A great sequel to The End Times Made Simple, this book focuses mostly on peripheral questions rather than on what are the big picture questions of eschatology. It is, therefore, a fantastic resource for someone who wants to go beyond asking “when is the rapture” and “what and when is the millennium?”.
My disappointment/complaint with the book is focused on the “how” of the book rather than the content directly. About half-way through, Dr. Waldron includes a significant amount of material from another of his books – MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto. While I have no complaint with the re-use of material, the integration of that material into this book is occasionally lacking. In the opening to the first chapter of Part 2, Waldron mentions “the argument between MacArthur and Amillennialism” but there is no prior reference (that I found) to said disagreement. MacArthur suddenly appears in the text in a rather jarring fashion. This sort of inclusion of a subject or material without introduction occurs a few others times; those familiar with the eschatological debates will of course quickly recognize why MacArthur is being interacted with but those newer to the subject may well be left wondering if they missed something.
Further, some of the chapter breaks come at rather strange points. In particular, chapters twenty-two and twenty-three seemed to be unnecessarily divided (or perhaps improperly divided). Chapter twenty-two largely consists of laying out Dr. Horner’s argument for Dispensational Premillennialism from Ezekiel and then showing the required logical conclusions of said argument that end in theological absurdity. Chapter twenty-three then asks what the New Testament has to say regarding those conclusions. But quickly in the second chapter Waldron returns to interacting with Horner’s position. While there is nothing technically wrong here, when reading through the book, the chapter break seems unhelpful and unnecessary, leading the reader to believe a change of topic or focus is about to occur when in reality it seems to mainly signal a place to give a quick break.
My complaints are in reality quite minor. There is much excellent information in this book. Waldron shows from the parables of Christ why the amillennial position’s view of the progress of the church in the world is preferable to both the mainly pessimistic premillennial view and the mainly optimistic postmillennial view. He also argues well that the study of eschatology is not optional and reminds the reader of the importance of making Scripture the basis for that study. And he demonstrates both the biblical foundation of the historic position of the Church that God’s work with a distinct, geopolitical nation of Israel has ended but also how this neither equals Replacement Theology nor means that Israel is discarded.
If you have already read Waldron’s “MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto,” don’t skip the repeated sections here! At first they seem to be simply lifted from the previous book but you will quickly find that the material has been added to, addressing some of the unanswered questions from the prior book.
Dr. Waldron’s conclusions regarding the “all Israel” of Romans 11 surprised me! I expected him to hold a particular view but he cogently argued a more “difficult” position (no spoilers here!). I am not sure if he convinced me, but I certainly am left wanting to further examine the question.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. It is by no means perfect, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.