I am Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Th.D., a retired conservative Presbyterian pastor, theological writer, and conference speaker. Allow me to introduce myself.
I was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Though raised in a Christian home, I was not converted to Christ until I attended a youth ranch in Florida in 1966. There on the first night of meetings, I heard the gospel clearly presented (from Ephesians 2) for the first time and the Lord opened my heart to believe in Christ.
I hold the B.A. degree in Biblical Studies from Tennessee Temple College (Chattanooga, Tenn.); an M.Div. in Pastoral Ministry from Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, Miss.); and the Th.M. and Th.D. degrees in New Testament from Whitefield Theological Seminary (Lakeland, Fla.), with my dissertation readers being Dr. Jay E. Adams, Dr. George Knight III, and Dr. C. Gregg Singer.
I am married (since 1971) and have three children and six grandchildren. I am a retired (as of March 31, 2016) ordained minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Assembly (www.rpcga.us).
After graduating from Tennessee Temple College I attended Grace Theological Seminary (Winona Lake, Ind.) for two years. While studying there I became convinced that dispensationalism was in error and that I should leave it and change seminaries. With two other GTS students I transferred to Reformed Theological Seminary.
While at Reformed Theological Seminary I studied under Greg L. Bahnsen (1948–95), the leading presuppositional apologist of his day, and an important Reformed theologian. Though I initially resisted Bahnsen’s distinctive ethical and eschatological views, I was eventually persuaded of both theonomic ethics and postmillennial eschatology and became a staunch co-defender of them with Bahnsen.
Over the years I developed a close friendship with Bahnsen, often lecturing with him in conferences, co-writing a book with him (House Divided: The Break-up of Dispensational Theology), eventually joining the staff of Bahnsen’s Southern California Center for Christian Studies, contributing to the festschrift in honor of Bahnsen (titled The Standard Bearer), and finally pastoring Bahnsen’s church after Bahnsen’s untimely death.
BOOKS
I have written or contributed to over thirty books on a wide variety of theological, biblical, social, and ethical issues. Several of my books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and French. I am best known for my views on eschatology and have written a major presentation and defense of postmillennialism: the 600+ page He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology. It has become a standard and widely-cited text on postmillenialism, and is now in its third edition and has been in print for over thirty years.
Besides my large work, He Shall Have Dominion, I have also written other presentations and defenses of postmillennialism, including:
- The Greatness of the Great Commission: The Christian Enterprise in a Fallen World
- Postmillennialism Made Easy
- “The Eschatological Question” Part 2 of House Divided: The Break-up of Dispensational Theology (co-authored with Greg L. Bahnsen)
- “The Eschatological Question” Part II of House Divided: The Break-up of Dispensational Theology, co-authored with Greg L. Bahnsen
- “The Postmillennial View” in Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (a Zondervan CounterPoints book) ed. by Darrell L. Bock
- “The Preterist View” in Four Views on the Book of Revelation (a Zondervan CounterPoints book) ed. by C. Marvin Pate.
- “Agony, Irony and the Postmillennialist” and “Victory Belongs to the Lord” in Thine Is the Kingdom: A Summary of the Postmillennial Hope, ed. by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
- “Whose Victory in History,” in Theonomy: An Informed Response, ed. by Gary North
- The Truth about Postmillennialism
My postmillennialism is wedded to an evangelical preterism, a view which I explain and defend in several works:
- The Beast of Revelation
- The Book of Revelation Made Easy
- Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation
- The Great Tribulation: Past or Future? a Kregel debate book co-authored with Thomas D. Ice
- The Book of Revelation Made Easy
- Navigating the Book of Revelation: Special Studies on Important Issues
- The Olivet Discourse Made Easy
- “A Revelation of the Revelation,” in The Standard Bearer: A Festschrift for Greg L. Bahnsen, ed. by Steve M. Schlissel
- The Apocalypse of John, co-editor of Milton Terry’s classic commentary on Revelation
- “The Historical Problem with Hyper-Preterism” in When Shall These Things Be: A Reformed Response to Hyperpreterism, ed. by Keith A. Mathison
- Have We Missed the Second Coming? A Critique of the Hyper-preterist Error
- Other Books
- Political Issues Made Easy
- Tongues-speaking: Meaning, Purpose, and Cessation
- Predestination Made Easy
- God’s Law Made Easy
- As It Is Written: The Creation Account: Literal or Literary?
