When the Son of Man Didn't Come: A Constructive Proposal on the Delay of the Parousia

by Christopher M. Hays, Brandon Gallaher (Contributor), Julia S. Konstantinovsky (Contributor)

The delay of the Parousiathe second coming of Christhas vexed Christians since the final decades of the first century. This volume offers a critical, constructive, and interdisciplinary solution to that dilemma. The argument is grounded in Christian tradition while remaining fully engaged with the critical insights and methodological approaches of twenty-first-century scholars. The authors argue that the deferral of Christ's prophesied return follows logically from the conditional nature of ancient predictive Jesus has not come again because God's people have not yet responded sufficiently to Christ's call for holy and godly action. God, in patient mercy, remains committed to cooperating with humans to bring about the consummation of history with Jesus' return. Collaboratively written by an interdisciplinary and ecumenical team of scholars, the argument draws on expertise in biblical studies, systematics, and historical theology to fuse critical biblical exegesis with a powerful theological paradigm that generates an apophatic and constructive Christian eschatology. The authors, however, have done more than tackle a daunting theological as the group traverses issues from higher criticism through doctrine and into liturgy and ethics, they present an innovative approach for how to do Christian theology in the twenty-first-century academy.

Genres: New Testament

317 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2016

Reviews

[Jamin Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a spectacular theological book written by a diverse group of thinkers which makes it even more spectacular. I love the deep research and unique thinking. There is a very noticeable change in tone and direction about half way through, but by the time the book finishes you’re glad it was all there. A few sections feel off topic for a bit, but if you keep reading, it connects and is well worth it. Probably one of my favorite books I read this year.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, but not great. I expected a lot more back up for the view they are putting forward. I also felt like the second half of the book deviated from what the book was supposed to actually be about. I think the view they suggest is extremely plausible, but they sure didn't do a great job defending it, especially against other views.

[Alan Fuller · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Ambitiously, we have sought to weave historical criticism, typology, canonical consciousness, ecclesial Christocentric Trinitarianism, liturgy, ecumenism, and ethics into a coherent thesis. Perhaps a single volume is simply too small for this effort; perhaps, it will strike readers more as a cacophony than a symphony."

Hays, Christopher M (Kindle Locations 4848-4850).

I couldn't have said it better myself. However, I agree with the cacophony part.

The theme of the book is the historical critical problem of non-fulfillment of the second coming in the events of time and space (Mat 24:34, Mark 13:30). Jesus was wrong about "this generation". Other views outside the "academic juggernaut" of historical critical interpretation aren't considered. Then a reversal is done to include all the above named ideas into an interpretation. The church is to build the kingdom on earth (2 Pet 3:12).

Preference for spiritual Christianity over social Christianity is a docetic distortion of the Gospel according to the authors. "Creation exhibits its cruciform shape by our ecological care, by our building of a society that is Christ-like in its concern to feed the hungry, by welcoming the stranger and protecting the outcast, by seeking justice through a fair distribution of goods and services in society, through protecting the most vulnerable in the world, and, no doubt, by spreading the good news of the Gospel."

Partial fulfillments are the "stepping stones" through salvation history. God can and has changed his mind about the timing of the eschaton in response to the work and shortcomings of the Church. It's too bad God didn't know about these things ahead of time or he could have fixed them before He inspired their writing. This book reminds me of the Joan Osborne song.

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home?