The Puritans The Millennium And The Future Of Israel

A collection of essays by several scholars, this book is an important study of the origins of post- and pre-millennialism in English theology. Initially, it is shown how the early Lutherans or reformers of the sixteenth century adopted the traditional Augustinian eschatology, a doctrine concerned with the end of the world or of humankind. It analyses how Luther paved the way for the interpretation of revelation not as heralding an apocalypse, but as an important historical and political event. For many Puritans this meant the collapse of the Papacy, the restoration of the Jews, and the dawn of a period of glory for the Church. This book traces the hopes and fears of Christians presented with the prophesised apocalypse, which was at this time felt to be imminent. It discusses the manner in which dogma was adapted to suit the interpretations of each religious sect, and the impact which historical events such as the thirty years war, exerted on these theologians. This is a clear discussion on the important elements of millennialism, and is particularly interesting set in the context of comparing these deeply religious views with our own modern thoughts upon entering a new millennium.

Puritanism was an intensely eschatological movement. From the beginnings of the movement, Puritan writers developed eschatological interests in distinct contexts and often for conflicting purposes. Their reformist agenda emphasized their eschatological hopes. In a series of readings of texts by John Foxe, James Usser, George Gillespie, John Rogers, John Milton and John Bunyan, this book provides an interdisciplinary exploration of Puritan thinking about the last things.

Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged is volume three in the NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY STUDIES IN BIBLE & THEOLOGY (NACSBT) series for pastors, advanced Bible students, and other deeply committed laypersons. Author Barry E. Horner writes to persuade readers concerning the divine validity of the Jew today (based on Romans 11:28), as well as the nation of Israel and the land of Palestine, in the midst of this much debated issue within Christendom at various levels. He examines the Bible's consistent pro-Judaic direction, namely a Judeo-centric eschatology that is a unifying feature throughout Scripture. Not sensationalist like many other writings on this constantly debated topic, Future Israel is instead notably exegetical and theological in its argumentation. Users will find this an excellent extension of the long-respected NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY.

More than an ecclesiastical or political history, this book is a vivid description of the earliest American immigrant experience. It depicts the dramatic tale of the seventeenth-century newcomers to our shores as they were drawn and pushed to make their way in an unsettled and unsettling world.

The Salvation of Israel investigates Christianity's eschatological Jew: the role and characteristics of the Jews at the end of days in the Christian imagination. It explores the depth of Christian ambivalence regarding these Jews, from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, through late antiquity and the Middle Ages, to the Puritans of the seventeenth century. Jeremy Cohen contends that few aspects of a religion shed as much light on the character and the self-understanding of its adherents as its expectations for the end of time. Moreover, eschatological beliefs express and mold an outlook toward nonbelievers, situating them in an overall scheme of human history and conditioning interaction with them as that history unfolds. Cohen's close readings of biblical commentary, theological texts, and Christian iconography reveal the dual role of the Jews of the last days. For rejecting belief and salvation in Jesus Christ, they have been linked to the false messiah—the Antichrist, the agent of Satan and the exemplary embodiment of evil. Yet from its inception, Christianity has also hinged its hopes for the second coming on the enlightenment and repentance of the Jews; for then, as Paul prophesized, "all Israel will be saved." In its vast historical scope, from the ancient Mediterranean world of early Christianity to seventeenth-century England and New England, The Salvation of Israel offers a nuanced and insightful assessment of Christian attitudes toward Jews, rife with inconsistency and complexity, thus contributing significantly to our understanding of Jewish-Christian relations.

"Shedding critical new light on the diverse forms of Puritan belief and practice in England, Scotland, and New England, Hall provides a multifaceted account of a cultural movement that judged the Protestant reforms of Elizabeth's reign to be unfinished"--Provided by publisher.