Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Book Review: The Prophecy Answer Book by David Jeremiah

 

I would argue that scripture is deliberately vague about the end of time and clearly tells us that only God will know the day when Christ will return. David Jeremiah writes as though he has the answers – all set in simple little paragraphs for us to swallow easily. His ability to translate current events into the biblical writings seems just a little too glib and marked with a certainty that is troubling.

I recently signed on with Book Sneeze at Thomas Nelson to review new books and the first one I received was The Prophecy Answer Book by David Jeremiah. Having learned the importance of knowing an author’s theological background, I knew before the book arrived that David Jeremiah is labeled as a conservative, evangelical Christian. And, I tend to label myself loosely with those adjectives so I was looking forward to reading his research.

My first impression was negative. I did not like the small, coffee table book format for a topic that has such a diversity of opinion and many who disagree with dispensational theology. Yet it does cover a great deal of information about this understanding of end times. It clearly addresses the following terms and their implications: the rapture, tribulation, antichrist, second coming of Christ, millennium, and the new heaven and the new earth. He includes a great deal of scripture and research.

However, the biggest negative for me is his conclusion that this theory of the rapture, tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ should “provide a compelling motivation for living the Christian life.” I would argue that we are to live life joyfully and bring glory to God’s name, not because we are fearful, but because we are grateful for the work of Christ in our lives. We are to reach out to the world because we are compassionate and want to share the Good News of the Gospel – which includes salvation and redemption not just from the bowels of hell but also from the things here on earth which cause us pain and destroy our ability to praise and worship an Almighty God.

One positive was his list of 10 ways to connect our daily lives with the promise of Christ’s return: refrain from judging others, remember the Lord’s Table, respond to life spiritually, relate to one another in love, restore the bereaved, recommit ourselves to the ministry, refuse to neglect church, remain steadfast, renounce sin in our lives, and reach the lost.

 

This book was provided by Booksneeze.com as a complimentary review copy, and all opinions contained in this review are mine and mine alone.