Death, the End of History, and Beyond

Greg Carey

Description

What happens at the end of our lives and of the course of history? Will God bring about a just and peaceful world? What lies beyond this realm, and what can we know of the beings who dwell there? In Death, the End of History, and Beyond, Greg Carey offers resources for understanding multiple, even conflicting, ways that the Bible imagines these ultimate realities. Carey opens the Scriptures with a breadth of insight that acknowledges its diversity of viewpoints about what lies beyond the veil, centering hope in God’s action to bring good out of evil in our lived realities, in our personal journeys through death, and in visions of resurrection and justice restored. An appendix on preaching also invites clergy to help their communities imagine when and how eschatology can inform our lives today.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Biblical Commentary
• Philosophie et théologie
• Beyond
• End time
• New Testament
• Eschatology
• Revelation
• Death

Informations

• Publié par: Presbyterian Publishing
• Date de parution: 31 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781646982981
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

“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
Death, the End of History, and Beyond
INTERPRETATION
Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church
INTERPRETATION
RESOURCES FOR THE USE OF SCRIPTURE IN THE CHURCH
Samuel E. Balentine, Series Editor
Ellen F. Davis, Associate Editor
Richard B. Hays, Associate Editor
Susan E. Hylen, Associate Editor
Brent A. Strawn, Associate Editor
† Patrick D. Miller, Consulting Editor
OTHER AVAILABLE BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Jaime Clark-Soles, Women in the Bible
C. Clifton Black, The Lord’s Prayer
Markus Bockmuehl, Ancient Apocryphal Gospels
Walter Brueggemann, Money and Possessions
Ronald P. Byars, The Sacraments in Biblical Perspective
Jerome F. D. Creach, Violence in Scripture
Ellen F. Davis, Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship, and Ministry
Robert W. Jenson, Canon and Creed
Luke Timothy Johnson, Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation
Richard Lischer, Reading the Parables
Patrick D. Miller, The Ten Commandments
GREG CAREY
Death, the End of History, and Beyond: Eschatology in the Bible
INTERPRETATION Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church
© 2023 Greg Carey
First edition
Published by Westminster John Knox Press
Louisville, Kentucky
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396. Or contact us online at www.wjkbooks.com .
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.
Book design by Drew Stevens
Cover design by designpointinc.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Carey, Greg, 1965- author.
Title: Death, the end of history, and beyond : Eschatology in the Bible / Greg Carey.
Description: First edition. | Louisville, Kentucky : Westminster John Knox Press, [2023] | Series: Interpretation: resources for the use of scripture in the church | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “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“— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022058887 (print) | LCCN 2022058888 (ebook) | ISBN 9780664234027 (hardback) | ISBN 9781646982981 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Eschatology—Biblical teaching. | Eschatology—History of doctrines.
Classification: LCC BT821.3 .C37 2023 (print) | LCC BT821.3 (ebook) | DDC 236—dc23/eng/20230126
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022058887
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022058888
ISBN: 9780664234027 (hardback)
ISBN: 9781646982981 (ebook)
Most Westminster John Knox Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special-interest groups.
For more information, please e-mail [e-mail] .
To Matthew, in Hope
Love never ends (1 Corinthians 13:8)
CONTENTS
Series Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION: THE DOMAIN OF ESCHATOLOGY
Eschatological Trajectories: The Self
Eschatological Trajectories: The Course of History
The Acceptable Time
What’s Ultimately Real?
Eschatology and Apocalypticism
The Roots of Eschatology
The Perspective of This Book
1. INTERPRETING ESCHATOLOGICAL TEXTS
Heuristic Categories
Diverse Witnesses
Historical and Cultural Contexts
Creation
Conclusion
2. ESCHATOLOGY IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
First Enoch: An Informative Case Study
Death and Beyond
The Course of History
Looking Ahead
3. ESCHATOLOGY IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES AND IN ANCIENT JUDAISM
Creation
Election, Exodus, and Inheritance
Royal Aspirations
The Day of the Lord
Death and the Afterlife
The Apocalyptic Turn
Conclusion
4. JESUS AND THE GOOD NEWS
Gospels and Jesus
Kingdom and Messiah
Excursus: The Baptism of Jesus
Son of Man
The General Resurrection
The Resurrection of Jesus
The Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection
The Little Apocalypses
Judgment and the Afterlife
Distinctive Voices
The Jesus Question
Integrating Hope
5. FROM PAUL TO REVELATION AND BEYOND
Paul
Paul beyond Paul: The Pseudo-Pauline Epistles
Hebrews
James
The Letters of Peter and Jude
The Johannine Epistles
Revelation
Conclusion
CONCLUSION: COMING TO TERMS
Beyond History
Making Sense with Eschatology: Resurrection and Parousia
Our Language
Holy Futures: Kingdom of God, New Jerusalem, and the Messianic Banquet
Judgment and Universalism
A Final Word: Inaugurated Eschatology
Appendix: Preaching Eschatology
Preaching Eschatology: When It Matters
Preaching the Advent Gospel Lessons
Preaching Revelation
Preaching Hope
Preaching Resurrection Bodily
Preaching the Holy Meal Eschatologically
Bibliography
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources
Index of Subjects
SERIES FOREWORD
This series of volumes supplements Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. The commentary series offers an exposition of the books of the Bible written for those who teach, preach, and study the Bible in the community of faith. This new series is addressed to the same audience and serves a similar purpose, providing additional resources for the interpretation of Scripture, but now dealing with features, themes, and issues significant for the whole rather than with individual books.
The Bible is composed of separate books. Its composition naturally has led its interpreters to address particular books. But there are other ways to approach the interpretation of the Bible that respond to other characteristics and features of the Scriptures. These other entries to the task of interpretation provide contexts, overviews, and perspectives that complement the book-by-book approach and discern dimensions of the Scriptures that the commentary design may not adequately explore.
The Bible as used in the Christian community is not only a collection of books but also itself a book that has a unity and coherence important to its meaning. Some volumes in this new series will deal with this canonical wholeness and seek to provide a wider context for the interpretation of individual books as well as a comprehensive theological perspective that reading single books does not provide.
Other volumes in the series will examine particular texts, like the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Sermon on the Mount, texts that have played such an important role in the faith and life of the Christian community that they constitute orienting foci for the understanding and use of Scripture.
A further concern of the series will be to consider important and often difficult topics, addressed at many different places in the books of the canon, that are of recurrent interest and concern to the church in its dependence on Scripture for faith and life. So the series will include volumes d