In my last post, I mentioned that, in his foreword to my forthcoming book, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days, Dr. Tom J. Nettles mentions some of its helpful features. That post provided three representative diagrams. He also mentions another feature that helps readers follow the argument I am making:
At the end of sections in which crucial material is added, Rogers summarized the argument into a key point, finally having 14 of these which are conveniently included in an appendix. Throughout the book, they grow gradually into a full expression of his model of eschatology.
As I did with the diagrams, I want to give you some examples of the Key Points in the book.
The third chapter of the book is “Discovering a Better Model.” In it, I argue that the best place to start looking for a prophetic model is in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. In the next chapter—“The Prophecy”—I discuss Jesus’ declaration that the temple would fall: not one stone would be left on another. In that analysis, I make two Key Points:
Key Point #1: The Olivet Discourse is a unit; a single subject controls it from beginning to end. This fact governs our interpretation of it.
Key Point #2: The subject of the Olivet Discourse is Jesus’ prophecy of the temple’s destruction and matters related to that event.
Chapter 5—“The Two Questions: Similarities”—compares the three accounts of the disciples’ two questions they asked in response to Jesus’ prophecy. How similar are these queries in Matthew, Mark, and Luke? This chapter contains two more Key Points:
Key Point #3: The disciples ask two questions. Their when question relates to the subject of the Olivet Discourse—the temple’s destruction and matters related to that event.
Key Point #4: The disciples’ sign question relates to the subject of the Olivet Discourse—the temple’s destruction and matters related to that event.
And so it goes throughout the rest of the book: simple observations taken from the Olivet Discourse and 1 Corinthians 15 accumulate until a full-fledged prophetic framework appears.
I am thankful that Dr. Nettles thought these features helped make a sometimes bewildering subject less baffling. He said, “The basic outline of the inmillennial viewpoint is clear and simple to state.”
McGahan Publishing House plans to publish Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days on August 18, 2020 as the first book in their “Theology & Philosophy” series. They will announce purchasing details soon.
