THE CONSUMMATE STATE

Uncategorized September 15, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-072 by Geerhardus Vos

From: Geerhardus Vos, “Eschatology, of the New Testament,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915), 1:991.

Gentry note: This material overlaps a little with my preceding posting also from Vos’ writings. The following is Vos’ work:

Side-by-side with “the future age,” and characterizing it from a less formal point of view, is the phrase “kingdom of God.” This designates the consummate state, as it will exist for believers after the judgment. Jesus, while making the kingdom a present reality, yet continues to speak of it in accordance with its original eschatological usage as “the kingdom” which lies in the future (Matt. 13:43; 25:34; 26:29; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:32; 13:28, 29; 21:31). With Paul the phrase bears preponderatingly an eschatological sense, although occasionally he uses it of the present state of believers (Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; 6:9, 10; 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Col. 1:13; 4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18). Elsewhere in the NT the eschatological use occurs in Hebrews 12:28; James 2:5; 2 Peter 1:11; and Revelation 11:15. Continue reading →

VOS ON THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH

heaven, New Creation September 11, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-070 by Geerhardus Vos

Gentry note: This material is taken from Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics: A System of Christian Theology, trans. by Richard B. Gaffin Jr (Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham, 2020 [original handwritten Dutch version, 1896; first printing, 1910]), 1152–53. It is an important counter to the modern neo-Gnosticism controlling hyper-preterism. I highly recommend securing a copy of Gaffin’s translation of Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics at: https://www.amazon.com/Reformed-Dogmatics-Single-Christian-Theology/dp/1683594193

The following is Vos’ work:

The New World

35. What will precede the consummate salvation of the children of God? Continue reading →

SCHOLARLY ADVOCATES OF SIX-DAY CREATION

Creation, Uncategorized September 8, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-069 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Too many Christians dismiss six-day creationism as naive. They usually do so in order to avoid being mocked by evolutionist Christians. This is unfortunate because there are many scholars who hold to six-day creation. Perhaps a survey of some of these names will be encouraging to my readers. The Six-day Creationist view that I hold, and which I present and defend, stands upon the exegetical observations of well-argued, long-standing, traditional orthodoxy — an orthodoxy including many noteworthy biblical and exegetical scholars from the past and the present. Continue reading →

MY WORK ON THE TWO AGES (Part 4)

hyperpreterism, Olivet Discourse September 4, 2026 Comments: 2

PMW 2026-068 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is my third posting on the reason I am writing a book on the two ages doctrine of redemptive history. If you don’t believe me, just count them. We now come to an important historical application of this study:

My theological concerns

The third issue prompting this book is my deep concern over the troubling development of a new heterodox theology rooted in (though not limited to) eschatology. This theology has set itself over against historic Christian doctrine, and is known by orthodox Christians as “hyper-preterism.”

Three fundamental, core errors of “hyper-preterism” that render it heterodox define the system in all of its various, differing, and competing forms. These include its denials of: (1) a future, physical, bodily return of Christ, (2) a future, physical, bodily resurrection of the dead, and (3) a future, physical, restored new creation. [1] However, hyper-preterism is mutating over time, such that its errors are not confined just to eschatology but are negatively impacting numerous other areas of theology. Continue reading →

MY WORK ON THE TWO AGES (Part 3)

Olivet Discourse, Two Ages September 1, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-067 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I am continuing a brief explanation for my working on a new book dealing with the two age doctrine of redemptive history. This is my third installment, I am only just now getting to my second reason. Why do I want to write a book on the two ages?

Second, my Olivet research. The second issue prompting this book on the two ages was my deep and abiding interest in the Lord’s Olivet Discourse (aka the Eschatological Discourse). I have been especially interested in the extended version found in Matthew’s Gospel to which I have given much attention. [1]

Jesus’ prophecy of the temple’s coming destruction (Matt. 24:2; cp. Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6) serves as the very impetus giving rise to his great Discourse which generates the disciples’ question regarding “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3–4). Continue reading →

MY WORK ON THE TWO AGES (Part 2)

Olivet Discourse, Preterism, Two Ages August 28, 2026 Leave a comment

PMW 2026-066 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is my second article introducing my reasons for writing a book on the doctrine of the two ages of redemptive history. Three particular issues have mainly prompted me to write this book.

First, my eschatological interests

The first issue is more general: my long-standing interest in and engagement with Reformed eschatology (after having converted out of dispensationalism while in seminary). Eschatology is not simply one locus of systematic theology; neither is it a secondary or inconsequential one. Rather it is an intricate part of God’s over-arching redemptive plan. Eschatology and soteriology are inextricably linked. And as strange as it may initially seem, Reformed theologians argue that eschatology actually precedes soteriology. Thus, Geerhardus Vos (2001: 77) can declare that “eschatology is older than soteriology.” Or as he puts it elsewhere: “the eschatological is an older strand in revelation than the soteric” (1948: 15). Continue reading →

MY WORK ON THE TWO AGES (Part 1)

Olivet Discourse, Preterism, Uncategorized August 25, 2026 Comments: 4

PMW 2026-065 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In this short series I will introduce my reasoning for my currently working on  a book on the two age doctrine of redemptive history. I will begin this series with an important issue which forms a necessary backdrop to understanding the two age doctrine:

The unity of the Bible

The Bible is the divinely-ordained collection of sixty-six books which were directly revealed by God’s Holy Spirit for his own glory and the benefit of man (1 Pet. 1:10–12; 2 Pet. 1:20–21). Yet despite the Bible’s collective nature it is fundamentally one book. The very word biblios is a word in the singular form that signifies the unified nature of Scripture. Commenting on 1 Peter 1:10–12 and citing WCF 1:5, Richard Gaffin (2023: 49) argues that the “overarching activity of the Spirit explains why in the Old Testament as such ‘the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole’ is present and discoverable. The multi-authored diversity and varied genre of the Old Testament constitute an organically unfolding and divinely determined didactic unity.” Continue reading →