The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture

by George Eldon Ladd

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 1956

Overview

Jesus Christ is coming again! That is the blessed hope which has since the earliest days of the church energized biblical Christians looking for the full revelation of God’s redemption. But even among those who have most devoutly looked forward to the second coming of the Lord there have often been disputes about its nature. At their sharpest, these disputes can lead to the breakdown of fellowship among those who should be standing firmly together against unbelief.

Through its many printings, this volume by George Eldon Ladd has proved to be a helpful guide for Christians who want to discern clearly the basic biblical teachings about the blessed hope. Writing not for his fellow scholars as much as men and women in the pews, Ladd, whose numerous studies of New Testament interpretation earned him the reputation of being one of contemporary evangelicalism’s leading thinkers, sketches the history of interpretations of Christ’s second coming and then carefully and lucidly examines the biblical passages on which this doctrine is based. Ladd’s conclusion is that the blessed hope is the second coming of Jesus Christ, not a pre-tribulation rapture of believers in a secret coming of Jesus. Yet he concludes, too, that there should be liberty and charity within the Christian community for all who hold to the expectation of “the blessed hope and appearing in glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Explores the basic biblical teachings about the blessed hope
• Examines the biblical passages on which this doctrine is based
• Discusses the blessed hope as the second coming of Jesus Christ

Contents

• The Historic Hope of the Church
• The Rise and Spread of Pretribulationism
• The Vocabulary of the Blessed Hope
• The Tribulation, the Rapture, and the Resurrection
• A Valid Inference?
• Watch
• Wrath or Tribulation?
• Rightly Dividing the Word
• The Blessed Hope

Top Highlights

“The hope of the Church throughout the early centuries was the second coming of Christ, not a pretribulation rapture. If the Blessed Hope is in fact a pretribulation rapture, then the Church has never known that hope through most of its history, for the idea of a pretribulation rapture did not appear in prophetic interpretation until the nineteenth century.” (Page 19)

“There is a second alternative. It is possible, and we believe that the Scriptures indicate, that the Church will be on earth throughout the entire period of the Tribulation but will be divinely sheltered from the wrath of God.” (Page 121)

“However, pretribulationism is not identical with premillennialism; and this book is sent forth with the earnest prayer that it may be used by the Holy Spirit to bring a better understanding to a difficult subject and to promote Christian liberty in the interpretation of prophetic truth. Until ‘we all attain unto the unity of the faith,’ until we see ‘face to face’ when we ‘shall know fully even as [we are] fully known,’ we must ever hold the truth in love, ‘giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’” (Pages 13–14)

“The manifestations of evil which have marked human history will at the end of the age be concentrated in one final incarnation of evil, a ‘super-man,’ the Antichrist, who will exercise a world-wide rule, deify the state and achieve a union of church and state so that men will be forced to worship him or suffer economic sanctions and death.” (Page 6)

“First, he does not believe that the end is immediately at hand.” (Page 25)

Praise for the Print Edition

A welcoming reprinting . . . This classic exposition of ‘inaugurated eschatology’—the kingdom of God as both ‘already and not yet’ in the ministry of Jesus himself—should serve a new generation of students and pastors as it did an earlier one.

—Gordon D. Fee, professor emeritus of New Testament studies, Regent College

Product Details

• Title: The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture
• Author: George Eldon Ladd
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 1956
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 167
• Era: era:modern
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Second Advent; Tribulation; Rapture (Christian eschatology)
• ISBNs: 9780802811110, 0802811116
• Resource ID: LLS:BLSSDHPDVNTRPTR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:16:08Z

About George Eldon Ladd

Ladd, professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary since 1950, was educated at Gordon College and Gordon Divinity School (B.D.) and received the Ph.D. from Harvard University. He also did postdoctoral study at Heidelberg and Basel Universities. Ordained as an American Baptist minister, Ladd served several churches in the denomination. He was professor of Greek at Gordon College (1942-45) and head of the department of New Testament at Gordon Divinity School (1946-50). His writings include Crucial Questions about the Kingdom of God (1952), The Blessed Hope (1956), The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959), Jesus Christ and History (1963), The New Testament and Criticism (1965), The Pattern of the New Testament (1968), Commentary on The Revelation (1972) and The Theology of the New Testament (1974).