The future has always been a subject of immense fascination. It is generally acknowledged that the concept of time and change which permits us to concieve of a time to come is to be found alreay well-developed in ancient Israel, adn that this concept, embodied in the Old Testament, has profoundly influenced the modern Western mind. Using a canonical approach, in which he surveys the Old Testament as a whole, Gowan explores Israel's hopes for a better future - as expressed in the Old Testament and the Old Testament world which gave rise to such expectations. he findd that for God to make things right, a threefold transformation of the world must take place: God must transform the human person, human society and nature itself. This is a comprehensive introduction to eschatology in the Old Testament, unfolding the hopes expressed there and what became of those hopes, and discovering what the Old Testament has contributed to the expectations for a better future which have moved and sustained generations of people who have espoused them.

Author Biography

Donald E Gowan is Emeritus Robert Cleveland Holland Professor of Old Testament, Pittsburg Theological Seminary.