In the End, God . . .: A Study of the Christian Doctrine of the Last Things. Special Edition

by John A.T. Robinson, Robin A. Parry (Editor), Gregory MacDonald (Foreword)

""Eschatology is the explication of what must be true of the end, both of history and of the individual, if God is to be the God of the biblical faith. All eschatological statements can finally be reduced to, and their validity tested by, sentences beginning: 'In the end, God . . .'"" J. A. T. Robinson The God revealed in Israel's story is the Lord of history--a God with good purposes for his creation and a God capable of bringing those purposes to pass. All biblical eschatology arises from this fundamental theological insight. If God is this God then what shape must the future have? John A. T. Robinson explores biblical eschatology with an eye both to the text and to contemporary culture. Revealing the foundation of eschatology to be the experience of God by the community of faith, he calls readers to embrace the eschatological vision of the Bible, but to do so in a way that is alert to its mythic character. In the course of these explorations Robinson also lays bare his own theology of universal salvation. But, contrary to what one may expect, this universalism is one that seeks to take both human freedom and the reality of hell with the utmost seriousness. This special edition of John A. T. Robinson's classic text also includes a debate between Robinson and Thomas F. Torrance (played out across three articles from the Scottish Journal of Theology in 1949), an extended introduction by Professor Trevor Hart (University of St Andrews, Scotland), and a foreword by Gregory MacDonald (author of The Evangelical Universalist). ""A stimulating theological reading of Scripture that puts the doctrine of God at the heart of eschatology. Robinson's little classic, whilst not without its faults, still deserves serious consideration."" --GREGORY MACDONALDgoofy author of The Evangelical Universalist ""Of all Bishop Robinson's writings, few, if any, are more enduring and timely than this clear articulation of the contours and christo-logic of soteriological universalism. A very fine introduction and profitable appendices also help to clarify what Robinson was, and was not, championing."" --JASON GORONCY Lecturer and Dean of Studies, Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership, New Zealand

Genres: Theology

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[W Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nicely done edition of an important book about Christian Universalism. Robinson does not try to deny that the Bible warns of eternal punishment, nor does he try to deny that the Bible teaches that all people will eventually be saved. To reconcile these apparently contradictory teachings, Robinson emphasizes the existential nature of the former teaching; from the point of view of anyone not yet saved, eternal damnation is always a live possibility, and each person must choose for or against it. But from God's perspective and that of the saints, it is not possible that God's love should fail to win back every person. Jesus meets people on whatever road they travel, creating a crossroads: they must choose whether or not to follow Him. But if they choose not to, He meets them again later on, and He will persist until He has drawn each person back to Himself. This is an important idea worth thinking carefully about.

[Steve Irby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quarantine-Book #62:

I just finished "In The End God," by John A. T. Robinson. Is it my dark humor that has me ending 2020 with an eschatology?

Robinson, writing in the face of the death of God movement, seeks to answer Bonhoeffer's question "how can we speak about God in a secular age" by beginning at the end: eschatology.

Robertson states that the OG eschaton was only the Parousia and it wasn't until later that this was replaced with what we define as "eschatology": death, judhement, heaven and hell. Paul when stating what the dead-in-Christ were experiencing right then was only in light that the Parousia would happen soon. He throws the blame for this at the church who clothed herself in more of a Greek rather than Hebrew doctrine of God which states a timeless God rather than the Jewish God of and in history. This Greek model of God has all the time in the world for a cosmic, individualistic eschatology (I'll fly away); the Hebrew model of God was in time with His creatures and would come back to reign.

Jesus is the Telos of history. Though to grasp the correct perspective of the already / not yet of our current condition he borrows from Barth and Heim: we have to assume the thunder to interpret the lightning. This explains the futurist eschatology (thunder) that is in scripture.

Working with Myth in comparison between Gn and Rev Robinson shows how Gn (1-3) exposes each man as he is from the perspective of the beginning. All find themselves as their own Adam before long. Likewise Rev shows mankind at the end by describing present realities in the new age.

The resurrection of the body (singular)--in Robinson--stands for how we shall be joined one to another and resurrected at each death (into a great cloud of witnesses?). That's a bit out there, and Robinson as a bit too Bultmannian for me but I'll hang in there.

This was interesting even if too Bultmannian. I'm really glad to have a greater grasp of Inaugurated Eschatology even if I still have some reservations about it as presented by Robinson.

#JATRobinson #JohnATRobinson #JohnRobinson #InTheEndGod #Eschatology #InauguratedEschatology #RealizedEschatology

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very engaging and clearly presented little book on Christian teaching about the last things and how this can have relevance for us today. Robinson argues that theological statements about the final events of history are not educated guesses or some esoteric blueprint, but images in the form of myth that express a Christian hope that is grounded in the present experience of the God made known in Jesus. The events of Christ's life, death and resurrection are already the final events of history, allowing Christians to live in the fullness of life in the present and with hope for the future. Robinson also argues passionately and with sophistication that all will ultimately be saved through God's love.