The book, Things To Come - A Study in Biblical Eschatology, written by Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, presents a prophetic study of the end times. According to Dr. John F. Walvoord, in the Introduction to the book, Dr. Pentecost has proficiently employed the tools of exegesis, synthesis, hermeneutics, and theological system in putting together this work. Dr. Walvoord writes:
Dr. Pentecost has with rare skill dealt with many controversial issues, has met and solved many prophetic problems, and has provided in large measure the substance of the prophetic Word in systematic and theological form [1].
Dr. Pentecost begins this text by examining the various ways to interpret prophesy. He discusses the allegorical and literal methods, mentions how prophesy has been interpreted throughout the history of the Bible, and then adds discussion about some of the basic rules which should be used for interpreting prophetic Scriptures. Included among these rules are techniques for interpreting words into their natural sense, for putting passages into their proper context, for understanding and recognizing the historical significance of a prophetic passage, for dealing with the grammatical rules of the original language, and for dealing with figurative and literal passages. These five rules closely parallel the rules which are presented by Dr. Towns in Theology Today [2].
In Section Two, Dr. Pentecost presents the seven dispensations and the respective covenant which goes with each. In Section Three, he describes several rapture theories, including the Partial Rapture Theory, the Posttribulation Rapture Theory, the Midtribulation Rapture Theory, and the Pretribulation Rapture Theory. Following these two sections, he begins to develop his own conclusions about the end times, conclusions which are based largely on his own personal belief in a Pretribulational Rapture [3].
In this 583-page book, the first 218 pages serve almost exclusively as an Introduction. On page 217, Dr. Pentecost admits that he is a Pretribulationalist, but before discussing all the ramifications of that theory, he has first laid some solid groundwork for the reader. By the time that the reader has reached the part of this book which deals with the events of the church after the rapture, he has already been thoroughly prepared. Dr. Pentecost goes to great lengths to show why the Pretribulation Rapture Theory is the most logical Rapture Theory. In so doing, he has not left any lose ends in either his analyses or his presentation.
Sticking closely to the traditional Pretribulational, Premillennial points of view, Dr. Pentecost next discusses the judgment seat of Christ, the marriage supper, and the significant events of the Tribulation. In Section Four, he shows how the church, the Holy Spirit, the nation of Israel, and the Gentiles are involved with the Tribulation. Since the Amillennialists maintain some different views about these various entities during the Tribulation, the author's discussion on these matters adds to the reader's overall understanding. The final three sections of this book discuss Christ's second advent, the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom, and what the author describes as the eternal state.
A good, overall feature of this book is that all of the sections are relatively short, one or two pages, and nicely organized. This makes the entire text very readable and much easier to understand. For my Graded Learning Activity in Theology 510, "Survey of Christian Doctrine," I used this book as one of my reference texts, and I quickly discovered it to be a very valuable resource. I wrote my paper on Christ's Millennial Kingdom, and throughout, I was impressed by Dr. Pentecost's thorough handling of each Millennial topic. Because of his detail and comprehensive explanations, his discussions were a great help to me in better understanding my subject.
The topics which are presented in this book are adequately described by the title of the book and sufficiently covered within its pages. Dr. Pentecost has clearly discussed all of the relevant events and topics which are involved with the Rapture and the Second Advent, including those events and topics which occur both before and after each. While he could have simply presented his own personal beliefs and gone no further, he did not. Instead, he offered a clear explanation of all the important alternative theories, such as those for the Rapture and the Millennium, and then, he stated his position and his reasons for that position. This book has a comprehensive, easy to use index and a Scripture index, both of which are very useful. My opinion is that this text would make a good reference book in anyone's theological library.
1. John F. Walvoord, Introduction, Things To Come - A Study In Biblical Eschatology by J. Dwight Pentecost (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), pp. ix-x.
2. Elmer Towns, Theology Today (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1989), pp. 85-87.
3. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come - A Study In Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), p. 218.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
GLA 2 - Critique of "Major Bible Themes"
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