Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 112:446 (Apr 1955)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

BSac 112:446 (Apr 55) p. 170

Book Reviews

From Eternity To Eternity. By Erich Sauer. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids. 1954. 207 pp. $3.00.

Without a question this volume constitutes a major contribution to premillennial literature. Following the same excellence manifested in his previous works, The Dawn of World Redemption, and The Triumph of the Crucified, the “Outline of Divine Purposes” is unfolded as revealed in the Scriptures. The work originally published in German was revised and enlarged through several editions and is now presented in English through the translator, G. H. Lang.

The presentation is divided into three areas: (1) “God’s Plan of Salvation in Christ”; (2) “The Bible as the Record of God’s Dealings with Man”; and (3) “The Coming Kingdom of God: Objections Considered.” Included in the work is a large chart in colors to which reference is made in the volume.

In general the doctrinal point of view may be described as premillennial from a moderate dispensational point of view. While the author is acquainted with American dispensational writings, his presentation is original and primarily Biblical. It has a high literary quality, is clear and incisive in its exegesis of key Scriptures, and is in general harmony with prevailing premillennial interpretations of the Bible. The author succeeds in avoiding many of the pitfalls of premillennial interpretation such as occasion criticism from other schools of thought. On the whole the treatment is coherent, logical, and convincing.

In his defense of chiliasm, the author answers many standard charges against premillennialism. He documents well the evidence for scholarly premillennialism in the post-reformation period refuting the charge that chiliasm necessairly contains “exaggerations” and “sectarian errors.” The list of scholars who were premillennial in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is impressive and answers the familiar charge that modern premillennialism began with Darby.

In places, however, the author concedes too much to the critics of premillennialism. It is the opinion of the reviewer that his admission that the church age is anticipated expressly in Old Testament prophecy is unwarranted. It is true that the Old Testament anticipated various results from the death of Christ such as the gospel of grace, but the Old Testament does not anticipate a specific period of time between the death of Christ and the beginning of the

BSac 112:446 (Apr 55) p. 171

tribulation for Israel. All of the prophecies as cited in Acts and the Pauline Epistles as fulfilled in the present age are features which would have resulted from the death of Christ, even if the present age ...