Sample Chapter

About

This volume is a monumental study of the preaching of Jesus according to the synoptics. It is a veritable treasure house of informative and stimulating exegesis of large segments of the synoptic texts. Special mention may be made, by way of illustration, of the illuminating and helpful discussion of the parables and of the apocalyptic discourse of Mark 13.

When Ridderbos concludes that the kingdom of God involves both a present and a future aspect, nothing especially startling is disclosed. But the author’s treatment of this subject wins unqualified admiration when one takes account of the manner in which, in the context of a thorough and minute examination of the arguments of the representatives of “consistent eschatology” and “realized eschatology,” he surveys the pertinent data and evaluates the issues with exceptional exegetical ability. No one perhaps has approached him in the comprehensiveness of the treatment of this matter. And the discussion in this connection?of such subjects as the kingdom in relation to Satan’s defeat and preset working, the miracles as present power and as signs of the future, the parables, and the integration of Jesus’ ministry with the coming of the kingdom is highly rewarding.

—Ned B. Stonehouse, Late Professor of New Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary

The Author

Herman N. Ridderbos

Herman Ridderbos has been professor of New Testament studies in the Theological Seminary at Kampen, the Netherlands, since 1943. He has become well known in America through his writings, including a volume on Galatians in the New International Commentary on the New Testament, Paul and Jesus, When the Time Had Fully Come, The Authority of the New Testament Scripture, Paul: An Outline of his Theology, Studies in Scripture and Its Authority, and a monograph on Bultmann in the Modern Thinkers Series of the International Library of Philosophy and Theology.

More by Herman N. Ridderbos