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A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology, by J. Richard Middleton
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Winner of the Word Guild Award for best book in Biblical Studies (2014).
In recent years, more and more Christians have come to appreciate the Bible's teaching that the ultimate blessed hope for the believer is not an otherworldly heaven; instead, it is full-bodied participation in a new heaven and a new earth brought into fullness through the coming of God's kingdom. Drawing on the full sweep of the biblical narrative, J. Richard Middleton unpacks key Old Testament and New Testament texts to make a case for the new earth as the appropriate Christian hope. He suggests its ethical and ecclesial implications, exploring the difference a holistic eschatology can make for living in a broken world.
"Richard Middleton plunges boldly into a most-treasured misreading of the Bible. He shows the way in which 'other-worldly' hope of 'going to heaven' is a total misread of gospel faith. In a demanding, sure-footed way he walks the reader through a rich deposit of biblical texts to make clear that the gospel concerns the transformation of the earth and not escape from it. Middleton summons us to repentance for such a mistaken understanding that has had disastrous practical implications. This is a repentance that he himself avows. When his book catches on, it will have an immense impact on the way in which we think and act about our common future in the gospel, a common future with important socioeconomic, political derivatives."
--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"It is no small irony that the majority of serious, Bible-believing Christians subscribe to a view of life in the eschaton that is fundamentally unbiblical. Middleton provides a much-needed corrective in his perceptive exposition of 'holistic eschatology,' which effectively unites the Old and New Testaments in stressing God's commitment to the flourishing of the created universe of which we are a part. This book is so comprehensive, so exegetically based and theologically rich, that it could serve admirably as a basic textbook on biblical theology. I cannot recommend it highly enough."
--Donald A. Hagner, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Richard Middleton has been one of my most important teachers. Every encounter with him changes me. This book is no different. Helping us see all the bad hermeneutical habits we've acquired (perpetuated by our hymns and choruses!), Middleton invites us to read the Scriptures afresh and see, perhaps for the first time, the biblical hope of a new earth. If read as widely as I hope, this book would transform North American Christianity."
--James K. A. Smith, Calvin College; author of Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works
"Middleton's vision of the renewal of all things is comprehensive, learned, accessible, and exciting. As an additional advantage, it is true. This is a stellar piece of work."
--Cornelius Plantinga Jr., author of Engaging God's World
- Sales Rank: #145571 in Books
- Brand: J Richard Middleton
- Published on: 2014-12-02
- Released on: 2014-12-02
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .84" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 336 pages
Features
- A New Heaven and a New Earth
Review
"Middleton tackles a huge question: is a glorious afterlife the best hope Christianity can offer, or does the promise of a new, redeemed Earth give humans hope for today? . . . To make a convincing argument for what he calls 'holistic eschatology,' he goes through both testaments of the Bible . . . and also takes on the received wisdom of many a Christian hymn that extols the far-off heavenly shore. . . . The implications for lived faith are bold, and the air this brings into theological discourse about what God intends for human creation is fresh and bracing."
Publishers Weekly
From the Inside Flap
"Rooted in Scripture, chock-full of insight, clearly and fetchingly written, A New Heaven and a New Earth winsomely presents the biblical story of holistic salvation. Over against the all-too-common eschatology of heavenly rapture and earthly destruction, Richard Middleton's new book reclaims the scriptural vision of cosmic renewal. In a time when the Bible is often used to justify ecological degradation, since (it is argued) the earth will in the eschaton be burned up to nothing, A New Heaven and a New Earth could not be more timely. Simply put, this sorely needed volume is the best book of its kind. May it find a great multitude of readers."
Steven Bouma-Prediger, professor of religion, Hope College; author of For the Beauty of the Earth
"This volume is a superb theological examination of a key biblical theme that is all too often neglected in academic circles. Ranging widely across Old Testament and New Testament texts, with careful attention to the history of Christian interpretation on this issue, Middleton presents a very thoughtful treatment that deserves wide attention."
Terence E. Fretheim, Emeritus Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary
"Richard Middleton is talking about a revolution! Why should Christians settle for the anemic goal of eternity spent in heaven when the Bible's robust vision is one of a resurrected humanity on the new earth? Set your imagination free from the chains of other-worldly dualism, and enter into the brilliant and fascinating world of the biblical story, where the vision of all things redeemed breathes new life into our discipleship."
