David Larsen

The Company of Hope: a History of Bible Prophecy in the Church David Larsen First edition

The Bible has over 1000prophecies of the future, half of which have been fulfilled in Israeland her ancient neighbor, and in Jesus the Messiah.¿ One in four verses in the New Testamentaddresses the wrap-up of time-space history.¿From the days of the early church, believers have wrestled with themeaning of these texts.¿ While numerousbooks and monographs have dealt with some of these interpretations, we havelacked a single volume which purports to survey the whole of church history andthe various schools of thought from an evangelical perspective.¿ Writing narratively, Dr. Larsen seeks inthese 36 chapters to focus on those key thinker who have shaped opinion andconviction on matters of prophecy and The Last Things.62% of The American peopleprofess to believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ - more recently fueledby Y2K, staggering world crises and the "Left Behind" series of Apocalypticfiction.¿ A bewildering array ofcompetitive interpretive options confronts the inquiring student. This unique study with suggestiveend-notes and bibliographical data, can open this vastliterature to the beginner or the veteran student.¿ Beginning with an introduction to TheBiblical materials themselves, this study considers such early thinkers asAugustine, Joachim of Fiore, Martin Luther and The Anabaptists.¿ Careful attention is paid to The Puritans andContinental Pietists and to such as Isaac Newton.¿ While the thinking of John Nelson Darby isanalyzed, careful attention is given to George Ladd, John Walvoord and othersin our time like Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye and Billy Graham.¿ The many shades of opinion are analyzed.