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Christopher M. Hays

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Christopher M. Hays :When the Son of Man Didn't Come: A Constructive Proposal on theDelay of the Parousia before purchasing it in order to gagewhether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised When theSon of Man Didn't Come: A Constructive Proposal on the Delay of theParousia:

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Not for the faintof heartBy mitch curtisWell?Thought provoking but if you don't likeit when someone uses 10 exceptionally obscure words when 1 simpleword will do, I'd pass.I often found myself wondering, "What's thePoint?"I'm not a scholar and I'd say this is definitely forscholars.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. RaisedValid Considerations, But Important Questions NeglectedBy James B.PateMany Christians have wrestled with the claim that Jesus at hisfirst coming predicted the imminent end of the world andestablishment of an eschatological paradise, or at least predictedthat these things would occur within decades. In Matthew 10:23,Jesus tells his disciples that, when they are persecuted in onecity, they should flee to another, and they will not have gone overthe cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes. In Mark 9:1,Jesus says to his disciples that some among them will not tastedeath, before they see the Kingdom of God come with power. InMatthew 16:28, Jesus says some will not taste death before seeingthe Son of Man come in his kingdom. In Mark 13:30, after Jesustalks about calamity that will befall Jerusalem and the coming ofthe Son of Man, Jesus says that this generation shall not passaway, until all of these things have taken place.Over two thousandyears have passed, and the second coming of Christ has not yetoccurred. Did Jesus err in saying that the coming of the Son of Manwas imminent or soon? Does that show that Christianity is false:that Jesus was merely a man, without a divine identity or a divinemessage? In Deuteronomy 18:21-22, a criterion is presented fordetermining whether a prophet speaks Godrsquo;s words or not. Thecriterion is that, if a prophet speaks in Godrsquo;s name, and theprophecy fails to come to pass, then the prophecy is not from theLORD. Does Jesus fail at this prophetic criterion?When the Son ofMan Didnrsquo;t Come includes scholarly essays that wrestle withsuch questions. In this review, I will comment about each essay,then I will offer a critique, detailing what I believe are thepositives and negatives of the book.Chapter 1: ldquo;Introduction:Was Jesus Wrong About the Eschaton?rdquo;In this chapter,Christopher M. Hays lays out the problem. Against scholars such asN.T. Wright, Hays contends that Jesus indeed did predict aneschaton that was soon. Hays states that Mark 13 holds that thesecond coming of Christ would occur soon after the destruction ofJerusalem, which historically occurred in 70 C.E. That did nothappen, however. Hays also offers an overview of the history of theproblem in New Testament scholarship, which includes the tendenciesof some scholars to argue that Jesus was originallynon-eschatological, but that people later added an eschatologicallayer to Jesusrsquo; teaching.Chapter 2: ldquo;Prophecy: A Historyof Failure?rdquo;In this chapter, Hays notes what may be a similarproblem in the Hebrew Bible, only this problem concerns the end ofthe Judahite exile. Jeremiah prophesied that the Judahite exilewould last for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:8-14; 29:10-14). Yet,seventy years passed, and the grandeur that Jeremiah predictedwould accompany the restoration still had not occurred. Judahitesreturned to the land of Israel and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem,but they were still ruled by Gentiles, and they were notexperiencing peace and prosperity. There are different views in theBible about when the exile actually ended, and Daniel in Daniel 9seems to reinterpret Jeremiahrsquo;s seventy years asfour-hundred-ninety years. Some voices in the Hebrew Bible believethat the sins of Israel are hindering the full restoration of theJudahite people. Second Temple Judaism continued to wrestle withthe delayed restoration of Israel.Chapter 3: ldquo;ReconceivingProphecy: Activation, Not Prognostication.rdquo;In this chapter,C.A. Strine argues that the fulfillment criterion in Deuteronomy18:21-22 was not the only game in town when it came to prophecy. InJeremiah 18:1-10, God states that whether God fulfills propheciesof disaster depends on peoplersquo;s repentance: if people repent,then God will not send the prophesied disaster. Strine notes aconditional view of prophecy elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, in theAncient Near East, in rabbinic literature, and in early patristicsources. Could God have changed Godrsquo;s mind about theprophesied timing of the Son of Manrsquo;s return?Chapter 4:ldquo;The