment of our call as Christians to take the gospel to the nations. This was and remains the central purpose of this book.

I also wrote this book to provide an understanding of the New Testament and the end times that will help counter some of the popular misconceptions. It is my conviction that such misconceptions have had at least two significant effects: First, the popular conception that the end times are something wholly future and, for those who espouse a pre-tribulation rapture theology, something that Christians are somehow exempt from enduring has contributed to a widespread complacency among many Christians. Why bother really living as Christ has called us when, even if the tribulation were to come tomorrow, we will be taken out of the way? Secondly, the failure to understand the church’s mission in terms of carrying forward the kingdom of God, as inaugurated by Christ, has contributed to a failure on the part of the Church to remain focused on our mission.

These two motivations for writing this book remain. In fact, I believe even more deeply than before that the material in this book is vital for the Church today. There was, however, one consistent bit of negative feedback on the first edition: because many did not know what “eschatology” (the study of the end times) meant, the title turned them off from the book.

So Wipf and Stock and I decided to publish a second edition under a new title (Understanding the New Testament and the End Times: Why it Matters) that is more understandable and yet perhaps more accurately captures the essence of the book, which is to help readers understand the New Testament and the end times so that they might recognize the significance of the New Testament’s message for their lives.

The text of the original edition is largely unchanged. The most consistent alteration has been to exchange “eschatology” in most of its occurrences for “end times.” Note that this is not always possible. There are some instances in which the word “eschatology” is just necessary. The reader, however, will find that in those few instances the meaning of “eschatology” (the study of the end times) should be fairly apparent.

In Christ

Rob Dalrymple

Mar 2018