Through the Thicket

Unceremoniously dismissed from his lectureship in New Testament, Dr. Edward J. Sutherland uses his forced retirement to struggle through a thicket of end-times issues in a conservative church. Interaction with a defense lawyer induces him to reconsider his inherited eschatology by engaging honestly with the biblical text. He faces conflict within himself, with a crusading dispensationalist, church elders, a newly appointed American pastor, and a militant atheist. Set in the Sunshine Coast of subtropical Australia, the book goes beyond entertaining through romance, touches of humor, and conflict resolution. Readers are exposed to vigorous discussions: at a surf club, a backyard barbecue, a second-coming conference, in a neighbor's lounge room, or via email. They are forced to examine their presuppositions on topics including the rapture, the antichrist, the tribulation, the purpose of Christ's second coming, and the kingdom of God. Whether they alter their views on such topics is less important than that they cultivate sound principles of biblical interpretation, uphold the integrity of Jesus and the biblical authors, and respect fellow Christians with whom they disagree.