Preface The predictions about Christ's first and second coming is one of the most important parts of the Bible. --T. Norton Sterrett Ben Franklin once said, "Many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridg'd, It is so, It is not so; It is so, It is not so." Don't let the old-American English get in the way of appreciating what he's saying. His observation would seem to apply quite well to the end-times disputes between theologians, writers, and speakers: "Yes, it is." "No, it's not." "Yes, it is." "No, it's not." Anybody familiar with the subject of Bible prophecies and the end times knows that there's quite a bit of the Ben Franklin-type disputes: Yes, it is! No, it isn't! There are all sorts of opinions out there, and they all claim to base their version of the last days on what the Bible says. The questions at hand for this book deal with end-times prophecies. + When and how is Christ coming again? + Is there a literal millennium to look forward to? + Is the Antichrist alive and well and awaiting his turn to take center stage? + Are these the last days? Are we the generation that will see the Second Coming? + Are these and similar questions theologically on target? Views differ on eschatology, even among scholarly, Bible-centered Christians. How can we get through the maze of all these different opinions? It is my goal to simplify much of the controversy and be your objective--hopefully--guide through this labyrinth of some two thousand years of views. I say two thousand years, but in reality the controversy has heated up since the rebirth of the great interest in prophecy beginning in the 1830s. What can we know for sure about His ? Is there common ground between the various views of the of Christ? While we don't have time for every pet theory of every obscure group, we do want to look at some of the major opinions on some of the key issues of the last days.
