Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 20:60 (Summer 2016)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JODT 20:60 (Summer 2016) p. 194

Book Reviews

Reviving the Blessed Hope of Thessalonians by Douglas D. Stauffer and Andrew B. Ray. Knoxville: McCowen Mills Publishers & LTB Publications, 2016. xvi + 176 pp., paper, $15.00.

Andrew Ray is the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Douglas Stauffer is a member of the church and “an internationally recognized authority in the field of Bible history, apologetics, and prophecy.” Ray has written one other book; Stauffer has written six others, and the two have co-authored three, including their newest book, Reviving the Blessed Hope of Thessalonians, which is further described as “The Rapture Commentary Series Volume 1.”

Reviving the Blessed Hope of Thessalonians is not a commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians; it is primarily a commentary on the prophetic passages in 1 & 2 Thessalonians, of which the authors recognize many. They see references to the rapture in every chapter of 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and references to Daniel’s seventieth week or the Day of the Lord in four chapters, which is a good approach. Many large, scholarly commentaries on 1 & 2 Thessalonians are good resources in many respects except for much of the prophetic portions because dispensational premillennialists did not write them. The authors of this book are both unapologetic, dispensational premillennialists who “believe in the Blessed Hope which consists of a personal, premillennial, imminent return of the Lord for His body, the Church” (p. ix).

After a brief preface and introduction to the book, Reviving the Blessed Hope of Thessalonians has a chapter on each division of 1 & 2 Thessalonians, plus an introduction to each of the Thessalonian letters and concluding thoughts, making eleven chapters in all. The longest chapters, naturally, are the ones on 1 Thessalonians 4 (20 pp.) and 2 Thessalonians 2 (25 pp.). An afterword, a conclusion, six appendixes, an index, and a Scripture index follow the chapters. There is no bibliography. Twenty-five very helpful charts, most of them occupying a full page, enhance the book. Unfortunately, the page numbers for eighteen of them are wrong in the list of illustrations in the front of the book. In addition to the unnecessary spaces between paragraphs, practically every page contains a quote (in larger type and enclosed by brackets) of one or two sentences from the page. Each of these features combines to make the book seem longer than it is. There are also some places where the opening text on a right-hand page appears in unformatted form at the bottom of the previous page.

JODT 20:60 (Summer 2016) p. 195

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe