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Beyond the End Times, A Review
By Chris Passerello
September 1999
John Noē's book Beyond the End Times is a well written and easy to read
antidote to the last days mania that is so much in evidence as we approach the last year
of the current millennium (see note 1).
Noē starts his book by taking note of the end of the world hysteria that has gripped so
many people in the latter half of this century. He cites ostensibly Christian teachers
(see note 2) who seem to make a fine living by making false predictions year after year.
He wonders how these people maintain their credibility, as they continue to roll from one
false interpretation to another. As he points out, perhaps they maintain credibility with
some gullible followers, but they lose credibility in the eyes of the outsiders. More
worryingly, their poor handling of Scripture provides a ready excuse to scoffers are
inclined to disbelieve those Scriptures. The teachings of the erroneous teachers become
equated with the teachings of the Scriptures and both are relegated to the scrap heap of
current public discussion.
Noē goes on to bemoan the end of the world mentality and its unfortunate
psychological and sociological consequences. Put simply, an end of the world mentality
results in historical pessimism, cultural withdrawal, and social stagnation. How in the
world can a person or movement sustain
any long term action for positive change and progress if it is believed that all their
work will be frustrated by inevitable collapse?
Having shown the harmful effects of false predictions and the end of the
world mentality, Noē makes clear that he is not calling for a tweaking
of futurism. He is not suggesting that predictions be made with less dogmatic assurance,
nor that we adopt a longer time horizon (e.g.; pushing the end times far into our future).
Noe is not calling for a tweaking of futurism (see note 3). He is calling for a complete
scrapping of futurism in favor of preterism (see note 4).
The majority of the rest of the book is devoted to presenting a Biblical
case for preterism. Some of the more important conclusions are :
The physical earth is without end.
Daniel's seventy weeks and time of the end were completely fulfilled
by A.D. 70.
Jesus and the New Testament writers expected Jesus to return soon,
where soon means within one generation (about 40 years) of his prophecy on the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus did return in A.D. 70.
The New Heavens and New Earth are here now.
Having already read quite a bit about preterism, I found Noē's handling of Daniel's
seventy weeks and time of the end to be very clear and compelling. To summarize his
conclusions drastically, the 70th week covers A.D. 27 to A.D. 34 and the time of the end
covers A.D. 66 to A.D. 70. For my money, chapters 6 and 7 were worth the price of the
book.
I found this to be a very helpful book. But, I cannot let this review pass without some
complaints. The first question I have for the author and publisher is, "Where are the
indexes?!?" The End Notes are fantastic, but how in the world did this book get
published without a Scripture index and Subject index? The lack of either index makes the
book far less effective as a reference. The reader has to remember (rather unsuccessfully
in my case) where Noe dealt with the date of Jude, for example.
Which leads to my second concern about the book. This may be a lack
of understanding on my part, but here goes. Noē often quotes Jude verse
3 - "concerning our common salvation, ... contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints." (NKJ) - and claims
it as supporting evidence for the truth of preterism. An example is found
on page 270 of the book. Having quoted Jude 3 he says, "Biblical faith is a finished
faith; it's kingdom is a completed kingdom. ... We must take an honest look at history and
see how all promised eschatological events happened and all redemptive realities were
completely established and made everlastingly available when Jerusalem was destroyed and
the Jewish age ended in A.D. 70." Well, fair enough. But, if Jude was written before
A.D. 70, which Noē acknowledges elsewhere (don't ask me
what page number; Where is that index?) then this in NOT what Jude
could have meant. Whatever Jude meant, it did not depend upon the Parousia (Jesus' coming)
having already happened since, even by Noē's
reckoning, the Parousia had not happened by the time Jude wrote his letter. Noē either
needs to drop the use of Jude 3 in this way, or better explain how it has more relevance
to preterism than it has to futurism. If
some eschatological events were still future to Jude, then how can the
verse be used to support the view that no eschatological events are future
to us?
Even with those two concerns, I highly recommend this book - Beyond
the End Times, by John Noē. To borrow a thought from one of the quotes on the back cover
of the book, the publishing of this book may be one of
the major factors in sparking a reformation of eschatology among the general public.
In closing, I would just like to leave you with two quotations from near
the end of the book.
"When Scripture is detached from its covenantal framework, it can be used to teach
just about anything." (page 258) (see note 5)
"People who have a hard time controlling their own lives and who are
not about to go out and attempt to expand God's kingdom or do the works of Jesus (Jn
14:12) talk about reigning and ruling over the whole
universe with Jesus someday." (page 257)
End Notes:
1. Despite popular misconception, the new millennium does not start
on 1 January 2000 - it starts on 1 January, 2001. 1 January, 2000 is the
start of the last year of the old millennium. You see, the first year
of the first millennium would have been year 1, not year 0. Unless, of
course, you are a C programmer - in which case you probably wish it
was 1970-something anyway. ;-) Return to text.
2. Lest he be tarred with my brush, let me quickly point out that Noe
is ever gracious, and does not refer to these teachers as ostensibly
Christian. Those are my words. In most cases, I guess I would grant
the teachers are Christian, but argue that their patently false teachings
are most definitely NOT Christian. Return to text.
3. In this context, futurism is any belief system that holds that most New Testament
prophecies are still unfulfilled, and that they are to be fulfilled in our future. Return
to text.
4. In this context, preterism is any belief system that holds that all New Testament
prophecies have already been fulfilled, particularly in and around A.D. 70. Return to
text.
5. See my several articles on covenant. Return to text.
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