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.”

Indeed, Scripture presents one primary, unfolding story: the story of God’s redemptive work that stretches throughout all of history — “excluding prefall redemptive revelation in Eden” (Gaffin 2023: 6) — and into the consummate, eternal future. Thus, as he expresses it two pages later (2023: 8), “the history of postfall revelation, considered in terms of its subject matter, is in fact the history of redemption.” Thus, the specific focus of “this age” actually begins with the fall. And as Jeffery Gibbs (2006: 161) notes: “Second Temple literature … divides history since the entrance of sin into the world into two periods: ‘this age’ (or ‘this present evil age’) and the ‘coming age.’”

Reformed Eschatology in the Writings of Geerhardus Vos
Ed. by Ken Gentry and Bill Boney
This is a collection of several key eschatological studies by the renowned Reformed theologian Geehardus Vos. We have modernized Vos’ grammar and syntax and updated his layout style according to modern publishing conventions (shorter sentences and paragraphs). We did this without changing any of Vos’ arguments.

For more information on this new Vos work or to order it, see:
https://www.kennethgentry.com/reformed-eschatology-in-the-writings-of-geerhardus-vos/

Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley (2019–2024: 1:360) put it well when they argue that “the Bible is not a disparate hodge-podge of stories, laws, and promises to Israel, but a unified revelation that progressively leads us to Jesus Christ.” Thus, as George Ladd notes, “the entire Bible finds its unity in what can best be called holy history — Heilsgeschichte. It is a record and interpretation of the events in which God visits men in history to redeem them as persons and also to redeem them in society — in history. This means finally the redemption of history itself.” Richard Gaffin (2023: 28) expresses it quite clearly. “Divine authorship guarantees the unity of the Bible’s teaching, its doctrinal coherence as a redemptive- and revelation-historical record, in its diverse human authorship and literary genres, and it its historically differentiated subject matter.”

T. D. Alexander (2008: 10) adds that:
“an anthology of literature, the Bible, [is] linked by common themes, centered on a unique deity, produced over many centuries, the differing texts that comprise this library are amazingly diverse in terms of genre, authorship and even language. Nonetheless, they produce a remarkably unified story…. There is not a book within the whole collection that can be interpreted satisfactorily in isolation from the rest.”

The goal of the Bible

One key component of redemptive theology is eschatology. Eschatology is significant in that it “includes, among other things, the attempt to construct a theodicy: a justification of faith in God, a hope in the final revelation of God’s wise and loving activity throughout history, with a longing for final reckonings. It is the logical conclusion of the biblical doctrine of creation, in the attempt to foresee the fulfillment of creation’s purpose” (Brian Daley 1991: 2). Thus, the Bible’s marvelous, revealed story of redemption demonstrates not only God’s loving mercy, but his wisdom, power, and glory in effecting his loving mercy.

THE SIGN OF HIS COMING
A Preterist Commentary on the Mount Olivet Discourse
Newly translated from the Latin, edited by Kenneth Gentry and Jay Rogers

This groundbreaking volume presents the first English translation of Grotius’ Latin commentary on the Olivet Discourse – Matthew 24-25 and the parallel passages of Mark 13, Luke 17 and 21. This allows modern English readers to encounter firsthand one of the great intellectual architects of early Protestant biblical interpretation.

What makes Grotius unique is not simply that he connected Jesus’ prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Many readers already know that argument. What makes this work extraordinary is the depth of historical insight behind it. Grotius combines mastery of Scripture, Roman history, Jewish sources, geography, classical literature, philology, and prophetic typology in a way few modern commentators can rival. Long before contemporary prophecy debates.

