Apocalypse When? A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts

by Leah D. Schade; Jerry L. Sumney

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2020

Overview

Apocalyptic texts are often seen as either frightening or irrelevant, a tool for fearmongering and manipulation or for the lucrative doomsday industry. But Apocalypse When?: Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts equips readers to understand these texts as sources of encouragement and strength for the church. As the world faces threats of war, poverty, climate and environmental crises, and political upheaval, churches can draw on the wisdom and courage of our biblical ancestors who faced their own calamities and persecutions. Their struggles against powerful economic, militaristic, cultural, and social forces drew them closer to God. We have much to learn from their faith, ethical integrity, and dedication to the promises of God that engender hope in the midst of turmoil and terror. With solid historical exegesis, thought-provoking ideas for preaching, and examples of sermons that creatively and compellingly proclaim God’s word, this book provides much-needed guidance for the church in tumultuous times.

Praise for Apocalypse When?

“It is difficult to overemphasize the role of apocalyptic thought in the Bible, especially the New Testament. Yet one is hard-pressed to find an apocalyptic sermon in a mainline pulpit these days. Schade and Sumney, homiletician and biblical scholar, come to the rescue to help preachers bridge this gap in ways appropriate to the ancient content and relevant to the contemporary context. The combination of exegesis and homiletical application and examples on specific apocalyptic texts will help preachers discover a whole new world (pun intended) of opportunities for biblical preaching.”

—O. Wesley Allen Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University



“Apocalypse When? teaches us to preach the ‘end of the world as we know it’ as a biblical message of hope, not doom. Drawing on popular music, film, literature, and biblical imagery from Daniel, the Gospels, Pauline epistles, and Revelation, the authors explore how God’s future manifests itself in the present ecological moment. Schade and Sumney show us God’s ‘generous surprise’ that brings us into a new world, the way of love. I highly recommend this wonderful book!”

—Barbara Rossing, Professor of New Testament and Environmental Ministry Coordinator, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Product Details

• Title: Apocalypse When? A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts
• Authors: Leah D. Schade, Jerry L. Sumney
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781725262492, 9781725262478, 9781725262485, 1725262495, 1725262479, 1725262487
• Resource ID: LLS:9781725262492
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T13:28:49Z

About the Authors

Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary. She is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (2015) and co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (2019).



Jerry L. Sumney is Professor of Biblical Studies at Lexington Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than eight books, including: Steward of God’s Mysteries: Paul and Early Church Tradition (2017); Paul: Apostle and Fellow-Traveler (2014); The Bible: An Introduction (2nd ed., 2014); Colossians: A Commentary (2008); Servants of Satan, False Brothers, and other Opponents of Paul (1999); and Identifying Paul’s Opponents: The Question of Method in 2 Corinthians (1990).