Books
Our Past and Future Hope:
Reintroducing a Traditional Faith-Building Eschatology
By Jason Giles
The modern interpretation of prophecy in the Bible is rife with speculation, conspiracy, and ultimately fear. The study of it seems to lead one to either an unhealthy obsession or an apprehensive apathy.
As it turns out, it was not this way in generations past. The traditional understanding of eschatology- also known as historicism- relies on hindsight rather than speculation, confident fulfillment in place of conspiracy, and fosters hope instead of fear. This book is an introduction to that method, and a faith-building journey in Scripture that reveals a God who never leaves his people without direction.
My goal with this book is to provide an accessible introduction to the traditional interpretation of biblical prophecy (called historicism). There are other excellent books on this topic that are available, but all of them have different issues in accessibility: they are either very old, very dense and academic, or expensive/out of print.
I’m overjoyed with how God has already used this book. I’ve led a group from my local church through it with great success. Some had no idea there were other venerable interpretations of Revelation besides the currently popular Left Behind variety; others were staunch futurists or partial-preterists, yet became convinced (to their own joyful surprise!) that the historicist interpretation makes much more sense. Others have reached out online with similar reactions.
Continuing in the spirit of accessibility, a Spanish translation of the book is also free online, and I’m working on an audiobook version. I’m going to offer it on every platform and through every medium I can find, because I want others to rediscover this fantastic and faith-building understanding of prophecy like I did over a decade ago.
I’m grateful to God for leading me to these giants of the past, and letting me stand on their shoulders. My prayer is that you’ll be blessed by Him as you read this book, hearing from the Holy Spirit confirming any truth in it. Please leave a review if it helps you in this way!
Godspeed,
Jason Giles
Paperback, Kindle, and Spanish versions of the book are available through the author's website.
About the author
Jason Giles was steeped in Late Great Planet Earth culture from childhood, serving with Kings Kids, Youth With A Mission, and later graduating from Moody Bible Institute with a B.S. in Biblical Studies. This book is the result of over a decade of his independent research into historicism. Jason lives in an intentional Christian community in Chicago with his wife and two children, and serves as the manager of a mission business there.