Sylvia Keesmaat, adjunct professor of biblical studies, Trinity College, University of Toronto
"Richard Middleton's book A New Heaven and a New Earth is a very fine--I'm inclined to say magnificent--example of sound biblical scholarship based on decades of intense and careful scholarship and sustained by an integral theological vision which honors biblical authority. It delivers a strong blow to the long and powerful influence of an otherworldly Platonism on the Christian eschatological imagination and celebrates God's commitment to an integral and comprehensive restoration of the creation, including all its earthly and cultural dimensions."
Al Wolters, professor emeritus of religion and theology and classical languages, Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario
"Martin Buber once reconceived the exclusionary distinction between the holy and the unholy as the potentially inclusionary distinction between the holy and the not-yet-holy. In a similar vein, Richard Middleton, on solid biblical grounds, reenvisions this present world, in all its ambiguity, as the not-yet-new-heaven-and-new-earth of God's redemptive purpose. The upshot is a radical reorientation of human hope and an exhilarating call to participate in God's 'work for the redemptive transformation of this world.' I wish I had had this book sixty years ago; it would have made a world of difference in my life. Yet even at this date, it enables me to reread my past, and live toward my future, in a new light."
J. Gerald Janzen, MacAllister-Petticrew Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana
From the Back Cover
"Richard Middleton plunges boldly into a most-treasured misreading of the Bible. He shows the way in which 'other-worldly' hope of 'going to heaven' is a total misread of gospel faith. In a demanding, sure-footed way he walks the reader through a rich deposit of biblical texts to make clear that the gospel concerns the transformation of the earth and not escape from it. Middleton summons us to repentance for such a mistaken understanding that has had disastrous practical implications. This is a repentance that he himself avows. When his book catches on, it will have an immense impact on the way in which we think and act about our common future in the gospel, a common future with important socioeconomic, political derivatives."
--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"It is no small irony that the majority of serious, Bible-believing Christians subscribe to a view of life in the eschaton that is fundamentally unbiblical. Middleton provides a much-needed corrective in his perceptive exposition of 'holistic eschatology,' which effectively unites the Old and New Testaments in stressing God's commitment to the flourishing of the created universe of which we are a part. This book is so comprehensive, so exegetically based and theologically rich, that it could serve admirably as a basic textbook on biblical theology. I cannot recommend it highly enough."
--Donald A. Hagner, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Richard Middleton has been one of my most important teachers. Every encounter with him changes me. This book is no different. Helping us see all the bad hermeneutical habits we've acquired (perpetuated by our hymns and choruses!), Middleton invites us to read the Scriptures afresh and see, perhaps for the first time, the biblical hope of a new earth. If read as widely as I hope, this book would transform North American Christianity."
--James K. A. Smith, Calvin College; author of Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works
"Middleton's vision of the renewal of all things is comprehensive, learned, accessible, and exciting. As an additional advantage, it is true. This is a stellar piece of work."
--Cornelius Plantinga Jr., author of Engaging God's World
Most helpful customer reviews
61 of 61 people found the following review helpful.
A Paradigm-Shaping Book
By Ron Maness
This is one of most profound, thought-provoking and paradigm-shaping books I have ever read, and it will shape the way I read the Bible from here forward. And I read it back-to-back with another equally thought-provoking book by G.K. Beale and Mitchell Kim, "God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth". Although the books communicate a similar message, I would recommend that both be read, as they complement each other. They cover the same ground in different ways with different and their own unique emphases. But back to Middleton: every empty white page in my copy is filled with my notes, and the text is thoroughly annotated and highlighted. I would recommend that in approaching the book, you first read the Appendix: "Whatever Happened to the New Earth?" It will explain historically, going back to the church fathers, how the concept of the new heaven and new earth, despite being the goal that the Bible moves toward throughout, has come to be ignored or de-emphasized. Rather, the emphasis in eschatology came to focus on a 7-year tribulation, a "secret rapture", an antichrist, an earthly millennium, or a heavenly destiny, and he devotes considerable space to the negative impact of the rapture doctrine. But then he cites the positive developments in recent years as a number of theologians have refocused on the fact that the existing creation will be renewed or transformed, not destroyed, and that our destiny is in that new creation, a renewed earth--the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21-22. Among the theologians he cites for this reformation of what he calls "holistic eschatology" are G.K. Beale, N.T. Wright, Desmond Alexander, Anthony Hoekema, Vern Poythress, Craig Bartholomew, and Robert Mounce. Among popular writers he also cites Tim Keller and Randy Alcorn (although he notes that Alcorn's continued use of the term heaven to describe the new heaven and new earth complicates the issue somewhat).