Delay of the Parousia: A Traditional andHistorical-Critical Reading of Scripture: Part 1.rdquo;In thischapter, Hays and Richard J. Ounsworth talk about the partialfulfillment of prophecy. There is some recognition in the HebrewBible that the Judahitesrsquo; return from exile had been partiallyfulfilled, and a belief that the delay in its full fulfillment wasdue to Judahitesrsquo; sin. Similarly, within New TestamentGospels, there is the idea that Jesusrsquo; inauguration of theKingdom of God was partially fulfilled through his ministry and thework of the church. For Hays and Ounsworth, partial fulfillment ofa prophecy does not entail the prophecyrsquo;s failure.Chapter 5:ldquo;The Delay of the Parousia: A Traditional andHistorical-Critical Reading of Scripture: Part 2.rdquo;In thischapter, Hays contends that Jesusrsquo; prediction of the sooncoming of the parousia was a conditional prophecy. Hays citespassages in the synoptic Gospels in which Jesus gives ethicalexhortations to his disciples that accompany his prophecies aboutthe end. What if Christians failed to heed those exhortations? Haysstates: ldquo;Insofar as people did not respond properly (asevidenced by the myriad of ethical rebukes contained in the NewTestament epistles and the letters to the seven churches inRevelation 2-3), one might aver that it is not only understandable,but necessary that the end not occur within the prophesiedtime-framerdquo; (page 100). Jesus said that the end would comeafter the Gospel has been proclaimed to the world, but what if thedisciples fail to do that (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14)? Would Jesusdelay the end? Hays also argues that there are indications inJesusrsquo; eschatological teaching that he did not regard thetiming of the Son of Manrsquo;s return to be a firmly set event:why else would Jesus tell his disciples to pray that Godrsquo;skingdom might come (Matthew 6:10), or instruct them to pray thattheir flight from Jerusalem does not occur in the winter or on theSabbath day (Matthew 13:18; 24:20)? Does not that imply that Godmay base the timing of the end on Christiansrsquo; prayers? Acts3:19-21 also factors into Haysrsquo; discussion: there, Peter tellsthe people of Israel that God will send the Messianic restorationif they repent. Then there is II Peter 3, which talks about how Goddelays the end to give people an opportunity to repent, while alsosaying that Christians can hasten the coming of the day of God bytheir holy lives. Hays tries to address whether this is acontradiction: should Christians desire the delay of the end sothat more people have a chance to repent before God comes injudgment, or should they seek to accelerate the coming of theeschaton through their holy living? Hays fails to offer acompletely satisfactory answer to this question, but this chapteris still the best in the book, in that it offers a biblical casefor Haysrsquo; (and the bookrsquo;s) claims. In addition, Haystalks about the appearance of such themes (i.e., delayed judgment)in Second Temple literature and patristic sources. I should alsonote that, later in the book (page 232), Brandon Galaher and JuliaS. Konstantinovsky refer to an additional example: Paul seems tohave believed that he could accelerate the second coming bybringing more Gentiles into the people of God (Romans 11).Chapter6: ldquo;Negating the Fall and Re-Constituting Creation: AnApophatic Account of the Redemption of Time and History inChrist.rdquo;At this point, the book shifts gears and discussestheology. In this chapter, Julia S. Konstantinovsky talks aboutsuch issues as Godrsquo;s eternity and the limitations in humanunderstanding of God. Her argument seems to be that God is outsideof our time, and that we cannot understand from our limitedperspective why exactly God has delayed the second coming. Herdiscussion reminded me of Madeleine Lrsquo;Englersquo;s distinctionbetween kairos and chronos: kairos is divine time, whereas chronosis human chronological time. Kairos (as I understand it) includesGodrsquo;s larger plan and story, and God being above and beyondtime, with all people and events before God simultaneously.Chapter7: ldquo;Divine Possibilities: The Condescension of God and theRestriction of Divine Freedom.rdquo;In this chapter, BrandonGallaher and Julia S. Konstantinovsky argue that God can pursuedifferent possibilities and still be God: the differentpossibilities that God chooses are rooted in Godrsquo;s characteras God. In essence, they are saying that God has the leeway tochange Godrsquo;s plan in response to human behavior, and theymaintain that such a view exists throughout the history ofChristian thought, from Augustine to Barth. God can plan for Christto return immediately after Pentecost in Acts 2, as Peter seems toexpect in that chapter, or God can change Godrsquo;s mind inresponse to human behavior and delay the second coming. ForGallaher and Kontantinovsky, God is not flippant, arbitrary, orless