Christian Understandings of the Future: The Historical Trajectory

1. Christian Futures: An Introduction 1
For Further Reading 19
Part I. Origins
2. Prophecies and Riddles: Jewish Prophetic
and Apocalyptic Traditions
23
3. Parables and Resurrection: Already and Not
Yet in the Jesus Tradition
37
4. Seeds and Sheafs: The Eschatology of the
Apostle Paul
55
5. Alpha and Omega: The Book of Revelation 67
Part II. Historical Developments
6. Martyrs: Early Christianity 83
7. Time: Origen 103
8. Patriae: Augustine of Hippo 111
9. Legends: Pseudo-Methodius and
the Antichrist
125
10. Sketches: Gregory the Great 137
11. Songs: Celtic Sources 145
12. Polemics: Bernard and Hildegard 155
13. Patterns: Joachim of Fiore 169
14. Circles: Dante Alighieri 181
15. Visions: Julian of Norwich and the Black
Plague
193
16. Maps: Christopher Columbus 203
17. Urgency: Martin Luther 213
18. Taxonomies: Isaac Newton and
John Donne
223
19. Anxieties: John Calvin, Increase Mather, and
Second Advent Theologians
233
20. Images: Virgins of the Apocalypse 243
21. Liberation: Eschatology and Enslaved
Africans in North America
251
22. Jeremiads: Jonathan Edwards and the
American Republic
259
23. Utopias: Postmillennial America 267
24. Charts: Prophecy Belief 1850-1950 277
For Further Reading 289
25. Theories: From Albert Schweitzer to Karl
Rahner
295
26. Protests: From Martin Luther King Jr. to
Leymah Gbowee
309
27. Clocks: The Atomic Age 319
28. Failures: The Limits of Christian Futures 325
29. Questions: Science and Christian Eschatology 337
30. Towardness 343
For Further Reading 349
Glossary of Terms 351
Index 355