New Creation Eschatology and the Land: A Survey of Contemporary Perspectives

What will the final state of the redeemed look like? Throughout the history of the church conceptions of the final state have tended to minimize the promise of the new heavens and new earth. In contrast to the historical dominance of spiritual heavenly non-temporal conceptions of the final state the last two decades have witnessed a rise in conceptions that include the redemption of material earthly and temporal reality. These new creation conceptions have included proposals regarding the fulfillment of Old Testament land promises. In New Creation Eschatology and the Land Steven L. James argues that in recent new creation conceptions of the final state there is a logical inconsistency between the use of Old Testament texts to inform a renewed earth and the exclusion of the territory of Israel from that renewed earth. By examining a select group of new creationists James shows that the exclusion of the territorial restoration of Israel in a new creation conception fails to appreciate the role of the particular territory in Old Testament prophetic texts and results in an inconsistent new creationism. Reading New Creation Eschatology and the Land by Steven L. James was truly a delightful experience much like opening a box of boutique chocolate and exploring its flavors. This book not only challenges new creationist theologians to deal with the inconsistencies of a new creation eschatology that reduces the land of Israel and its people to a spiritual metaphor but also stimulated in me an insatiable hunger to ask more questions and explore more uncharted territory in a biblical eschatology rooted in the model prayer of our Messiah: Thy kingdom come! I highly recommend this book and look forward with great anticipation to the discussion this book must surely produce about the land of Israel among new creationist theologians. --Seth D. Postell Academic Dean Israel College of the Bible Netanya Israel A most helpful introduction to new creationism and challenge to the consistency of its central conviction. --Craig Blaising Provost and Professor of Theology Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Steven James is among a small group of dispensationalist theologians who affirm a fully holistic vision of a new heaven and new earth as the eschatological future. In this incisive book James questions those theologians or biblical scholars who hold to this vision without any specific role for the nation or land of Israel. His theological and exegetical probes amount to a full-fledged challenge to proponents of holistic eschatology (like myself) to address the role of the biblical land promises for historical Israel in Gods future renewal of all things. --J. Richard Middleton Professor Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College Steven L. James is Assistant Vice President for Academic Administration at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas. He also serves as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at L.R. Scarborough College at Southwestern.