Conditional Futurism: New Perspective of End-Time Prophecy

Distribution and Review Links (Updated 4/27/2012)

Resource Publications (an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers) released
Conditional Futurism: New Perspective of End-Time Prophecy on 1/11/2012.

Sample chapters in Kindle edition available at Amazon.com USA, Amazon.fr France, Amazon.de Germany, Amazon.it Italy, Amazon.es Spain, and Amazon.co.uk UK.

Book Description:

Conditional Futurism introduces a new perspective of end-time theology (eschatology). The book holds to Christian futurism while integrating the Apocalypse of John with the conditional dynamics of prophecy taught in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and various other books throughout the Old Testament. The new paradigm concludes that the final antichrist (also known as the man of lawlessness, the beast, and the eighth king) may read the apocalyptic prophecy of his doom while deciding instead to repent of evil and turn to the Lord, which is a biblical option that would fulfill the divine purposes of the apocalypse. This cutting-edge scholarship also develops new biblical models of angels appearing as humans, the descent of Christ into hell, and the kings in Revelation that incorporate with this end-time theology that encourages hope in all circumstances.

Wipf and Stock sells Conditional Futurism to wholesalers, retailers, and consumers around the world. See the publishers brochure with reviews archived at Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79717778/.

See the first post-publication review at The Christian Manifesto.

Pre-publication Endorsements and Review:

"James Goetz leads us on a tour of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, to explore what it has to say about future judgment and salvation. He well appreciates that biblical prophesies can have multiple fulfillments and takes this into account in his wide-ranging explorations. Concerning judgment, he argues that the many biblical texts relating to the future are not simply unconditional predictions of what will happen but are conditional outcomes. If we repent, we can avoid the consequences that God says will be our fate. Goetz even holds out hope for postmortem conversion, even from within the Lake of Fire itself. This is a perspective that warrants careful consideration and further exploration."
Robin Parry
author of The Evangelical Universalist

"James Goetz's thoughtful defense of 'Conditional Futurism' should have great appeal to any evangelical who yearns for a wider hope. He persuasively argues, first, that Bible prophecies concerning future punishment typically forecast what will happen unless (or until) certain conditions are met and, second, that a strong biblical warrant exists for the possibility of postmortem conversions. His interpretation of the New Jerusalem with gates that never close is especially powerful in this regard."
Thomas Talbott
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
Willamette University

"James Goetz's Conditional Futurism surveys the Bible from Genesis through Revelation, focusing on predictions, especially predictions of judgment. He concludes that these predictions were always conditional; that God would always relent if the recipients would repent. This leads him to the conclusion that even the antichrist might repent and be reconciled to Christ, and to the conclusion that postmortem conversions are also probable."
Dale A. Brueggemann
Missionary-Educator

"Though never a credo of orthodoxy, the belief that not a single created being—even Lucifer himself—stands outside God's redemptive reach has a history nearly as long as the Church itself. In Conditional Futurism Goetz analyzes key biblical covenants and prophecies through this grid in a simple, straightforward presentation that suggests the Church rethink its position on postmortem conversions and end-time prophecy. All students of the Bible will find Goetz's selection and treatment of biblical passages both stimulating and challenging."
Rob Starner
Professor of Greek and New Testament
Southwestern A/G University

"Goetz has written a readable study suitable for lay readers interested in biblical end-times prophecies. Starting with a high view of Scripture, he challenges the idea that these prophecies depict what will happen, arguing that, instead, they can plausibly be seen as characterizing what would happen in the absence of repentance. Especially in the case of conservative evangelicals, this book may motivate needed reassessment of popular interpretations of end-times prophecies."
Eric Reitan
Oklahoma State University

Original Post (July 26, 2010)
Wipf and Stock Publishers contracted me to complete the working title Conditional Futurism: New Perspective of End-Time Prophecy. Prior to this contract, I already posted some blog articles related to the book. See below:

Conditional Futurism in Sum

The Conditional Apocalypse of King Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar and the Kings in Revelation

The Kings of the Earth in Heaven

See the Table of Contents below:

1: Conditional Futurism in Sum
2: Interpretation of End-Time Prophecy
3: Genesis and the Mosaic Covenant
4: The Davidic Dynasty and Psalms
5: Isaiah
6: Jeremiah
7: Prince Gog from the Land of Magog
8: Zechariah
9: Daniel
10: The Gospels
11: Acts
12: The Letters of Paul and Hebrews
13: The Letters of Peter, Jude, and John
14: The Eighth King in Revelation
15: Judgment, the Kings of the Earth, and the Nations in Revelation
Subject Index
Author Index
Ancient Document Index

The Partnership Law Model of the Trinity

This essay briefly introduces the partnership law model of the Trinity, a social and legal model of the Trinity. The model helps to resolve the logical problem of the Trinity, also known as the threeness-oneness problem.

