The Spirit of Prophecy

by Max R. King

In 1971 Max King published his book The Spirit of Prophecy and shook the foundations of modern Bible interpretation. Almost singlehandedly, throughout the '70s and '80s, this book changed the way people thought about the "last days." Now this classic of fulfilled Bible prophecy has been completely updated and rewritten as a fast reading biblical introduction to eschatology. The second edition includes study questions and chapter summaries, plus a postcript on "The Transmillennial ® view" by Tim King. A perfect companion book for personal study or Bible study classes, or a great gift book for those new to Bible prophecy.

454 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Max R. King (b. 1930) is the founder of the school of thought known as Transmillennialism. King served as a minister in the Churches of Christ for 40 years prior to developing Transmillennialism and has had a critical impact on the development of Covenant Eschatology through his books The Cross and the Parousia of Christ and The Spirit of Prophecy.

Reviews

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book of King's that I read was The Cross and the Parousia of Christ. In my review of that book, I mentioned that his convoluted style of writing often left me confused, especially his comments about Romans. Someone suggested that I would be less confused if I read this book. I think he was right. It is hard for me to recommend one book over the other if one were to read just one Max King book. This book is a lot easier to follow but The Cross and the Parousia is more thorough and the thought is more developed. There does seem to be some changes in King's thinking between the two books. For example, I noticed in this book King identifies the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians as Nero, but in the Cross and the Parousia the man of sin seems to be a corporate entity, not an individual.

The idea that has come to be known as transmillennialism is *much* more developed in the latter book (not surprising since that book is about twice as long) so if your primary interest is in transmillennialism, you should definitely read that book. On the other hand, this book is clearer on King's view of Daniel's 70 weeks. I did learn some history in this book. In 66 AD, the Jews stopped the daily sacrifices they were practicing on behalf of the Roman emperor, which prompted Nero to order the destruction of Jerusalem. King suggests that this cessation of sacrifices may be what Daniel 9.27 is referencing.

Some of King's ideas in this are unusual, such as the idea that Gog and Magog are unrepentant Israel. I don’t remember if this idea is reiterated in The Cross and the Parousia. My next project is to reread that book, not only to see if minor points like this are covered in that book, but also to see if I can get a better handle on King's comments on Romans in that book. King does make several references to Romans 6-8 in The Spirit of Prophecy, which I think will better prepare me to understand his later book.