When the son of man didn't come : a constructive proposal on the delay of the parousia

The delay of the Parousia—the anticipated return of Christ—is an issue that has troubled theology since the late writings of the New Testament. This volume, arising from the Oxford Postdoctoral Colloquium on Eschatology, offers a constructive proposal on this issue in a truly interdisciplinary manner. Collaboratively written by a cohort of ecumenical scholars in systematics, historical theology, and biblical studies, the project engages in careful, critical biblical exegesis and offers an apophatic and constructive theological account of the deferral and certainty of Christ’s second coming. Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Primary Sources xvii 1. Introduction: Was Jesus Wrong About the Eschaton? Christopher M. Hays 1 2. Prophecy: A History of Failure? Christopher M. Hays 23 3. Reconceiving Prophecy: Activation, Not Prognostication C. A. Strine 39 4. The Delay of the Parousia: A Traditional and Historical-Critical Reading of Scripture: Part 1 Christopher M. Hays and Richard J. Ounsworth OP 59 5. The Delay of the Parousia: A Traditional and Historical-Critical Reading of Scripture: Part 2 Christopher M. Hays 79 6. Negating the Fall and Re-Constituting Creation: An Apophatic Account of the Redemption of Time and History in Christ Julia S. Konstantinovsky 109 7. Divine Possibilities: The Condescension of God and the Restriction of Divine Freedom Brandon Gallaher and Julia S. Konstantinovsky 147 8. Divine Action in Christ: The Christocentric and Trinitarian Nature of Human Cooperation with God Brandon Gallaher and Julia S. Konstantinovsky 175 9. Liturgy: Partial Fulfillments and the Sustaining of God’s People C.A. Strine, Richard J. Ounsworth OP, and Brandon Gallaher 211 10. Our Method: Reflections on Our Hermeneutical Principles and Collaborative Practices Christopher M. Hays and C.A. Strine 241 11. Conclusion: A Fourfold Response to the Delay of the Parousia Christopher M. Hays 253 Bibliography 269 Index of Names 291 Index of Subjects 295 Index of Ancient Writings 299 The delay of the Parousia--the second coming of Christ--has vexed Christians since the final decades of the first century. This volume offers a critical, constructive, and interdisciplinary solution to that dilemma. The argument is grounded in Christian tradition while remaining fully engaged with the critical insights and methodological approaches of twenty-first-century scholars. The authors argue that the deferral of Christ's prophesied return follows logically from the conditional nature of ancient predictive prophecy: Jesus has not come again because God's people have not yet responded sufficiently to Christ's call for holy and godly action. God, in patient mercy, remains committed to cooperating with humans to bring about the consummation of history with Jesus' return. Collaboratively written by an interdisciplinary and ecumenical team of scholars, the argument draws on expertise in biblical studies, systematics, and historical theology to fuse critical biblical exegesis with a powerful theological paradigm that generates an apophatic and constructive Christian eschatology. The authors, however, have done more than tackle a daunting theological problem: as the group traverses issues from higher criticism through doctrine and into liturgy and ethics, they present an innovative approach for how to do Christian theology in the twenty-first-century academy. (Publisher)