divine in pursuing either option.Chapter 8: ldquo;DivineAction in Christ: The Christocentric and Trinitarian Nature ofHuman Cooperation with God.rdquo;This chapter is by Gallaher andKonstantinovsky. It discusses the Trinity and the cooperation thatexists within it, as the Father begets the Son and the Son allowshimself to be begotten. It also offers practical points ofapplication in reference to eschatology, on such topics as worship,social justice, mission, and contemplation. On a related note,later in the book, on page 298, Hays refers to theldquo;pro-Chalcedonian dynamics of dyotheletism of the SixthEcumenical Council (i.e. the Third Council of Constantinople)rdquo;that ldquo;the divine will and the human will in Christ cooperate;neither one dominates the other.rdquo; This corresponds with thebookrsquo;s claim that God works with a freely-acting humanity,which the book believes offers some explanation for the delay ofthe second coming.Chapter 9, by Strine, Ounsworth, and Gallaher, isabout the festivals in the Hebrew Bible, typology, the circularityand linearity of history (i.e., salvation history), andliturgyrsquo;s role in celebrating Godrsquo;s past, present, andfuture activity. Chapter 10, by Hays and Strine, discusses themethod of the bookrsquo;s composition and points of practicalapplication. Chapter 11, by Hays, provides the conclusion.The bookeffectively made the case that the timing of the second coming isflexible and contingent, at least in some passages of Scripture.Perhaps the authors are correct that God has delayed the parousiato give people the opportunity to repent. The book also is ahelpful guide to the history of biblical interpretation regardingthe timing of the parousia and contingent prophecy. Thoseinterested in theology will probably find Kontantinovskyrsquo;scontributions informative. Kontantinovsky and Gallaher make animportant point when it comes to debates about libertarianism,compatibilism, and determinism: that God can pursue differentoptions, while still being true to Godrsquo;s nature. ForKontantinovsky, I gather, God is not limited to one righteousoption, for there may be a variety of righteous options. Whiledetractors can respond that God would inevitably choose the bestoption, and there is only one best option, perhaps Kontantinovskycan retort that God considers being flexible in response to humanfree will to be the best option. (I do not recall her making thatretort, but it is a retort that she could make.)While the book hadpositives, its negative is that so many significant questions wereleft unanswered. Why exactly did Jesus predict that the parousiawould be imminent, or at least soon, and what specifically didIsrael and the church do, or not do, that influenced God to delaythe second coming? To say that God delayed the second comingbecause Israel failed to repent may be faithful to Acts 3:19-21,but it is a problematic solution when other biblical passages areconsidered. For instance, Mark 13 and parallels depict Jesus comingback after the destruction of Jerusalem, which presumes that Israeldoes not repent. Matthew 10:23 holds that the Son of Man willreturn when Christians are being persecuted in Israelite cities,which, too, presumes non-repentance on the part of much of Israelwhen Christ returns. Non-repentance of Israel, in these passages atleast, is not enough to delay the second coming.Did the church do,or fail to do, something and thereby delay the parousia? Did itfail to spread the Gospel to the world, and thus violate thecondition for Christrsquo;s return set forth in Mark 13:10 andMatthew 24:14? But Romans 10:18 and Colossians 1:23 appear to implythat the Gospel had gone to all the world in the first century C.E.Was the church too sinful for Christ to return in the firstcentury? But there are many parables in the synoptic Gospels inwhich Jesus talks about the Son of Man returning in a time whencertain Christians are not ready, or when some Christians aresinful (i.e., Matthew 25). Christ does not appear to be waiting forthe church to be perfect, before he returns! The book should haveinteracted with such questions; otherwise, it seems to be appealingto the conditionality of prophecy in an attempt to find a loophole,rather than exploring the implications of its arguments.The samecan be said about the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible aboutIsraelrsquo;s restoration from exile. God does not fully restoreIsrael because she is still sinful? But the prophecies say that Godwill take care of this problem when God restores Israel: God willpunish the wicked Israelites and transform the Israelites so thattheir hearts are yielded to Godrsquo;s righteous ways (see, forexample, Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 11:19; 18:1; 20:33-38; 36:26;Zechariah 14:8-9). In this case, non-repentance does not delay theeschaton.There is also the question of what exactly the faithfulshould do with Deuteronomy 18:21-22, which says