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Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend. Edited by Ted Grimsrud and Michael Hardin. Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2011. xii + 294 pp. $36.00 (paper).
Compassionate Eschatology explores how Christians might conceive of eschatology apart from standard images of global physical catastrophe and divine vengeance. Edited by Ted Grimsrud and Michael Hardin, this volume hosts contributions from fifteen scholars of diverse theological backgrounds on equally diverse topics, united by the goal of better understanding how eschatology can motivate Christians to peaceful living in the present. For this task, the books organization into two parts seems helpful. The first part, entitled "Interpreting Apocalypse and Apocalyptic Non-Retributively," begins with Grimsrud s contribution to the volume, which convincingly argues that the Book of Revelation does not primarily seek to predict future destruction and judgment but rather to sustain communities of resistance in the face of the Roman imperial threat by depicting the true victory of Jesus Christ over the false powers of the world. Apocalyptic, Grimsrud argues, encourages us to live in communities of faith, trusting in the God who has already won instead of the powers that appear to rule the world today. Other especially notable contributions to part one include Richard Bauckham s chapter, which demonstrates that the language of...