Towards the Day after Tomorrow
Essays on Humanity’s Teloi and the Eschaton
Foreword by Justyn Terry
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
296 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.59 in
- Paperback
- 9781532660214
- Published: February 2020
$38.00 / £34.00 / AU$53.00
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Humanity is moving ever towards its final destination without knowing why, when, where: teloi, multiple paths, leading towards God's eschaton. These essays examine the movement towards this day of reckoning, and how such eschatological events are projected back into time. Towards the Day after Tomorrow, or the one after that, or months, decades--centuries--away, often we behave as though the end is upon us. These essays start with the beginning of the end: the incarnation. We examine the origins of Karl Barth's realized eschatology in Expressionism. We consider death and judgment, as usurped by humanity, an eschaton without God's forgiving judgment: multiple Holocausts. War ushers in the eschaton, but how do Christians handle conflict in the light of a redefined just war theory? We analyze the eschatological insights into humanity's end in The Simpsons--post mortem. Consider the issue of atheistic human authorities usurping God's judgment. Finally crisis and judgment are glimpsed in the mindset of people who suffer seizures--postlapsarian exile, the sufferance of salvation: how God blesses us despite the chaos of our human-generated teloi, in preparation for the end. As the end approaches, events become darker, chaotic, confusion reigns: "Judas immediately went out. And it was night."
P. H. Brazier is an independent theologian living in London. He holds degrees in Fine Art, Education, and Systematic Theology. Paul has published widely in theology and philosophy, including works on C. S. Lewis, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Karl Barth, and Colin Gunton. He is the care-giver for his wife Hilary, who has severe epilepsy.
“What happens when Karl Barth, C. S. Lewis, and a lifelong severe epileptic discuss the last days and the end of time? We get a starkly vivid, imaginatively rich, and existentially urgent recounting of the judgments of God manifest centrally in the story of Jesus Christ, albeit mediated through twentieth-century events, late-modern parabolic forms, and even contemporary TV sitcoms! These three witnesses converge in and resound through the life and writings of Paul Brazier, whose proleptic reflections on the last trumpet will confront readers today with the realities of the day after tomorrow!”
—Amos Yong, Fuller Theological Seminary
“A fascinating, must-read collection of essays providing the reader with a multi-perspective, systematic theology treatment of eschatology. Paul Brazier’s (at times humorous) analysis not only provides theology students with an invaluable academic resource, but also fresh insight for Christian thinkers reflecting upon a quickly and radically changing present-day society through its examination of the future. Within a church that has largely embraced a realized eschatology, this book will undoubtedly encourage discussion and re-acceptance of a historic orthodox view of the eschaton.”
—Calvin L. Smith, Ling’s Evangelical Divinity School
“Throughout this collection, Brazier brings his theological and philosophical training to bear, and draws on his knowledge of the fine arts and his experiences of suffering. . . . This is a frank and provocative book—especially on the issues of contemporary neo-paganism or secular-liberal humanism. . . . It is an attempt to shake us into thinking seriously about topics that we might be tempted to leave well alone for fear of causing unnecessary upset.”
—Justyn Terry, University of Oxford, from the foreword
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