Includes bibliographical references and index.

Christian futures: an introduction -- Part I. Origins. Prophecies and riddles: Jewish prophetic and apocalyptic traditions -- Parables and resurrection: already and not yet in the Jesus tradition -- Seeds and sheafs: the eschatology of the Apostle Paul -- Alpha and omega: the book of Revelation -- Part II. Historical developments. Martyrs: early Christianity -- Time: Origen -- Patriae: Augustine of Hippo -- Legends: Pseudo-Methodius and the Antichrist -- Sketches: Gregory the Great -- Songs: Celtic sources -- Polemics: Bernard and Hildegard -- Patterns: Joachim of Fiore -- Circles: Dante Alighieri -- Visions: Julian of Norwich and the Black Plague -- Maps: Christopher Columbus -- Urgency: Martin Luther -- Taxonomies: Isaac Newton and John Donne -- Anxieties: John Calvin, Increase Mather, and Second Advent theologians -- Images: virgins of the apocalypse -- Liberation: eschatology and enslaved Africans in North America -- Jeremiads: Jonathan Edwards and the American republic -- Utopies: postmillennial America -- Charts: prophecy belief 1850-1950 -- Part III. Contemporary challenges. Theories: from Albert Schweitzer to Karl Rahner -- Protests: from Martin Luther King Jr. to Leymah Gbowee -- Clocks: the atomic age -- Failures: the limits of Christian futures -- Questions: science and Christian eschatology -- Towardness.

Throughout the two-thousand-year span of Christian history, believers in Jesus have sought to articulate their faith and their understanding of how God works in the world. How do we, as we examine the vast and varied output of those who came before us, understand the unity and the diversity of their thinking? How do we make sense of our own thought in light of theirs? The Christian Understandings series offers to help. In this crisp and engaging volume Amy Frykholm offers a tour through more than two millennia of Christian thought on the future. Starting with the contexts of the Hebrew Bible and moving forward, Frykholm outlines the enduring fascination believers have had with future events and the myriad ways they have articulated their beliefs about what the future holds. From the imperial contexts of the book of Revelation to the end times prophecy of Harold Camping, Frykholm presents a thoughtful and insightful tour. - back of the book.