Brethren and the Last Things

Author: Tim Grass
Publisher: BAHN
The Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell) have been central to Brethren thinking. This has shaped not their understanding of Christian doctrine, but also their evangelistic message and mission, as well as their worship and spirituality. J. N. Darby set the tone for the movement with his understanding of the Church as a heavenly entity an his espousal of a dispensational approach to interpreting the Bible, which stressed the distinction between heavenly and earthly. A key aspect of this interest has been the study of biblical prophecy. A stream of books and magazines have explored this, and the impact was immense. In large swathes of North American evangelicalism, for example, dispensational understanding of the future became normative. The contributions to this book range widely in the field and the movement. There are surveys of the background and of Brethren thought, explorations of the thinking of those who diverged from what became the standard understanding, and investigations of how eschatological belief manifested itself in the diverse areas of personal spirituality, hymnody, novel-reading, and environmental thought. The book thus illuminates a major element of religious belief and practice in the modern era.