The Last Things: A New Approach

by Anthony C. Thiselton

What did Jesus and the early Christians believe about death, resurrection, heaven and hell, human destiny and God's ultimate purpose for creation? And what are the implications for Christian doctrine today? Drawing on his acclaimed work in biblical hermeneutics, Thiselton shows how methods and insights from the philosophy of language can clarify our perception of the New Testament data and help us develop a more rounded, coherent and biblically based understanding of God's planfor the world and for humanity.

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Anthony Charles Thiselton is emeritus professor of Christian theology at the University of Nottingham and a fellow of the British Academy. His recent publications include Approaching Philosophy of Religion, Discovering Romans, Systematic Theology, The Holy Spirit, and The Last Things.

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book too sporadically to do much justice to it. It's a dense book with arguments based on quite detailed hermeneutical studies and really ought to have been read in a week rather than over a couple of months.

Thiselton describes this as a new approach to eschatology and any casual reader picking it up and thinking that they will find easily digestible answers to the Four Last Things (Death, The Last Judgement, Heaven and Hell) will be disappointed, if not somewhat baffled. Thiselton spends a considerable time in the first half of the book exploring eschatology through the works of Biblicals scholars as well as philosophers such as Gilbert Ryle and Wittgenstein. It has the feel more of a reference book, which is may be how it will best be used. For my quite basic teaching on eschatology it was far too advanced, which was a pity.

I did find it interesting in his chapter on the last judgement how an Aristotelian understanding of justice, mediated through Aquinas has impacted our notions of salvation. In short Aristotle sees justice as restoring balance in the universe: a deficit needs to be made up. When there is harmony, so there is justice. The OT view is more about God restoring, healing and vindicating: a far more radical, albeit messy understanding. There is more for me to chew on here.

[Mayowa Adebiyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good in so many ways. Thiselton demonstrates the right use of philosophy in theological deliberation about the last things - Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement.