Second Thoughts on the Second Coming

by Robert D. Cornwall, Ronald J. Allen

Various ideas float around about the subject of last things, leading many Christians to conclude that they don't know what to think about the subject. Yet at the core of the Christian doctrine of last things lies two simple and complementary hopes: that God ever and always offers hope for our individual futures and for the future of the whole world.

In this helpful book, Allen and Cornwall explain how we don't have to subscribe to sensationalist theories or sketchy interpretations to believe in Christian hope. They walk the reader through the central biblical teachings on last things and then show the ways the church has interpreted those teachings throughout the centuries. In a respectful way, the authors demonstrate that end-time beliefs centered on the Rapture came into existence only recently, and they then offer several more life-affirming, contemporary interpretations as alternatives.

The book includes a study guide and web-based appendixes designed to help pastors develop both topical and lectionary-based sermon series on Christian hope.

192 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2023

About the author

Robert D. Cornwall is minister-at-large after his retirement as pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Troy, Michigan. . He holds a M.Div. and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and is a graduate of Northwest Christian University in Eugene, OR. He is the author/editor of several books including "Second Thoughts About the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope" (Westminster John Knox Press) coauthored with Ronald J. Allen. Other books include the second edition of "Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening" and "The Letters of John: A Participatory Study Guide" (Energion Publications), along with a wide variety of other books (see the author listing), including Visible and Apostolic: The Constitution of the Church in High Church and Nonjuror Thought (University of Delaware Press, 1993); Gilbert Burnet's Discourse on the Pastoral Care, (Edwin Mellen Press, 1997), A Cry from the Cross: Sermons on the Seven Last Words of Christ (CSSPublishing, 2008), Religion, Politics and Dissent, 1660-1832: Essays in Honour of James E Bradley, edited with William Gibson (Ashgate, 2010); Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord's Prayer, (Energion Publications, 2010); and Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide, (Energion Publications, 2010). He has contributed articles to a number of books, encyclopedias, and journals, including Religious Identities in Britain, 1660-1832, Events that Changed the Word in the Eighteenth Century, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, The Encyclopedia of the Stone Campbell Movement, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Church History, Anglican Theological Review, Christian Century Congregations, the Progressive Christian, and Anglican and Episcopal History. He served for many years as the editor of Sharing the Practice, the journal of the Academy of Parish Clergy.

Reviews

[Tanja Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did what it set out to do—give a concise overview of how Christians from the apostolic age to the present have viewed the afterlife and the promised second coming of Christ. In some ways it was too concise. Martin Luther’s break from the Catholic Church is told totally from the Protestants’ point of view, and Henry VIII’s break from the church gets half a sentence, moving right into the more radical reforms of his son’s reign. But it has helped me clarify my thinking on these topics. So that was helpful.

[Joe Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent study of Last Things over the course of the Bible's writing. The authors well explain how Jewish and Christian understandings of the Endtimes have changed over passsing generations. The book helpfully summarizes various opinions about this subject as well as an individual's destiny after death. Its comparison of contemporary Christian theologies, such as Open Theism, process theology, and liberation theology, is usually omitted by other books on this subject.

[William Sanford Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cornwall and Allen accomplished what they set out to do: give us a tour of historical and modern Christian interpretations of the Last Things. Not extensive or overly academic, though I have my doubts as to whether a “normal” lay person would be able to follow along and keep up (hence 4 instead of 5 stars) but they weren’t trying to be. It certainly helped me clarify my own understanding of what is to come.

[John Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and helpful as a tool to unpack the various versions of the “end times” one finds in Christianity.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I co-authored this book with Ron Allen. It's an invitation to consider the idea of eschatology (last things) from a broader perspective than often is available. We wrote the book because we had witnessed both an interest in the subject of end times and the afterlife, along with a hesitancy among Mainline Protestant Clergy to address the subject. The problem we saw was that many people we encountered assumed that there is just one way of looking at these topics, and that the "biblical" way is that propounded by conservative evangelicals, especially those in the dispensational premillennialism camp. We knew this isn't true, so we wrote this book to provide an overview of the topics noting the various approaches. Thought not easy, we tried to be as fair as possible even with views we don't agree with. In fact, Ron and I don't always agree, which makes this an even better book.

You will want to read this!