THE LAST THINGS, by David A. Höhne

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Mark Baker

 

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Life in the Middle?
2 Praying for the perfection of life in the Middle
3 The name above all names
4 God’s kingdom all in all
5 The Father’s will for one and all
6 Good Lord, preserve us
7 Good Lord, forgive us
8 Good Lord, deliver us

 

Summary

Most systematic treatments on eschatology contain a list of topics and events linked to the end of time. In contrast, I argue that eschatology should not just be relegated to the events that happen at the culmination of all of history; rather, eschatology begins with Jesus. Therefore, this book will cover eschatology through the lens of the Lord’s Prayer. “One of the chief aims of this book is to construct an explicitly trinitarian description of eschatology that is at once systematic, generated from the theological interpretation of Scripture and yet sensitive to essential elements of Christian practice” (xiv). 

 

Chapter 1: Life in the Middle?

Throughout this book, I will refer to our place in the history of redemption as “the Middle.” “My proposal is that life in the Middle consists of hearing God’s promises and responding with a hope that is embodied in our prayers” (3). The promised Messiah has broken into our world and has given the promise of a perfected world that is yet to come. Our need in the Christian life—life in the Middle—is both to remember and to expect. We remember what Christ has done in bringing the kingdom of God to earth, and we expect the perfection of that kingdom in the life to come. This “perfecting” work is a Trinitarian work. “The Spirit perfects, that is, gives ontological direction to everything in creation towards the Father, through the Son” (20-21). Therefore, our chief response to this good news is prayer. Prayer represents the embodiment of the eschatological tension of life in the Middle. . . .

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