North Wrote:
This book will become the new reference work on the Book of Revelation. Incredibly, Chiltons style is so lively that few readers will even notice that the author has tossed a scholarly bombshell. The conservative Christian academic world will be speechless; Chilton has offered a remarkable exegetical challenge to those who hold to the traditional rival eschatologies, which I label pessimillennialism.While I might not be a severe as North in criticizing other eschatologies, he gets to the heart of matter, esp. as it related to extreme pessimism of futurist dispensaitonalism.The Days of Vengeance is especially concerned with the Revelations covenant structure and the historical focus of its judgment passages. If, as Chilton argues so brilliantly, these passages of imminent doom and gloom relate to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D., then there is no legitimate way to build a case for a Great Tribulation ahead of us. It is long behind us. Thus, the Book of Revelation cannot legitimately be used to buttress the case for eschatological pessimism. A lot of readers will reject his thesis at this point. The ones who are serious about the Bible will finish reading it before they reject his thesis.
The vast majority of Christians have believed that things will get progressively worse in almost every area of life until Jesus returns with His angels. Premillennialist believe that He will establish an earthly visible kingdom, with Christ in charge and bodily present. Amillennialists do not believe in any earthly visible kingdom prior to the final judgment. They believe that only the church and Christian schools and families will visibly represent the kingdom on earth, and the world will fall increasingly under the domination of Satan. Both eschatologies teach the earthly defeat of Christs church prior to His physical return in power.
The Bible's main point is God's plan for salvation, which is inherently "optimistic." Referring to temporal eschatological matters is necessarily less significant than that plan for eternal salvation. To coin the phrase "Biblically Optimistic" conjures up the prospect by inference of its converse, which suggests that the salvation plan described therein must be flawed. That would be a gross fundamental misunderstanding of the Bible.
If what you mean is eschatological rather than soteriological, why not make it plain?