thatnon-fulfillment of a prophecy disqualifies a prophet. Strine arguesthat this scenario is not the only game in town, and, yes, focusingon the conditionality of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible may be moreuseful in terms of the bookrsquo;s thesis. But what should be donewith Deuteronomy 18:21-22? Does appealing to the conditionality ofprophecy invalidate Deuteronomy 18:21-22? After all, if prophecy iscontingent on peoplersquo;s ethical or religious behavior, couldnot any non-fulfillment of prophecy be explained away? One canalways note some moral flaws or imperfections in people, orsomething that they are doing right.The book should have exploredmore fully the question of why God says that God will do things,that God does not do. Unless we can see clearly that people repent,and this influences God to change Godrsquo;s mind (i.e., Jonah),then a change in mind on Godrsquo;s part appears somewhat flippant(not that I want to judge God, but this is a theological issue thatshould be addressed). Why would God threaten evildoers in explicitand specific terms, then delay the punishment to give them time torepent? Does that not cheapen the initial threat? What was thepurpose of the initial threat? In my opinion, there is a place fordivine flexibility in response to human behavior, but, unless wecan see specifically how that comes into play when it comes to thesecond coming or any prophecies, God appears to be making threatsor promises and not carrying them through. Perhaps the authorscould respond that God makes these threats and promises in aneducational sense, or to influence human behavior. While that maybe a good answer, there should be more wrestling with how God cango back on what God said, without appearing flippant. Does God saythings that God does not really mean?There is also the question ofwhether the contingencies related to the second coming areinconsistent. If people repent, then God will not send disaster;yet, disaster accompanies the second coming because it is a time ofdivine wrath, so will God delay the second coming if people repent?Yet, God delays the second coming when people do not repent, togive them more time to repent! The bookrsquo;s authors couldperhaps respond that they are not presenting an exact science. Fairenough, but when does it get to the point when Godrsquo;s wordsappear meaningless, under this bookrsquo;s model, or explanationsof the non-fulfillment of prophecy become special pleading?Ireceived a complimentary copy of this book from the publisherthrough Edelweiss. My review is honest.1 of 2 people found thefollowing review helpful. UnsureBy TheoBooksIt is not really clearwho this book is for. Skeptics will not be much impressed by thepartial prophetic fulfillments adduced. Committed Christians havemany, many other writers who they can learn from other than theseminary favorites cited here. How about Saint Augustine instead ofBart Ehrman?

The delay of the Parousiamdash;the second coming of Christmdash;hasvexed Christians since the final decades of the first century. Thisvolume offers a critical, constructive, and interdisciplinarysolution to that dilemma. The argument is grounded in Christiantradition while remaining fully engaged with the critical insightsand methodological approaches of twenty-first-century scholars. Theauthors argue that the deferral of Christ's prophesied returnfollows logically from the conditional nature of ancient predictiveprophecy: Jesus has not come again because God's people have notyet responded sufficiently to Christ's call for holy and godlyaction. God, in patient mercy, remains committed to cooperatingwith humans to bring about the consummation of history with Jesus'return.Collaboratively written by an interdisciplinary andecumenical team of scholars, the argument draws on expertise inbiblical studies, systematics, and historical theology to fusecritical biblical exegesis with a powerful theological paradigmthat generates an apophatic and constructive Christian eschatology.The authors, however, have done more than tackle a dauntingtheological problem: as the group traverses issues from highercriticism through doctrine and into liturgy and ethics, theypresent an innovative approach for how to do Christian theology inthe twenty-first-century academy.

About the AuthorChristopher M. Hays is professor of New Testamentat Biblical Seminary of Colombia in Medelliacute;n,Colombia.Brandon Gallaher is lecturer of systematic and comparativetheology in the department of theology and religion at theUniversity of Exeter, UK.Julia S. Konstantinovsky is researchfellow in theology and religion, Wolfson College, University ofOxford, UK.Richard J. Ounsworth OP is tutor and lector inScripture, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, UK.C. A. Strineis Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and lecturer in Hebrew Bible at theUniversity of Sheffield, UK.

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