Militant Grace: The Apocalyptic Turn and the Future of Christian Theology

by Philip G. Ziegler

This clear and comprehensive introduction to apocalyptic theology demonstrates the significance of apocalyptic readings of the New Testament for systematic theology and highlights the ethical implications of the apocalyptic turn in biblical and theological studies. Written by a leading theologian and proponent of apocalyptic theology, this primer explores the impact of important recent Pauline scholarship on contemporary theology and argues for a renewed understanding of key Christian doctrines, including sin, grace, revelation, redemption, and the Christian life.

Genres: Theology

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2018

About the author

Philip Gordon Ziegler

Reviews

[Daniel Rempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stimulating and provocative read, Militant Grace has given me much to ponder. While I am unsure whether eschatology ought to be the doctrinal loci by which to parse most of our theology, the case Ziegler makes is quite compelling. At minimum, this is a convincing account of the God who acts in history as the grounding of our theology, and a helpful step into apocalyptic theology. I suspect that I will return to this one over and over.

[Alex DeMarco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 12, "A Theological Ethics of God's Apocalypse: Dietrich Bonhoeffer," is easily worth the cost of the entire book.

[BJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for theological nerds that confidently reads Gods work in Christ as the apocalyptic event that turned the world upside down and overthrew the powers of Satan, Sin, and Death and established new creation. The author uses a ton of quotes (quite derivative) by interacting with theologians like Martyn and Bonhoeffer and Calvin to make the case for this reading of Scripture (mainly Paul). Of course, one may not agree with all the conclusions and may find it a touch repetitive and big-wordy, but there are some combustible sentences that wonderfully show the ferociousness of the gospel of God.

[Cody Bivins-Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ziegler not only provides a crash course on the “apocalyptic turn,” but provides a great argument for the eschatological (and therefore, soteriological) shape of God’s interruptive self-disclosure in Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. The apocalyptic frame provides the doctrine of revelation with a dialectical character which kills and makes alive, setting Ziegler up for not only a powerful image of salvific work but of theology as critique, political theology, and brilliantly - Christian discipleship.

[Stuart Houghton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love me some good eschatology; Militant Grace warmed my heart and challenged my soul. I had already concluded that Jesus Christ's incarnation, work and triumph has changed everything forever. I now realise that I have a home among apocalyptic theologians.

[Pastor Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I'd call an easy read, at least for me, but there were parts of it that I really valued. I appreciated how he would call into service different theologians in each chapter to engage different facets of what an eschatalogical understanding of the gospel means for us.

[Joel Call · Rating 3 out of 5]

theologians have perfected the art of rendering me absolutely disinterested in their favorite theologian

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent work on the apocalyptic orientation of Paul's writings and its implications for Christian theology. Highly recommended.