Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts

Apocalyptic texts are often seen as either frightening or irrelevant, a tool for fearmongering and manipulation or for the lucrative doomsday industry. But Apocalypse When?: Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts equips readers to understand these texts as sources of encouragement and strength for the church. As the world faces threats of war, poverty, climate and environmental crises, and political upheaval, churches can draw on the wisdom and courage of our biblical ancestors who faced their own calamities and persecutions. Their struggles against powerful economic, militaristic, cultural, and social forces drew them closer to God. We have much to learn from their faith, ethical integrity, and dedication to the promises of God that engender hope in the midst of turmoil and terror. With solid historical exegesis, thought-provoking ideas for preaching, and examples of sermons that creatively and compellingly proclaim God's word, this book provides much-needed guidance for the church in tumultuous times.

Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary. She is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (2015) and co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (2019).

Jerry L. Sumney is Professor of Biblical Studies at Lexington Theological Seminary. His books include Steward of God's Mysteries: Paul and Early Church Tradition; Paul: Apostle and Fellow-Traveler; The Bible: An Introduction; Colossians: A Commentary; and Identifying Paul's Opponents: The Question of Method in 2 Corinthians (the revision of his dissertation with Victor Furnish). He is also the editor of Reading the Letter to the Romans and co-editor of Paul and Pathos.