Description
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.
Product Excerpts and Related Resources
Reviews
“Writing about eschatology is an exceedingly risky business, involving as it does our deepest fears and longings. In this fine volume, Greg Carey surveys the biblical canon with intelligence, honesty, and even wit. The results place before readers the diverse witness of the Bible to hope in God’s good future. An important, accessible read!”
—Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Helen H. P. Manson Professor Emerita of New Testament Literature and Exegesis, Princeton Theological Seminary
“Scripture’s many and varied perspectives on eschatology require slow and careful analysis—especially for those of us who preach and teach. Carey shepherds us through the process in this volume by deftly raising interpretive hurdles and outlining the rhetorical agendas that motivate biblical authors. The proposals in this book are timely and crucial for those who want to reflect on the future that awaits us individually, collectively, and ecologically.”
—Donyelle C. McCray, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School
“In Death, the End of History, and Beyond, Greg Carey is a consummate tour guide and teacher, drawing readers into conversation about ultimate questions regarding the very shape and future of the world and the possibility of life beyond death. Modeling an uncommon and refreshing epistemic humility, Carey invites the audience behind the curtain, emphasizing the limits of our knowledge and the rich diversity of ancient and modern views. Like the sources he examines, Carey’s own work is both creative and constructive. It is also eminently practical, foregrounding the consequences of eschatology for moral imagination and equipping preachers to proclaim Christian hope.”
—Anathea Portier-Young, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School
“Greg Carey has done us a great service. In this careful examination of the Bible’s multiple eschatological traditions and texts, we are offered a thoughtful and thorough exploration of the biblical writers’ richly differing visions of the future of the world, of history and time as we know it, of what lies beyond death, and, crucially, of how these perspectives impinge on the present. The author also gives good counsel on how these texts and themes may be preached. The approach is exegetical, theological, and deeply pastoral, with rich connections repeatedly drawn between biblical perspectives and our contemporary situations and worldviews. An invaluable resource for preaching and teaching.”
—Paul Simpson Duke, Copastor of First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor and author of The Parables: A Preaching Commentary