United States corporate general partnerships with three general partners help to model both the threeness and the oneness of the Trinity. For example, in the case of a partnership with three general partners, each partner has complete powers to make binding contracts for the entire partnership. And the three partners are not three partnerships, but only one partnership

Caveats to the partnership law model include the following. First, general partnerships have a beginning in time and face dissolution while the inseparable Trinity has always existed and will always exist. Second, each of the general partners has contractual powers that represent the entire partnership but nothing else about each of the partners represents the entire partnership while the partners in the Trinity always represent the entire Trinity in everything. Third, general partners have equal contractual powers that represent the entire partnership but each partner has different strengths and gifts in other areas while the partners in the Trinity have equal strengths and gifts in everything. Fourth, general partners might work disharmoniously while the partners in the Trinity always work harmoniously.

The partnership law model of the Trinity improves traditional social trinitarianism. For example, a traditional social trinitarian might say that Peter, Paul, and Mary were three members of one group. The three members were not three groups, but only one group. However, none of Peter, Paul, and Mary had powers of the entire group in any area of the group, unless they formed a general partnership with each other. Likewise, partnership law presents a limited analogy of how each person of the Trinity represents the entire tripersonal deity while preserving fundamental Christian doctrine such as monotheism, the original deity of the Son of God, and the social relationship of the Father and Son.



Copyright © 2010 James Edward Goetz

The Kings of the Earth in Heaven

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. (Revelation 21:24 NRSV)

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. (Revelation 22:14 NRSV)

INTRODUCTION
This essay briefly explores the implications of "the kings of the earth" getting slaughtered by the sword while opposing the return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:19-21) before "the kings of the earth" enjoy the bliss in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21:24). This article concludes that John the Revelator used these images to teach that various kings of the earth and other people in heaven died lost before enjoying salvation.

John the Revelator borrowed the phrase "the kings of the earth" from various Old Testament passages. For example, 1 Kings 10.23 says Solomon possessed more riches and wisdom than all the kings of the earth. And Psalm 2:2 says the kings of the earth oppose the Lord and his anointed one. And Psalm 89:27 refers to King David as the firstborn among the kings of the earth. And Psalm 102:15 says the nations and the kings of the earth will fear the Lord. And Psalm 138:4-5 says the kings of the earth will praise and sing to the Lord.

The New Testament uses the phrase "the kings of the earth" nine times while John the Revelator used it eight of those times. First, a prayer in Acts 4:24-30 refers to the kings of the earth opposing the Lord while quoting Psalm 2:2. Second, Revelation 1:5 declares Jesus Christ the ruler of the kings of the earth. Third, Revelation 6:15 says that the kings of the earth hide in caves to dodge the wrath of God. Fourth, Revelation 17:2 says the kings of the earth have sex with the great whore. Fifth, Revelation 17:18 says the great whore, Babylon the great, rules over the kings of the earth. Sixth, Revelation 18:3 repeats that the kings of the earth have sex with the great whore. Seventh, Revelation 18:9 says that the kings of the earth will weep and wail over the destruction of the great whore. Eighth, Revelation 19:19-21 says the beast and the kings of the earth gather to fight against the return of Christ before the army of Christ throws the beast into the lake of fire and kills the kings of the earth. Ninth, Revelation 21:24 say the kings of the earth bring their glory into the New Jerusalem in heaven.

The Bible teaches remarkable paradox about the kings of the earth. For example, the Old Testament teaches on one hand that the kings of the earth oppose the Lord and on another hand they will sing praises to the Lord. And Revelation paradoxically implies the following: Christ rules over the kings of the earth while the great whore rules over them; Christ rules over the kings of the earth while they fight against the return of Christ; the kings of the earth transition from getting slaughtered by the returning Christ to enjoying the bliss in heaven.

REVELATION 19:11-22:5 & 22:14-15
Revelation 19:11-22:5 teaches about the culmination of human history with vivid images. These verses teach about the return of Christ, the Battle of Harmagedon, the first resurrection, the thousand-year banishment of Satan into the bottomless pit, the thousand-year reign of Christ and his saints, the final satanic battle, the great white throne judgment, and the nations enjoying the bliss in heaven.

Revelation 19:11-16 teaches about Christ and his heavenly armies preparing for the triumphant return of Christ. And Revelation 19:17-21 describe the notorious Battle of Harmagedon (Armageddon), which gets its name from the satanic plot against the Lord in Revelation 16:13-6. Verses 19:17-18 say an angel prophesies that many people great and small who oppose Christ will die. Verse 19:19 follows by quickly describing the demonic beast (Antichrist) leading the kings of the earth with their armies while they gather to battle against Christ. Then verse 19:20 quickly describes the capture of the beast and the false prophet, which finishes with the two of them getting thrown alive into the lake of fire. And verse 19:21 describes the destruction of the kings and armies that oppose Christ.

