The End Times Made Simple

Samuel Waldron has done the Christian community a great service by writing a terrific book on the theological underpinnings of amillennialism for public consumption. We are inundated by the crazy, ever-changing predictions and end-times gloom of Hal Lindsey, the Zionist bombast of John Hagee, and a wide belief in the theologically vacuous notion of rapture. In the public sphere, support for various interpretations of the Bible depend more on how loudly and confidently the various proponents shout them than on any careful examiniation of their Biblical roots. It is the Christian Evangelists (the so-called dispensationalists) who shout the loudest, but are they correct? In this book, Dr. Waldron carefully examines the Biblical arguments that are commonly used to support dispensationalism, and systematically refutes them one by one. If you are looking for the antidote to aggresive dispensationalists, this is it. The first half of the book is taken up describing the eschatalogical system of the Bible. Particular detail is placed on contrasting the amillennial and pre-millennial/dispensational lines of arguments. It is clear that Dr. Waldron has had many disputes with dispensationalists and he sets up his arguments on a firm foundation. In particular, he outlines his hermeneutical framework on how to interpret the Bible (i.e. how we know what we know) along a rational line. My personal view is that even once you make the leap of faith to accept that Christ died to save mankind, you are still a long way from the dispensational position and you need to be wearing your dispensational glasses to interpret the Bible in this manner. Subsequent chapters deal with `What is Hell', `Is there a difference between national Isreal and biblical Israel' (this is a biggie for people like Hagee who claim that his interpretation of the Bible demands that the US govt support national Israel no matter what), `what is Heaven', and `what does the Bible teach about the resurrection'. In short, there is a wealth of information in this book about the interpretation of the Bible (as it has been interpreted historically by the Catholic church and otherwise since the resurrection). In spite of the title, this is anything but simple. You'll have to reread sections several times, and you'll certainly need your Bible handy to look at various passages and study them in context. This is the kind of book that contains a mountain of information in every paragraph, but your persistance will be well rewarded with new insights and knowledge about the Bible. This is not a book for theologians though, I think that anyone with the interest and motivation can work through this book. Highly recommended.

Samuel Waldron has provided a very clear and easy to follow understanding of Biblical prophecy from the a-millennial perspective. Anyone can read this and follow his very compelling argument. This work is an excellent starting point for reading about a-millennialism. Agree or disagree with the author, he will give you much to think about and work through. Fair, even-handed, and Biblical you will not be disappointed. The only weakness of this book is on the chapter on parables and end times. Waldron is not as strong here as in the rest of the book. However, this does not detract from the overall value of the book. A must read for those just beginning to seek to understand a-millennialism. This is also a good book to give to a pre-millennialist because of his fair and kind treatment of their view of last days. While Waldron does not waver in his convictions, he writes with a kindness toward those who disagree.

Although the author doesn't directly say it, Waldron presents in this book a simple, straightforward case for amillennialism. He does a good, thorough job of addressing the flaws of the extremely popular dispensational premillennialism ("Left Behind" theology). He avoids excessive use of technical jargon, and is easy to follow.Waldron here, contrary to what many people may think of amillennialists, is very emphatic about the Bible being God's inerrant, inspired Word. He uses a simple approach to interpreting the Scriptures' stand on the end times -- start with the clear, literal passages as a basis, then build upon them with the less clear, figurative passages. He provides a several diagrams to make his views even easier to grasp.This title is an excellent alternative to the "Left Behind" theology so prominent today. I recommend it highly.

Waldron's book is titled "The End Times Made Simple," and for the most part he demonstrates the truth of that title. I have to add the caveat that understanding the end times will never be as simple as many other biblical doctrines. However, in this book, Waldron shows that the end times don't have to be as hard to understand as we tend to make them. He begins the book with some simple principles of interpretation that are very helpful. When reading the bible we should read the clear before the difficult, the literal before the figurative and the general before the detailed. Such simple advice will go miles in helping us understand prophecy. For the most part, people who want to understand the end times run straight to the books of Daniel and Revelation, two of the mmore difficult, figurative and detailed books in the bible. Although he didn't state it this way, one of the strengths of the amillennial position that Waldron espouses is its emphasis on interpreting the prophetic books in light of the rest of the bible, rather than the other way around. Waldron's three simple principles of interpretation help the reader do this. The bible is full of prophetic material, which, if read first will give the student of bible prophecy a trajetory for reading books like Daniel and Revelation. From there, Waldron goes on to show the two-age view of world history and it is at this point that he shows the beautiful simplicity of God's prophetic plan. He spends a good deal of time describing this and comparing the various end-times views with this model. His exposition of Revelation 20 is a particular strength in this regard. In my opinion Waldron proves his case when he states that the amil view is the biblical view. The latter part of the book answers many of the knotty questions surrounding prophecy such as the relationship of the church and Israel, the intermediate state, heaven, hell, eternal punishment and things like this. In doing this he covers most of the bases on issues that come up. I am thankful for this book because it is scrupulously Biblical. It is unfortunate that those who hold the amil position are often dismissed in evangelical circles. Books like this one need to be widely circulated so that the church can see that the amil view (which is the dominant historic view of the church) is clearly taught in the Scriptures. That is not to say that there are no problems or issues that can't be debated. However, those who write amils off as "non-literalists" or as those who don't take the bible seriously will have to reconsider their view if they read books like this one.

This is a clear, well argued presentation of eschatology from a Reformed amillenial perspective. Unlike pop dispensational authors and pundits (LaHaye, Lindsey, Van Impe, et al) who torture their Bibles and twist them to fit their end times fiction, Waldron carefully explains how this classic interpretation is derived from Scripture by reasoned, careful exegesis.He briefly discusses the foundational faults of dispensational premillenialism and hyper-preterism. His critique is sufficient to reveal the gross error involved in both approaches, but this book is not a detailed refutation of those eschatologies. For that, read DeMar, "Last Days Madness", and Seriah "The End of All Things", respectively.Waldron is perhaps a bit harsh on postmillenialism, which differs from amillenialism only in its optimistic expectation of the success of the Great Commission.The book would benefit from a thorough editing, as it contains a few typos and has references to some charts which missed the printing. These minor deficiencies to not in any way detract from the book's usefulness.Overall, this is an excellent addition to your eschatology library, deserving shelf space beside Chilton and Gentry.