This is a book review of Premillennialism – Why There Must Be a Future Earthly Kingdom of Jesus by Michael Vlach. Dr. Michael Vlach is Professor of Theology at The Master’s Seminary. You can read his Bio HERE
The book is published by Theological Press (121 pages paperback).
Contents:
Introduction
1) Three Millennial Views
2) The Roots of an Earthly Kingdom in the Old Testament
3) The Kingdom that Follows Tribulation
4) Precursors of the Millennium in the Old Testament
5) The Coming Kingdom reign on Earth
6) The Millennium and Revelation 19-20
7) Why Premillennialism Must Be True
8) Premillennialism and the Goodness of God’s Creation
9) Premillennialism in 1 Corinthians 15
10) Answering Objections to premillennialism
Conclusion
Recommended Sources on Premillennialism
We previously reviewed Dr. Vlach’s book Has The Church Replaced Israel? HERE.
One thing I appreciate about Michael Vlach is that he has a logical and economic way of getting to the heart of theological points. This is what he does in this new book. The focus of the book is the millennium’s timing and nature. While Dr. Vlach assumes the reader has some background knowledge, he has written so clearly that the message is easy to grasp.
In the Introduction, he writes:
The timing and nature of Jesus’ millennial reign are important, and the Bible’s storyline cannot be accurately grasped unless one gets this issue right.
Dr. Vlach presents the “Scriptural rationale” for premillennialism. He addresses “why premillennialism is true and why it must be true.” Vlach shows why, biblically, Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom must come after this Age but before the Eternal State. He shows how this can be derived from many passages other than those in Revelation 20. These passages include the Old Testament and begin with Gen 1:26-28.
In the process, Vlach interacts with some opponents of premillennialism. While this interaction is necessarily limited due to the size of the book, I found new arguments and ideas which I hadn’t come across before. I particularly appreciated chapter 9 where Dr. Vlach discussed 1 Corinthians 15. This seems to be a favorite proof text of amillennialists and preterists. The footnotes will also be helpful to those who want to study the subject further.
Anything by Michael Vlach is worth reading and this book is no exception. It is a valuable contribution to the discussion. Also keep an eye out for his forthcoming book on the Kingdom which is scheduled to be published around mid 2016.
Purchase Michael Vlach’s
Premillennialism – Why There Must Be a Future Earthly Kingdom of Jesus !
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