Dr. Alan Bandy, Rowena R. Strickland associate professor of New Testament, co-authored the book, “Understanding Prophecy: A Biblical-Theological Approach.”
Bandy was inspired to write the book while having a conversation over lunch with co-author, Dr. Benjamin Merkle, professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
“We were talking about how there is an abundance of books on prophecy, but most of them take scripture out of context,” he said.
Both professors have written essays on New Testament prophecy and decided to develop a book to address some issues more extensively.
“We wanted to write a book about the nature and interpretation of biblical prophecy that is accurate, contextual and Christocentric, yet theologically robust,” he said.
Bandy hopes the book will help readers learn to read prophecy in its proper place within the story of the Bible.
“Most books about prophecy tend to focus on reading prophecy in light of current events,” he said. “Many of them, in my opinion, take scriptures out of context to apply them as proof-texts to prove a point or eschatological system. We believe that prophecy should be read in light of the entire message of the Bible. Prophecy, when read with historical, literary and theological sensitivity, will point to Jesus, the Messiah, in terms of his first advent in humility and to his glorious return in power and authority over all creation.”