Post by rgrove on Jun 6, 2005 3:04:59 GMT -5
At The End Of Time: The Eschatological Expectations of the Church by Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos
The late Greek Orthodox Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos wrote this small book shortly before he passed away. It's only 94 pages and smaller in it's dimensions that a normal book. Fr Peter A. Chambers summed the basic thrust of the book up well in his forward that Bishop Gerasimos
"... is not interested in critical arguments or in romantic speculations, but in the spiritual realities that have been revealed for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ and experienced in the Church. ... the Second Coming of Christ is understood and interpreted in light of the first coming of Christ, the Incarnation and the entire divine plan of salvation."
It is very much an amillennial, idealist overview of the book of Revelation. But while he discusses the overview, he comes back again and again to personalize the teaching of Revelation tot he readers. This is one of the strengths of the idealist position of Revelation. It's focus is the spiritual truths for Christians yesterday, today and in the future. It doesn't get lost in the details to such a degree that you can't see the forest through the trees. Unfortunately he comes to this conclusion because he doesn't believe that the NT has a systematic teaching on the end times (p 15), but this doesn't really take away from his idealist interpretations.
In a somewhat stark contrast to other Orthodox works I have read he doesn't really quote church father at all. He makes passing references in general terms on a few occassions that this teaching is consistent with the witness of "the Church", but that's it. Also, thoughout he never seems to define the church as restrictively as other Orthodox I've read. Perhaps this is only because it's a fairly pastoral book intended for Orthodox readers, or he actually believes that
"What the first Adam destroyed through disobedience, the last Adam, Christ, restored through obedience unto death, death on the Cross. Christ as the High Priest, through His sacrifice, purifies and sanctifies those who believe in Him. He makes them members of the kingdom of God and thereby leads the whole world to its ultimate purpose. This is indeed the purpose and the goal of the world. All persons and all things will be subject to Christ and through Christ to the one God, to the holy will of God, for God is in control of history, leading it to its ultimate purpose."
By this and many other statements he seems to be more inclusive of other Christians than many of the Greek Orthodox I've read on the Internet. He also appears to have tinges of the postmillennial hope (that you can see clearly in the last statement) that I enjoyed seeing.
The book is organized in a fairly logical flow as follows:
1) Introduction
2) The "last things" in holy scripture
3) The "last things" according to St Paul
4) The Millennium (reviewers note - very amillennial)
5) The First Resurrection and the Second Death
6) The Final Victory over Satan
7) The Resurrection
8) The Final Judgement (reviewers note - gives an unconvincing, but spirited defense of the doctrine of eternal hell via a libertarian free will and "God is Love" defense.)
9) The New Creation
10) The Blessings of the New Creation
My conclusion is that if you are looking for a systematic exposition of the book of Revelation and Eschatology in general from an Orthodox perspective this book will not meet your needs. But if you are interested in a nice, short overview of general eschatology from a generic idealist viewpoint, it will more than meet your needs. It also excels if you wish to read quality, personalized spiritual teaching on what every Christian should be taking away from the Bible's teachings on Eschatology. This, to my mind, is really the books strength because the author obviously had a pastor's heart for his flock and a heart to see the world converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the end, whether I would recommend it or not would depend upon what you are looking for.
Yours In Christ,
Ron
The late Greek Orthodox Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos wrote this small book shortly before he passed away. It's only 94 pages and smaller in it's dimensions that a normal book. Fr Peter A. Chambers summed the basic thrust of the book up well in his forward that Bishop Gerasimos
"... is not interested in critical arguments or in romantic speculations, but in the spiritual realities that have been revealed for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ and experienced in the Church. ... the Second Coming of Christ is understood and interpreted in light of the first coming of Christ, the Incarnation and the entire divine plan of salvation."
It is very much an amillennial, idealist overview of the book of Revelation. But while he discusses the overview, he comes back again and again to personalize the teaching of Revelation tot he readers. This is one of the strengths of the idealist position of Revelation. It's focus is the spiritual truths for Christians yesterday, today and in the future. It doesn't get lost in the details to such a degree that you can't see the forest through the trees. Unfortunately he comes to this conclusion because he doesn't believe that the NT has a systematic teaching on the end times (p 15), but this doesn't really take away from his idealist interpretations.
In a somewhat stark contrast to other Orthodox works I have read he doesn't really quote church father at all. He makes passing references in general terms on a few occassions that this teaching is consistent with the witness of "the Church", but that's it. Also, thoughout he never seems to define the church as restrictively as other Orthodox I've read. Perhaps this is only because it's a fairly pastoral book intended for Orthodox readers, or he actually believes that
"What the first Adam destroyed through disobedience, the last Adam, Christ, restored through obedience unto death, death on the Cross. Christ as the High Priest, through His sacrifice, purifies and sanctifies those who believe in Him. He makes them members of the kingdom of God and thereby leads the whole world to its ultimate purpose. This is indeed the purpose and the goal of the world. All persons and all things will be subject to Christ and through Christ to the one God, to the holy will of God, for God is in control of history, leading it to its ultimate purpose."
By this and many other statements he seems to be more inclusive of other Christians than many of the Greek Orthodox I've read on the Internet. He also appears to have tinges of the postmillennial hope (that you can see clearly in the last statement) that I enjoyed seeing.
The book is organized in a fairly logical flow as follows:
1) Introduction
2) The "last things" in holy scripture
3) The "last things" according to St Paul
4) The Millennium (reviewers note - very amillennial)
5) The First Resurrection and the Second Death
6) The Final Victory over Satan
7) The Resurrection
8) The Final Judgement (reviewers note - gives an unconvincing, but spirited defense of the doctrine of eternal hell via a libertarian free will and "God is Love" defense.)
9) The New Creation
10) The Blessings of the New Creation
My conclusion is that if you are looking for a systematic exposition of the book of Revelation and Eschatology in general from an Orthodox perspective this book will not meet your needs. But if you are interested in a nice, short overview of general eschatology from a generic idealist viewpoint, it will more than meet your needs. It also excels if you wish to read quality, personalized spiritual teaching on what every Christian should be taking away from the Bible's teachings on Eschatology. This, to my mind, is really the books strength because the author obviously had a pastor's heart for his flock and a heart to see the world converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the end, whether I would recommend it or not would depend upon what you are looking for.
Yours In Christ,
Ron