Eschatology

The Presence of the Future: The New Testament’s Inaugurated Eschatology (with G.K. Beale)

Kirk E. Miller

The Old Testament tells a unifying story of God working to restore his creation and establish his kingdom. This would finally happen permanently and irreversible at the end of history, the “last days.” But the New Testament presents this time as already having dawned in the arrival of Christ. We are living in those “last days,” as Peter said (Acts 2). Premier New Testament scholar, G.K. Beale, visits the Church Theology podcast to talk about the New Testament’s “inaugurated eschatology,” or as George Eldon Ladd put it, “the presence of the future.”

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

Understanding the Debate & Differences in How We Put Our Bibles Together (Views on Covenantal & Dispensational Theologies with Brent Parker and Richard Lucas, Ep. 2)

Kirk E. Miller
In this episode, I continue my conversation with Brent E. Parker and Richard Lucas, editors of the forthcoming book, Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (IVP, February 2022). In this session, we talk about what different commitments or perspectives ultimately underlie the various views, why all of this matters, how it comes to bear in our theology and practice, and how we might construct a path forward in the doing of Biblical theology for the local church.
 
Their book is currently available for pre-order, releasing February 8, 2022.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

See all other content in this series.

A Survey of How Different Systems of Theology Put the Bible Together (Views on Covenantal & Dispensational Theologies with Brent Parker and Richard Lucas, Ep. 1)

Kirk E. Miller

How should we interpret the promises made to the people of Israel in the OT — are they being fulfilled in the church? Does God have a distinct plan for the nation of Israel separate from the church? How do Christians relate to the Mosaic Law? What does infant baptism have to do with our understanding of the Biblical Covenants? In short, these are all questions asking, How should we put our Bible’s together — and questions that both covenantal and dispensational theologies answer differently, with wide-ranging implications for how we read our Bibles, how we define the church, what we expect of the future, and how we live our Christian lives.

This episode serves as the first installment of a larger conversation on covenantal and dispensational theologies and their divergent ways of putting the Bible together. In today’s episode, Richard Lucas and Brent Parker lead us through a survey of the various view points that exist. In order of those that stress more continuity to those that stress more discontinuity, we look at:

  • Theonomy / Reconstructionism [3:50]
  • Traditional Covenant Theology [9:13]
  • 20th Century Reformed Baptist Theology [24:02]
  • 1689 Federalism [31:02]
  • Progressive Covenantalism [40:37]
  • New Covenant Theology [55:24]
  • Progressive Dispensationalism [1:04:7]
  • Traditional (or Revised) Dispensationalism [1:18:58]
  • Classic Dispensationalism [1:34:36]

Their book, Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (IVP, February 2022), is currently available for pre-order.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

See all other content in this series.

Second Death or Second Creation (Revelation 20:11-21:8)

Kirk E. Miller

In this episode, Dan has Kirk walk us through Revelation 20:11-20:8, the visions of the Great White Throne judgment and the introduction of the new creation.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

See all other content in this series.

The Millennium (Revelation 20:1-10), Pt. 1-3

Kirk E. Miller

In this series of three episodes, we address the matter of the 1,000-year reign, also known as the millennium, as expressly mentioned in Revelation 20. In so doing, we offer a more detailed case for the interpretation known most popularly as amillennialism.

Pt. 1: The Four Views on the Millennium

In the first episode, we overview the four main positions as it relates to the millennium: (1) dispensational premillennialism, (2) historic (or classic) premillennialism, (3) postmillennialism, and (4) amillennialism.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

Pt. 2: Interpretation of Revelation 20:1-10

In this second episode, we look specifically at Revelation 20:1-10 and examine the case for amillennialism from this text itself.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

Pt. 3: New Testament Arguments for Amillennialism

Finally, in this third episode, we consider other New Testament arguments against a literal, futurist, premillennialist position and in favor of a symbolic, “church-age” interpretation of the millennium.

Access the episode here. (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more.)

See all other content in the entire series on Revelation.