God's intention has all along been to redeem his original creation, not destroy it, and our eternal destiny is here, not in heaven. He develops his argument first from the Old Testament, with chapters on the Exodus as the paradigm of salvation; earthly flourishing in law, wisdom and prophecy; and the coming of God in judgment and salvation. Then he moves to the New Testament, focusing first on Resurrection and the restoration of rule, and then on the centerpiece of the book: "The Redemption of All Things". And that chapter (chapter 8) is the consummation. First he cites a number of NT passages to show the comprehensive scope of salvation (and please note: this is NOT a universalist salvation; unbelievers will still be cast out from the presence of God). It is sin that is destroyed, not creation. Creation is purified. He has a chart comparing five key NT passages (excluding Revelation) to show how the saving activity of God for his creation is restorative, comprehensive (all things) and holistic.
His next two chapters deal with possible problem passages to the view he is expounding: first, passages that might indicate a destruction of the existing cosmos, rather than a renewal and transformation, such as 2 Peter 3. Then he deals with passages that might seem to indicate a heavenly destiny for the redeemed. A summary chart on page 214 compares each of 9 NT passages, and concludes that the governing pattern of each is 1) preparation in heaven (now), for 2) revelation on earth (future). In that connection, he looks at passages that have been taken to teach an intermediate state in heaven between death and final resurrection. His conclusion is that the evidence for that view is less than he had expected. He cites F.F. Bruce who suggests that it might be that in the consciousness of the believer there is no interval between dissolution (at death) and investiture (at resurrection), however long an interval might be measured by the calendar of earth-bound history. So he thinks we should perhaps hold that teaching a little more loosely--possible but not clearly taught. In any case, "it does not matter, as authentic Christian hope does not depend on an intermediate state..the God who brought the universe into being is the guarantor of the eschatological future" (Amen).
Takeaways from the book 1) Distinguish the INTENT of biblical imagery from the MODE of its expression, which can be confusing if taken literally; 2) Read the NT through the lens of preparation in heaven for a future unveiling on earth; 3) Cosmic redemption is NOT the same thing as universal soteriology; 4) Heaven and earth as a cosmic temple. Eden is analogous to the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle/temple. The garden is a link between earth and heaven, therefore the garden imagery seen again in the new heaven and new earth. So the New Jerusalem is parallel to the Garden of Eden; 5) The New Jerusalem is not the entirety of the new creation--it is the central locus of God's presence. For those who ask, is the New Jerusalem a people or a place? he asks if we have to choose? Here, on the scope of the New Jerusalem, Middleton bears some contrast with Beale, showing that there is still mystery in regard to the details of these things; 6) Heaven is never used in Scripture for the eternal destiny of the redeemed. 7) God's work in the new creation is transformative, not destructive (except for sin); 8) In reading the Bible, we need to keep in mind its over-arching metanarrative--the big picture, and how it develops these themes from beginning to end, thereby seeing each of the parts in terms of the whole.
In summary, this is a book to be devoured, savored, and reflected upon, and Middleton is to be thanked for his unique contributions to the ongoing discussion of the ultimate goal of Scripture as seen in its conclusion in Revelation 21-22.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
A life-changing revelation on the true meaning of Revelation!