Revelation 20:1 describes the appearance of an angel holding the key to the bottomless pit and a chain. And verse 20:2-3 says that the angel captures Satan, binds him with the chain, and throws him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

The first sentence of Revelation 20:4 describes various thrones with authoritative judges. And the second sentence of 20:4 says that those martyred by the forces of the beast resurrect back to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years, the Thousand Year Reign. And verses 20:5-6 clarify that this is the first resurrection and the rest of dead come to life after the Thousand Year Reign, and those in the first resurrection receive an extraordinary blessing.

Revelation 20:7-10 describes a release of Satan after the Thousand Year Reign. Satan emerges from the bottomless pit and again deceives the nations of the earth to attack the saints of Christ, an attempted repeat of Harmagedon. A satanic army as numerous as the sands of the sea attack the saints in Jerusalem while fire falls from the sky and consumes the satanic attackers. Satan gets thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast and false prophet, and the three of them suffer torment day and night forever.

Revelation 20:11-15 teaches about Judgment Day. God appears on a great white throne while the earth and heaven disappear from the presence of God and his throne. God judges all people according the record of their life. And all people without record in the book of life get thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:1-8 teaches about the bliss in the new heaven and the new earth. God makes all things new. And God lives with his people while God brings an end to death, mourning, crying, and pain. And outside the new heaven and the new earth are unrepentant sinners in the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:9-27 teaches more about the bliss in heaven while using images of a glorious city. For example, each of the four city walls measure one thousand four hundred miles long and high while they shine like the glory of God. Each wall had three gates made of pearls while the great street of the city was made of pure gold. The city temple is the Lord God and the Lamb while they light the city. The nations walk in the light of God. The kings of the earth bring their glory into the city. And nothing impure ever enters the city.

Revelation 22:1-5 compares the bliss in heaven to the Garden of Eden. The river of the water of life flows from the throne of God down the middle of the great street of gold. And each side of the river stood the tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit bearing fruit each month. And the leaves of the tree bring healing to the nations. And the people will see God while they worship him, and they will reign forever.

Revelation 22:14-15 quotes Christ speaking in the epilogue of Revelation:

[14] Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. [15] Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practises falsehood. (Revelation 22:14-15 NRSV)

JUDGMENT AND THE KINGS OF THE EARTH
Focusing on the phrase "the kings of the earth" in Revelation illuminates the paradox of the kings of the earth opposing Christ and getting slaughtered during Harmagedon before the kings of the earth enjoy the bliss in heaven. The juxtaposition of these images implies the postmortem salvation of the kings of the earth and other lost dead. And the paradox in Revelation thickens when comparing the images of postmortem salvation with images of Judgment Day and everlasting torment in the lake of fire.

A literal interpretation of Revelation 19:11-22:5 leaves various gaps in the details of sequential events. For example, the kings of the earth go from getting slaughtered during the return of Christ to enjoying heaven while events between the slaughter and heaven include the Thousand Year Reign, the satanic battle after the Thousand Year Reign, and Judgment Day. This sequence of events never clarifies if the kings of the earth would enter salvation before or after Judgment Day.

Revelation never clarifies the chronology of the salvation for the kings of the earth in regards to Judgment Day while the epilogue of Revelation quotes Christ teaching about salvation. For example, Revelation 22:14-15 teaches that "those who wash their robes" enter the gates of heaven as opposed to those outside heaven and presumably inside the lake of fire. This implies that people must wash their robes to enter heaven. Likewise, God requires the condition that people must wash their robes to enter heaven. And this washing of robes relates to Revelation 1:5, which teaches that Christ frees believers from their sins by his blood. Likewise, those who wash their robes accept the gift of salvation from Christ. And those who accept the gift of salvation from Christ genuinely repent from disobedience to Christ such as murder and falsehood.

As stated earlier, various kings of the earth get slaughtered during the return of Christ and enjoy heaven after Judgment Day. And Revelation never clarifies if these kings of the earth accept salvation before or after Judgment Day. If some of them accept salvation before Judgment Day, then they would accept salvation while suffering in Hades during the Thousand Year Reign. And if some of them would accept salvation after Judgment Day, then they would accept salvation after suffering in the lake of fire.

CONCLUSION
The biblical prospect of various kings of the earth accepting salvation in Hades or the lake of fire emphasizes the symbolism of biblical images related to finality during Judgment Day and never ending punishment. And John the Revelator juxtaposes the kings of the earth suffering judicial wrath and accepting salvation. This suggests the possibility of all people eventually accepting salvation, which this essay calls "quasi-universalism". Likewise, John the Revelator taught quasi-universalism.



The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2010 James Edward Goetz