The Reformation
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 60, No. 1 – Fall 2017
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. By J. Richard Middleton. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014. 332 pages. Paperback, $26.99.
In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in biblical descriptions of a new heaven and a new earth. One of the emphases of this recent interest has been the affirmation of the redemption not only of individual human beings, but also of the created order. In his work A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology, J. Richard Middleton offers a major contribution to the dialogue taking place. Middleton, Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary, argues that the Bible exhibits a coherent and “explicit eschatological vi-sion of the redemption of creation” (15). In this vision, “the creator has not given up on creation and is working to salvage and restore the world (human and nonhuman) to the fullness of shalom and flourishing intended from the beginning” (27).
Middleton’s work consists of an introductory chapter followed by five parts and an appendix. In the introduction, he presents the traditional Christian view of heaven as final destiny and offers a brief historical sketch of the origins of the view, a sketch he continues and expands upon in the appendix. The majority of the work is a biblical theology of holistic salvation and cosmic redemption. In the first part, chapters two and three, Middleton argues that the overarching story of the Bible, while including a variety of plots and subplots, manifests that “eschatological redemption consists in the renewal of human cultural life on earth rather than our removal from earth to heaven” (58). This renewal includes a transformation of earthly life, which reverses the damage caused by sin.
Middleton devotes the three chapters of part two to the evidence of holistic salvation in the Old Testament. He argues that the worldview of the Old Testament, flowing from God’s deliverance of Israel in the Exodus and his promises of earthly flourishing and restoration beyond Exile, is the foundation for understanding the “full-bodied, this-worldly character” of the New Testament (78). The earthly flourishing includes a return to the land, a new relationship between God’s people and the nations, and God’s presence among His people in the renewed land. What comes before the redemption, and is actually a part of the promise itself, is the prevalent reality of judgment that is to come. In the final analysis, Middleton concludes, “There certainly is no nonearthly salvation in the Old Testament” (118).
In parts three and four, Middleton argues that the holistic redemption promised in the Old Testament is substantiated in the New Testament. Chapter seven is devoted to the centrality of bodily resurrection to God’s victory over sin and death and His ultimate restoration of all that was undone at the Fall. In chapter eight, Middleton surveys five texts that affirm the comprehensive scope of salvation including the redemption of creation, a renewal of the image of God among the nations, God’s manifest presence among His people, the promise of a glorified city Jerusalem, and an affirmation of culture and national diversity. In chapters nine and ten, Middleton surveys a number of New Testament texts which may initially seem to pose problems for a holistic conception but ultimately, he argues, are evidence for the restoration or redemption of creation. Middleton closes his work with a number of ethical implications of holistic redemption, focusing specifically upon Jesus’ teaching of the good news of the kingdom of God and the New Testament’s exhortation for the church to be a community that embodies in the present the promised redemption to come. Redemption is not to be conceived of merely as the salvation of the individual nor is it to be envisioned as eternal life in heaven. Instead, “salvation pertains to God restoring the full functioning of human beings (bodies and all) in their real historical, sociocultural context; indeed, it will ultimately involve the restoration of the entire created order” (268).
Middleton’s background in worldview and culture studies and in biblical studies, respectively, allow him to offer a unique contribution. Though his canonical treatment of the concept of holistic redemption could stand alone, Middleton offers two chapters outlining some of the ethical implications of such a view. The emphasis on these ethical implications provides a link to the gospel message by informing the comprehensive scope of the gospel. Middleton’s focus on the biblical promises regarding the flourishing of humanity on the earth in a renewed and embodied ex-istence is a helpful corrective to conceptions that envision a solely spiritual existence in heaven.
While Middleton’s analysis of the Bible as story should be appreciated, one wonders why he does not focus explicitly upon the role of the biblical covenants and their relationship to the promised kingdom in his presentation of the story. Particularly disappointing in a presentation of the promises of holistic redemption is the minimal presence of the promises and fulfillment of new covenant promises including the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the redeemed in the new creation. Although it is not detrimental to his overall argument, Middleton’s argument against the intermediate state of heaven for the believer is questionable at best. In trying to provide a corrective for the traditional view of heaven, Middleton may be guilty of unnecessarily throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Finally, readers who appreciate the promises regarding a restoration of a particular land to a particular people—Israel—will wonder how universalizing the promises of a particular portion of the whole earth is consistent with Middleton’s robust new creation conception.
