The End Times, Again?: 2000 Years of the Use & Misuse of Biblical Prophecy

by Martyn Whittock

Overview

From the Middle Eastern politics of Donald Trump to the UK's 2016 EU Referendum, large numbers of Christians are making decisions based on the alleged "end-times" aspects of modern politics. Such apocalyptic views often operate beneath "the radar" of much Christian thought and expression. In this book, historian Martyn Whittock argues that while the New Testament does indeed teach the second coming of Christ, complications occur when Christians seek to confidently identify contemporary events as fulfilments of prophecy. Such believers are usually unaware that they stand in a long line of such well-intended but failed predictions. In this book, Whittock explores the history of end-times speculations over two thousand years, revealing how these often reflect the ideologies and outlooks of contemporary society in their application of Scripture. When Christians ignore such past mistakes, they are in danger of repeating them. Jesus, Whittock argues, taught a different way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725258457
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	10/15/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	214
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Martyn Whittock is a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England and taught high school history for thirty-five years. He is the author, or co-author, of fifty-three books on a variety of historical themes.
Martyn Whittock graduated in Politics from Bristol University, in the UK, in 1980, where his degree special studies were in radical Christian politics and theology of the seventeenth century&also the development of the Soviet State.

He taught history for thirty-five years (as Head of History&Director of Humanities Faculty at a number of high schools). Latterly he was curriculum leader for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education at a high school in the UK. During this time he developed an interest in early medieval history (especially Anglo-Saxons and Vikings), as well as continuing his interests in radical Christian millenarianism and also Soviet history.

He has acted as an historical consultant to the National Trust, the BBC and English Heritage. He is a Licensed Lay Minister, in the Church of England, with an active interest in theology.
He retired from teaching in 2016 to devote more time to writing. He lives in the UK.

He is the author or co-author of fifty-three books, with total sales in excess of 956,000. These include school history textbooks and adult history and theological books. The latter are written to make historical and theological themes both engaging and accessible to adult readers.
He has contributed guest blogs, and inputs into discussions, on a number of online news platforms and radio shows, regarding faith and politics; has appeared on Sky News discussing US politics and the evangelical right; acted as an historical consultant to a number of radio stations; and is a paid regular columnist for Christian Today (with two columns: the fortnightly 'The Way I See It'&the monthly 'Window on History'). He is also a regular (monthly) News Reviewer for Premier Christian Radio.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In Whittock’s excellent volume, we have a book to savor. . . . Are we living in the end times? Has there ever been an age without ‘wars and the rumors of wars,’ as the Gospels warn? Whittock’s first-class study helps us to reengage with some of those central questions and concerns that are common to all faiths: What time is it? Where are we going? And are we nearly there?”

—Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford





“This is a nicely written, very readable, and thoroughgoing review of the centrality of ‘end-times’ thinking within the history of Christian thought from the Hebrew Scriptures to the present. The importance of Whittock’s book lies in his demonstration that eschatology is not the sole preserve of the modern political and religious right but is, and has always been, compatible with many different religious, social, economic, and political agendas.”

—Philip Almond, Professor emeritus, The University of Queensland



“Whittock writes a highly accessible and abundantly helpful account of how Christian writers through the ages have interpreted apocalyptic Scriptures. Such readings have often, but not always, led to culturally and politically divisive movements. Whittock, however, offers a hopeful vision, reminding us that Christians can remain devoted to the Scriptures and still embrace the world and its challenges.”

—Glenn W. Shuck, author of Marks of the Beast: The Left Behind Novels and the Struggle for Evangelical Identity



“The End Times, Again? is truly a book for our time. It is a wonderfully well-written survey of a vast sweep of Western history and the ways in which interpretations of biblical prophecy have influenced culture, politics, religion, and even armed conflicts. . . . The book is particularly noteworthy in that it includes our post-9/11 world, Trump’s MAGA movement, and the profound ways in which recent ways of recasting ‘prophecy belief’ are shaping our society.”

—James D. Tabor, Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Editorial Reviews

In Whittock’s excellent volume, we have a book to savor. . . . Are we living in the end times? Has there ever been an age without ‘wars and the rumors of wars,’ as the Gospels warn? Whittock’s first-class study helps us to reengage with some of those central questions and concerns that are common to all faiths: What time is it? Where are we going? And are we nearly there?”

—Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford





“This is a nicely written, very readable, and thoroughgoing review of the centrality of ‘end-times’ thinking within the history of Christian thought from the Hebrew Scriptures to the present. The importance of Whittock’s book lies in his demonstration that eschatology is not the sole preserve of the modern political and religious right but is, and has always been, compatible with many different religious, social, economic, and political agendas.”

—Philip Almond, Professor emeritus, The University of Queensland



“Whittock writes a highly accessible and abundantly helpful account of how Christian writers through the ages have interpreted apocalyptic Scriptures. Such readings have often, but not always, led to culturally and politically divisive movements. Whittock, however, offers a hopeful vision, reminding us that Christians can remain devoted to the Scriptures and still embrace the world and its challenges.”

—Glenn W. Shuck, author of Marks of the Beast: The Left Behind Novels and the Struggle for Evangelical Identity



“The End Times, Again? is truly a book for our time. It is a wonderfully well-written survey of a vast sweep of Western history and the ways in which interpretations of biblical prophecy have influenced culture, politics, religion, and even armed conflicts. . . . The book is particularly noteworthy in that it includes our post-9/11 world, Trump’s MAGA movement, and the profound ways in which recent ways of recasting ‘prophecy belief’ are shaping our society.”

—James D. Tabor, Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

From the Publisher