For more information on this new Grotius translation, or to order it, see:
https://www.kennethgentry.com/the-sign-of-his-coming-a-preterist-commentary-on-the-mount-olivet-discourse/

We are introduced to the Scriptural revelation of God’s redemptive work by God’s creation of the universe out of nothing (Gen. 1:1; 2:1–3; Neh. 9:6; John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 11:3). And it looks forward through all of history to its divinely ordained goal in the consummate, eternal, material new creation (Isa. 66:22; Matt. 25:34; Rom. 8:20–23; 2 Pet. 3:10–13). This new creation will follow upon the second coming of Christ (Acts 1:9–11; 1 Cor. 15:22–26; Heb. 9:28) and the final judgment at the end of history (Matt. 25:31–46; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11–15). It involves God’s dramatically reconstituting his fallen, sin-corrupted creation. In doing so, God will purge it of all its impurity, transforming it into a perfected physical order as the place where the physically resurrected saints will live forever (2 Pet. 3:10–13). Thus, protology (the study of first things) has its logical counterpart in eschatology (the study of last things) — and these are connected by teleology (the study of purpose [1]).

Though redemption has eternally been in God’s plan (Cf. Matt. 25:34; Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:4, 11–14; 3:7–12; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9–10; Tit. 1:2–3; 1 Pet. 1:18–20; Rev. 13:8), the future redeemed new creation was made necessary historically because of Adam’s fall into sin (Gen. 3:1–19; Hos. 6:7; Rom. 5:12–19; 1 Cor. 15:22). Ultimately, “the two age construction … covers the entire flow of time, the whole of history, from its beginning at creation up to and including its consummation…. In sum, the two world-ages in their relationship are comprehensive, consecutive, and antithetical” (Daley 1991: 2). However, it especially highlights history under the consequences of the fall. So that, that which lies between Adam’s historical fall (apparently very soon after his creation [2]) and the eternal new creation (occurring at the end of temporal history) involves the outworking of redemption, which was put into effect immediately after the fall (Gen. 3:7–8, 15, 21).

The two ages of history

Universal history, the setting of God’s redemptive work, is planned, created, controlled, and consummated by God’s infinite wisdom and sovereign power (Isa. 46:10; 55:11; Dan. 4:35; Psa. 33:11; 115:3; Eph. 1:11; 3:11). As I will be demonstrating in my book on the two ages, according to the biblical revelation, God’s redemptive plan unfolds in two major phases. The first phase initiates and the second culminates the divine plan. In the New Testament these two phases are presented — oftentimes directly, though sometimes indirectly — as two ages: “this age” and “the age to come” / “coming age.”

As Ladd (1959: 26) puts it: “The entire sweep of man’s existence is set forth in terms of this age and the age which is to come.” He also explains that “the New Testament sets The Age to Come in direct opposition to This Age” (Ladd 1959: 28). He further (1974b: 91) observes that “the Kingdom of God involves two great moments: fulfillment within history, and consummation at the end of history.” This age is temporal; the age to come is eternal. Or as DJBP (p. 19) defines the two age doctrine: it is “a theological construct that divides time into two periods, this age, which began at creation, and the age to come, which will begin after the final judgment.”

Thine Is the Kingdom
(ed. by Ken Gentry)

Contributors lay the scriptural foundation for a biblically-based, hope-filled postmillennial eschatology, while showing what it means to be postmillennial in the real world.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

We can quickly see direct affirmation of the two age structure of redemptive history in the following statements from Jesus and from Paul:

Jesus warns that “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matt. 12:32)

Paul asserts that God “raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Eph. 1:20–21)

I will greatly expand on these statements and present much more material about the two ages in my forthcoming book.

In my next posting I will briefly explain what has motivated me to research and explain the two age doctrine of redemptive history. Stay tuned.

NOTES

1. Vos (1930: 1) explains that eschatology involves “the teaching or belief, that the world-movement, religiously considered, tends towards a definite final goal, beyond which a new order of affairs will be established.” Or we might say that “it reveals how God will bring his purposes to completion” (Beeke and Smalley, 2019–24: 728).

2. The fall obviously occurred before Adam and Eve bore children, for their child-bearing is not mentioned until after the fall. And in their state of innocence, they would have surely have begun the process of multiplying to fill the earth in obedience to God’s command (Gen. 1:28) immediately upon entering the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8, 15; cp. 4:1–2).