“AD70 and the End of the World” – out today!

My new book on the end times comes out today and many of you don’t care. You don’t care because you have been burned by bad end times preaching. Or you’ve had unpleasant conversations. You have found that discussing the end times is like discussing politics. No matter what you say, half the people in the room are going to jump on you.

“End times? Who needs it? Jesus wins, that’s all I need to know.”

This was certainly my view a few years ago.

But then some of you began asking me about the year AD70 signaling a growing interest in preterism. (Preterism, in contrast with futurism, is the view that Biblical prophecy has largely been fulfilled.) In the past three to four years, I have been asked more questions about AD70 than any other subject.

At first I was reluctant to join the eschatological conversation. But then I thought, “Why not?” Surely if there is any subject in need of grace, it is the traditionally scary topic of what the future may hold.

Judgment Day, the rapture, the antichrist, and the great tribulation. The future is frightening apparently. Which is puzzling, because if grace is good news today, how can it be bad news tomorrow? If the gospel brings great joy, how can it inspire so much fear and anxiety? Something doesn’t add up.

I decided to get some notes together, and by the time I was done I had written my biggest ever book. It’s forty chapters long, full of pictures, and it covers 500+ scriptures. It comes out today and it’s called AD70 and the End of the World: Finding Good News in Christ’s Prophecies and Parables of Judgment.

And yes, I really do believe there is good news in Christ’s darker parables and prophecies of judgment. Stunning good news.

“So are you a preterist, Paul?”

I get asked this question a lot, probably because of the book’s title. I also get asked if I’m a pre-trib amillennialist or a post-trib premillennialist or whatever other crazy combination of adjectives one can think of. It’s like a test. “Give me the right answer and we can be friends. But fail the test and I won’t speak to you.”

This is an unhealthy approach. I’m not interested in getting the right answers on anyone’s end times test; I am passionately interested in exploring the beauty of Christ’s words. I have been super blessed in studying what Christ told his disciples about the future. Read this book and you’ll be blessed too.

“So what makes AD70 different from other end times’ books?”

For starters, it’s light hearted, because we all need to lighten up on our traditionally dim views of the last days.

“So this is not a serious book then?”

It is seriously fun! If God has great dreams for you (he does!) then prophetic books ought to be inspiring, don’t you think? Yet many are patronizing or hysterical. They reek of fear and pride.

“But which side do you lean towards? Preterism or futurism?”

Do you mean which gang am I affiliated with? Neither. Both. I dunno. But as far as I know AD70 and the End of the World is the only end times’ book that has been endorsed by both preterists and futurists.

“So what is the book about?”

It’s about the last days and the fall of Jerusalem. It’s about the great tribulation, the rapture, and the return of Christ. It’s about the prophecies and parables of Jesus that have for too long been used to stir up fear when they ought to have inspired trust in a good God. It’s about a Savior who is no spectator but an active player on history’s stage. It’s about a King who has come and is coming again.

I hope you enjoy the new book!