In recent years, more and more Christians have come to appreciate the Bible’s teaching that the ultimate blessed hope for the believer is not an otherworldly heaven; instead, it is full-bodied participation in a new heaven and a new earth brought into fullness through the coming of God’s kingdom. Drawing on the full sweep of the biblical narrative, J. Richard Middleton unpacks key Old Testament and New Testament texts to make a case for the new earth as the appropriate Christian hope. He suggests its ethical and ecclesial implications, exploring the difference a holistic eschatology can make for living in a broken world.

Table of Contents

• • Preface: How I Came to Write This Book
  • 1. Introduction: The Problem of Otherworldly Hope
• Part 1: From Creation to Eschaton
  • 2. Why Are We Here? Being Human as Sacred Calling
  • 3. The Plot of the Biblical Story
• Part 2: Holistic Salvation in the Old Testament
  • 4. The Exodus as Paradigm of Salvation
  • 5. Earthly Flourishing in Law, Wisdom, and Prophecy
  • 6. The Coming of God in Judgment and Salvation
• Part 3: The New Testament’s Vision of Cosmic Renewal
  • 7. Resurrection and the Restoration of Rule
  • 8. The Redemption of All Things
• Part 4: Problem Texts for Holistic Eschatology
  • 9. Cosmic Destruction at Christ’s Return?
  • 10. The Role of Heaven in Biblical Eschatology
• Part 5: The Ethics of the Kingdom
  • 11. The Good News at Nazareth
  • 12. The Challenge of the Kingdom
  • Appendix: Whatever Happened to the New Earth?
  • Index