- Covenantal Theonomy
- Lord of the Saved: Getting to the Heart of the Lordship Debate
- The Truth about Salvation
- God Gave Wine: What the Bible Says about Alcohol
- “Six-day Creation” in Andrew Sandlin, ed., Creation according to Scripture
VIDEO LECTURES (DVD)
I have several lecture series and debates that have been recorded in video and are available at my webstore, KennethGentry.com:
- Survey of the Book of Revelation (24 lectures)
- Keys to the Book of Revelation (4 lectures)
- Amillennialism v. Postmillennialism Debate (between Dr. Richard Gaffin and Kenneth Gentry)
- Before Jerusalem Fell Lecture
- Matthew 24 Debate (between Dr. Thomas Ice and Kenneth Gentry)
- Beast of Revelation: Identified
- The Climax of Revelation (Rev 19-22) (six lectures)
- Your Hope in God’s World (5 lectures on postmillennialism)
- Understanding the Creation Account (5 lectures defending Six-day Creation)
- Faith of our Fathers? Why Creeds & Confesssions? (four lectures)
- God Gave Wine (a biblical defense of the moderate use of alcohol) (four lectures)
- The Book of Revelation and the Postmillennial Hope (three lectures)
- Understanding the Olivet Discourse (five lectures presenting an orthodox preterist analysis)
RESEARCH MINISTRY
I am the Director of GoodBirth Ministries, a non-profit religious educational ministry, “committed to sponsoring, subsidizing, and advancing serious Christian scholarship and education” (GoodBirth website: www.GoodBirthMinistries.com). Donations made to GoodBirth Ministries are tax-deductible and help subsidize my research, especially on the Book of Revelation (my current major focus).
Past donations have not only funded my large (2-volume, 2000 pages), academic commentary on Revelation (forthcoming), but also my Navigating the Book of Revelation and my DVD lecture series Keys to the Book of Revelation and Survey of the Book of Revelation.
As I work with the editor of my commentary to bring it to completion, I am at work on another large-scale project. This project will basically be a survey of the Bible from a Calvinist, covenantal, theonomic, postmillennial, preterist perspective. I began research on this project in April 2016.
PASTORAL MINISTRY
I was ordained as a Presbyterian in September 1977. I pastored several churches in three denominations (the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Assembly). I retired from pastoral ministry in 2016.
I pastored for over fifteen years at the historic Reedy River Presbyterian Church just outside of Greenville, SC (in Conestee, SC). This church was founded in 1887 and worships in the same building (with fellowship and educational wing additions!), which was built in 1889. My children grew up in this church, and I grew in pastoral ministry due to the dedication and kindness of its officers and members.
I gladly welcome new Facebook friends, and invite you to look me up on Facebook. Be forewarned though, I see Facebook as an opportunity to pass along my favorite jokes.
In fact, while we are at it, did you hear about the little girl drawing a picture in school? The teacher asked what she was drawing. The girl answered: “Jonah getting swallowed by the whale.” The teacher replied: “That did not happen, or Jonah would have been killed.” The little girl was perturbed and responded: “I know it happened. And when I get to heaven, I’m going to ask Jonah if he got swallowed by a whale.” To this the teacher challenged: “But what if Jonah didn’t go to heaven.” The little girl quickly replied: “Then you ask him.”
I’d better stop now because I am busy. Besides a friend of mine, Mr. Caw, just said he thought the birds were calling his name. I need to check it out.
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