Keith A. Mathison (M.A., Reformed Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Whitefield Theological Seminary) is dean of Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies and an associate editor of Tabletalk magazine at Ligonier Ministries. He has both authored and edited a number of books, including Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God?.
Dr. Mathison has written a book which seems fascinating in its topic and scope. Though I’ve only flipped through it so far, From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology strikes me as unlike any other book I’ve heard of on the topic of eschatology (a subject about which I know precious little). Keith graciously agreed to answer a few questions for us.
What prompted you to write a 832 page book on eschatology?
When I became a believer after graduating from high school, the first church I attended was a rural Southern Baptist church that happened to teach Scripture from a dispensationalist perspective. Many of the sermons were focused on the idea of the impending end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus. I read everything I could find on the subject, which means I read a lot of books by Hal Lindsey, John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, and so forth. I became entrenched in the dispensationalist way of understanding the last days.
Ironically enough, my views began to change while I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, the best-known dispensationalist seminary in the world. While there I began reading books by non-dispensationalists, and these authors raised questions that many of my professors were not interested in discussing. As I dug into the Scriptures, I first became convinced that the dispensationalist doctrine of the pretribulation rapture was biblically indefensible. I then began to take a second look at the doctrine of premillennialism and ultimately concluded that it too was an incorrect interpretation of Scripture.
All of this is to say that I have had a long time interest in the subject of eschatology. Several years ago I made a book proposal to my publisher. I suggested the idea of writing a book on the subject that would begin with a look at what Scripture says on the subject, followed by an examination of what has been taught throughout the history of the church, and concluding with a systematic formulation of the doctrines. When I began writing, it soon became very obvious that the first section of the book was going to be much larger than I had originally anticipated. I discussed this with the publisher, and we decided to devote an entire volume to the unfolding of eschatology in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
OK, but why 832 pages?
The short answer is that this is how many pages it took to say what I believe need to be said. This work could easily have been hundreds of pages longer. Believe it or not, it is very compressed even at 800+ pages. There are many passages that I would have liked to discuss in more detail, but it is not possible to say everything.
What is unique about your book’s approach to the topic of eschatology?
Most books on eschatology focus only on the events surrounding the Second Coming of Christ. In other words, they deal with subjects such as the Second Coming itself, the rapture, the millennium, the general resurrection, and the final judgment. Some also deal with the topics of personal eschatology, such as death and the intermediate state. While these subjects are an important part of biblical eschatology, they cannot be understood in isolation. We cannot fully understand the Second Coming of Christ, for example, without understanding the First Coming of Christ. The First Coming of Christ was itself an eschatological event. His death and resurrection and ascension were the turning points of redemptive history. In order to understand these things, we also have to understand God’s preparations in history for the First Advent. In short, in order to understand eschatology, we have to begin with Genesis 1, not Revelation 20. In this book, I trace the outworking of God’s revealed eschatological purposes from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, showing how every book of Scripture contributes to our understanding of the big picture.
Do you think Christians today think too much or too little about the “end times”?
Both. Many Christians today think too much about the “end times” in the sense that they are obsessed with finding fulfillment of biblical prophecy in the latest newspaper headline. Every time there is a major disaster, there is a Christian teacher somewhere assuring people that it is a definite sign that the end of the world is imminent. I distinctly remember when I was in church in 1987, and our pastor had multiple copies of a book that asserted the rapture would happen in 1988. 1988 came and went. I don’t know if these authors and teachers understand how badly they can damage the faith of Christians when they do this. When they affirm that Scripture is saying in no uncertain terms that Jesus is going to return in 1988 and He doesn’t, many are going to conclude that Scripture is untrustworthy. I want Christians to understand why this sensationalist way of looking at eschatology is wrongheaded.
Most Christians think “too little” about eschatology in the sense that they don’t consider how “big” eschatology is. They don’t think about the fact that eschatology involves the First Advent of Christ as well as the Second. They don’t think about the fact that eschatology involves all of God’s preparations in history for the coming of Christ. They don’t think about the fact that the whole idea of promise and fulfillment which runs throughout all of Scripture is eschatological.
Is eschatology, in any sense, “practical theology”?
Eschatology is very much practical theology. The way we understand God’s eschatological plans has an enormous impact on the way we think, live, and worship. Our expectations for the present and future are shaped by our eschatology, and our expectations about the present and future affect what we do and the decisions we make. If I expect the enemies of God to run rampant over the church until Jesus comes to establish His millennial kingdom I am going to behave and think in one way. If I expect the church to establish a Christian culture throughout the world in the present age before Christ returns, I will behave and think in another way. If I believe that Christ has won the decisive battle, but that the war continues to be fought with both assurance of final victory and knowledge that the fight will involve suffering all along the way, I will think and behave in a quite different way.
Let me give one example of how practical eschatology is. Not long after I had become a Christian, I was standing in line at a drug store behind two men, whose discussion made it very evident that they were dispensationalist Christians who were convinced that the rapture was going to occur in the very near future. One of the two men said that he was putting everything on his credit card because he wasn’t going to have to pay it off after he was raptured. There is no telling how much debt this man ended up with, and how badly did this hurt his family? I wonder sometimes how many people did not bother getting a good education or training in some field because a pastor or television preacher assured them that there was no point in making any future plans because there was very little future left.
How do you hope your readers will be changed?
I hope readers of this book will come away with a greater sense of awe for the Triune God who is working all things together to accomplish His creational and redemptive plans. I hope readers will come away with a greater appreciation for how all of the seemingly disparate parts of Scripture fit together in a coherent unified whole. I hope readers will come away with a greater faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who despite any appearances to the contrary will put all enemies under His feet.