• Iraqi Christians flee Mosul
• Rescuing Darwin or wrecking the faith
  First of two articles in a special Darwin supplement
• The evolution of Darwinism
  Second of two articles in a special Darwin supplement
• The Commentary
  Down by the school yard
• Self-harm daughter
  A pastor and wife relate their traumatic experience as parents
• A practical response to global warming
• The prayer meeting
• Call of the Wild West!
• Arguing for GAFCON
  Wallace Benn and Mark Burkill respond to Iain Murray
• Teaching - the NT fellowship breaker
• Letter from America
  When the markets tumble?
• Monthly arts and media column
  House mother?
• Monthly youth leaders column
  The crunch
• The Music Exchange
  Do we really need musicians to help our congregations to sing?
• Tess of the D'Urbevilles
  Shelf life: Looking at secular books
• The Third Degree
  Theology Network: getting down to business

other articles

• Pilgrim's Progress - the game
• The boy in the striped pyjamas
• The glory of the cross (Didasko Files)
• The gods of war - Is religion the primary cause of violent conflict?
• The emergence of evangelicalism
• You can change
• A biblical guide to love, sex and marriage
• Conquering the dragon - The true life story of a former triad gang member
• Twenty-four - Integrating faith and real life
• Words and the Word
• Voice from the hills - Costly grace / crucial words
• O Earth! Hear - Fifty years of GBM Radio
• The God Delusion Debate - Richard Dawkins & John Lennox
• Leading by example - Peter's way for the church today
• My life, my way
• From Eden to new Jerusalem
• God, the Big Bang and bunsen-burning issues
• Audrey Featherstone, I presume? - Amazing story of a Congo missionary

Inspiring overview

FROM EDEN TO NEW JERUSALEM
Exploring God’s plan for life on earth
By T. Desmond Alexander
IVP. 192 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-285-1

Alexander’s book uses Revelation 20-22 as a window on the Bible’s ‘meta-story’, particularly drawing connections with Genesis 1-3. This proves to be a most effective ‘way in’ to unpack the overall message of the Bible, since the Revelation chapters bring to resolution many of the great themes which dominate Scripture. Thus: (1) the garden city of Revelation 21 is compared with Eden, and resolves the theme of God’s presence with his people; (2) God’s throne points to God’s rule, delegated to Adam and Eve, rebelled against, and gradually re-established in OT Israel and the NT church; (3) the demise of Satan is predicted in God’s curse of the serpent; (4) Christ, the Slain Lamb, points back to the Passover, and the concepts of atonement, purification and sanctification; (5) Jerusalem, the holy city, leads into an extended discussion of holiness; also the prospect of social and ecological transformation; (6) the gates and foundations, corresponding to Israel’s 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, point to the unity of Old and New Testaments; finally the tale of two cities (New Jerusalem and Babylon) is traced back into Isaiah.

The great strength of the book is the helpful way it weaves together many strands in Scripture, showing how each fits into the big story. A lot of ground is covered in relatively small space, and light is cast on things as diverse as Noah, Babel, the tabernacle materials, Leviticus food laws, Ezekiel, the Kingdom of God (central theme in the gospels), Jesus’s exorcisms, capitalism (!), and the cubic shape of the New Jerusalem (compare Revelation 21.16 with 1 Kings 6.20).

Academic style

Alexander writes clearly, but the content is demanding, particularly for those newly encountering these topics. The academic style may occasionally frustrate the general reader — e.g. long footnotes and occasional obscurity (‘“Eschatology is like Protology”, yet, whilst Endzeit resembles Urzeit there is progression’. What?!). Also Alexander occasionally speculates or overstates his case (I think!), for example, in claiming striking ‘sanctuary’ imagery in Eden, or the Tabernacle as representing the cosmos.

Big picture

Application is limited, but far from absent, and the overall tone is wholesome. The main benefit, however, is in providing an inspiring big picture. One bonus is that the striking connection between Genesis 1-3 and Revelation 20-22 emphasises the completeness of Scripture, refuting e.g. Mormonism or Islam, which claim additional revelation. For those who have not read anything along these lines, or not recently, I would warmly recommend it.

Phil Heaps,
elder, Grace Church, Westerleigh