The Millennial Maze: Sorting Out Evangelical Options

Rating:
Summary: Fairest Overview of the Issue Available
Review: Grenz has accomplished the impossible in this small volume. He has become one of the first authors to present the different perspectives on this debate in a fair and even-handed manner. Typically in books on eschatology, opposing viewpoints are caricatured rather than described and mocked rather than carefully criticized. Grenz avoids all of this nonsense.

In the first chapter he introduces the Biblical background of apocalyptic literature which frames the whole debate. In chapter two, he presents an overview of millennarianism in the history of the church. The following four chapters deal with postmillennialism, dispensationalism, historic premillennialism and amillennialism respectively. The seventh chapter asks the question, "So what?" by dealing with the significance of the whole debate. The book concludes with a chapter explaining how eschatology should shape us here and now.

This book and the Counterpoints volume edited by Darrell Bock "Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond" are the two must read books for those desiring a good overview and explanation of the millennial debate.

Rating:
Summary: Adequate Introduction to the Key Issues
Review: The Millennial Maze provides a helpful and readable introduction to eschatology, the study of the last things or the end times. Grenz introduces his work with a brief biographical section where he recounts how he became interested in and realized the importance of eschatology. Although he grew up in classical dispensationalism, in seminary he moved first to historic premillennialism and then to amillennialism. After this introduction, Grenz makes a brief foray into historical theology, giving an overview of the various changes and developments in eschatology throughout church history. He then proceeds to outline the four major eschatological theories: Postmillennialism, Dispensationalism, Historic Premillennialism, and Amillennialism, including the criticisms that each school of thought has for the other three and what Grenz sees as the shortcomings of each. The final two chapters present Grenz's view on the significance of eschatology for the Christian church and its work in this world. This is a valuable and fairly objective analysis of contemporary options in eschatology. My only criticism is that I wish it would have dealt more with the growing optimistic amillennialism/partial preterism that Gentry, Chilton, North, and Sproul have endorsed. Overall, though, Grenz's work deals well with the key themes that are common to all eschatology: hermeneutics, philosophy of history, and the nature of the kingdom.