By Rebel59
I stumbled across this book while researching some broad concepts for teaching an adult Life Bible Studies class. I downloaded and read the sample on Kindle, and found it quite interesting and refreshing, so I bought - and read - the book and am very glad I did. Indeed, I used it as a backdrop with which to frame a series of lessons for my class to build upon those from an earlier study that reached a similar conclusion, but from a totally different angle. (I heartily commend that book as well. It is Dr. Michael Heiser's "The Unseen Realm".) These two books, along with some video-based teaching from Ray Vander Laan, will help readers/viewers to see the Biblical metanarrative from a wholly different, but still quite Biblical (indeed, perhaps even more Biblical!) perspective - one that's quite exciting, challenging, and life-changing, and one that will shift one's focus from "me and my salvation" and "going to heaven" to the realization that an all out cosmic war is raging all around us (Heiser's "Unseen Realm") that will lead to the final confrontation in Revelation, but will also lead to the full restoration and fulfillment of God's original intent for humanity: being His "imagers" and globalizing Eden. Sound mind boggling? Sound somewhat "fringe" or far-removed from what you've typically heard in church? Well I encourage you not to get scared away, but rather read these books - with your Bible by your side so you can read the referenced passages in parallel with the author's interpretation. Further, I encourage you to read the referenced passages in their larger context. If you do, I believe you'll see Dr. Middleton's conclusions aren't contrived, but harmonize quite well with the the thrust of the passages used. And if you can allow/make yourself to step back a bit and see the Biblical narrative from a larger, more panoramic perspective, I believe you'll be able to see this metanarrative even more clearly, and it's an exciting one - and an encouraging one - especially in these increasingly chaotic times! In short, things aren't "spinning out of control", but are "unfolding like clockwork"; God's in charge, and the Adversary is growing desperate because he knows his time is short, and his end will be horrible. But if you accept the gift of love and life God offers through His beloved Son, you'll be on the winning team, and will get to be a part of a grand, glorious, eternal future - not one of playing a harp on clouds (as is often depicted in popular metaphors), but one of active, vibrant fullness in partnership with God building out and living in the fullness of a renewed, restored creation as it was intended to be all along, a new heaven and a new earth. Trust me on this. Quit viewing eternity through the lens of some nebulous, ethereal, never-ending experience in some nondescript location "somewhere beyond the blue". Read the Bible for what it truly says - one CONTINUOUS STORY, from Genesis on through to Revelation, that comes full circle back to the beauty and perfection of the original creation and intent God had for it. THAT's what truly awaits - if you're prepared. When you see this and realize its implications, it's truly life-changing.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A strong scriptural case for holistic salvation
By Judy Parr
J. Richard Middleton builds a strong case for the Bible’s support for resurrection of the body and restoration of the earth as opposed to immortality of the soul in heaven.
The part of the book that I found most compelling was Middleton’s exposition of Luke 4:16-30, Jesus’s sermon at the beginning of his ministry, a sermon that at first evokes surprise from his listeners but then causes great consternation. When Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah and claims that Isaiah’s prophetic words of good news are being fulfilled as he speaks, his Nazareth audience marvels in amazement. As Middleton explains, “Jesus is being recognized positively as one of the Nazareth community who has gone out into the wider world and has come back to help his own people. He is accepted as an insider, whose message connects deeply with his townspeople’s yearning for the kingdom of God” (p. 263).
But that adulation takes a negative turn as Jesus continues his sermon with illustrations from I Kings 17:1-24 (Elijah’s provision of food to a Sidonian widow and his raising of her son from the dead) and 2 Kings 5:1-19 (Elisha’s healing of a Syrian leper). Jesus emphasized that while there were many Israelite widows and lepers who desperately needed help, God instead acted through Elijah and Elisha on behalf of two gentiles. “By these examples,” Middleton explains, “Jesus clearly intends to have his listeners understand that the kingdom of God breaks down the opposition between Jew and gentile that had been hardening among many first-century Jews into an unbridgeable gulf…. All people, of whatever ethnicity, gender, or social status, can be recipients of God’s grace. God plays no favorites…. the kingdom is open to all outsiders” (p. 265).
Middleton then describes fuller implications of the “holistic salvation” that characterizes the kingdom of God as found in what he calls Jesus’s Nazareth Manifesto. And he chides his readers: “We have not really believed that God cares about real people in their actual historical situations, which often are characterized by oppression and suffering. Our understanding of salvation has been characterized by an unbiblical otherworldliness. So our expectations of the future have often not reflected the full-orbed good news that Jesus proclaimed at Nazareth” (p 273)…. We need to take seriously the fact that the kingdom of God is not coterminous with the church or with any nation or any set of cultural ideals; rather, it refers to God’s restorative rule over the entire earth (273)…. it is by how we live for others that we will show ourselves to be God’s children (274).”
Middleton’s excellent book about what the Scriptures tell us about “a new heaven and a new earth” gives readers much to think about and take to heart.
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