I highly respect the Dr Michael L Brown and I've followed him on his radio program and social media for some time. I was attracted to this topic partly because of the author and partly because of the topic. For myself I had evolved from a very pre-tribulation rapture view which I had largely inherited, to a mid-tribulation view which I arrived at after my own bible study. This book is very engaging and both authors have collaborated in a way that works well, including their own diverse backgrounds. The book provided many other bible points that I had not considered in my own study. I won't say that I have transitioned to a full post-tribulation position but I do feel that this book requires another reading alongside some new study. This is also a strength of the book which does not come across pushy, but does provoke thought.

When I was in college at a large Baptist university, I served for a year as a youth pastor at a tiny Southern Baptist church in a tiny town a short drive from campus. When I started, the pastor sat me down and said, We are a pre-millennial church. He wanted to know where I stood. I replied, with my 20-year-old attitude, "I'm a pan-millennailst; I believe it's all going to pan out in the end." A philosophy degree, an M.Div., and 30 years later, I have to say I might still answer the same way.



Micheal L. Brown and Craig S. Keener, on the other hand, have put a whole lot more thought and study into to answering the question. They make a couple of things clear about their mission in this book. First of all, they vehemently disagree with pre-millennial dispensationalism, and the accompanying anxiety about the antichrist and the tribulation. Second, they absolutely affirm that they recognize that good, faithful Christians may disagree on this subject and do not intend any spiritual superiority.



They challenge the pre-trib position with a blatant statement: show me a scriptural justification for it, and we will show you the context of the passage and explain why, when viewed in context, no scripture upholds a pre-trib theology. The good news is that even while covering a large amount of scripture and complex theological questions, the authors maintain a readable, accessible tone.



The bottom line here is very convincing. I could, with a bit of confidence, challenge my old pastor (lovingly and respectfully, of course) with a bit of discussion. I still don't understand why churches break fellowship with one another over this issue. I still believe it will all pan out in the end. We may or may not personally experience persecution and tribulation, but we know that at every stage of church history, many Christians have. Brown and Keener write, "the martyrs of the past are not calling out from their graves and urging us to be cautious and fearful. Instead, they are urging us to stand strong, to be of good courage, and to speak the truth boldly and without compromise."



I like Brown and Keener's conclusion: "Scripture announces one glorious future coming that is our hope, when the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ." Maranatha.







Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

In the book Not Afraid of the Antichrist, authors Michael L. Brown and Craig S. Keener try to convince people that the rapture of the church won’t happen until the end of the tribulation. I find it interesting that their change of doctrinal theology was not spurred by Biblical discovery but by their interaction and first-handed experience with the persecuted church. This is their starting point. So I wonder what is next. They prayed for people that have not been healed therefore healing is not for today? Biblical theology is not dictated by our experiences.
Also it concerns me that “All Scripture translations, except where specified otherwise, are the authors’ own.” To me that is an immediate red flag when the translations of Scripture used are not mainstream translations that have endured countless questioning. No doubt there is no perfect translation but to write a book about a controversial issue and then use your own translation of the Bible to prove it?
I would not recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Craig Keener's scholarly work, and was intrigued by the title of this book and its popular audience. The book did not disappoint in the sense that Keener and Brown were clear, easy to read and mixed a lot of theological argument with practical application and personal anecdote. Regardless of your personal beliefs about end times theology, Keener and Brown present a well-articulated case for their side of things. My only complaint about this book was at times I felt it a little repetitive and it avoided the topic in the title until nearly the end. Overall though it was a good read I would recommend to others!

My previously pretrib family has recently changed our position on the timing of the rapture (because of studies my dad [a pastor] has done on Matthew 24). We had been quite staunchly pretribulationalists before, but had always had some doubts and questions about certain implications and assumptions of the position. In our study through the book of Mathew at our church, we were forced to change our position, as it was not biblical.

I was curious at what Brown and Craig had to say about the topic in their book "Not Afraid of Antichrist". Both authors believed in a pretribulation rapture, and then changed their mind after a closer look at the Scriptures. They do a pretty good job of showing the unbiblicalness of the position, and demonstrate from various passages of Scripture that 'pretribbers' are connecting dots that should not be connected.

They explain that there is no significant difference between the various mentions of the coming of the Lord. They all contain similar details (even if all do not say every single detail every time they are mentioned).

They also attack the notion that saved Israel is not a part of the Church/body of Christ. I really appreciated that, as that was one of the things that really held me in the Pre-trib position. As Brown and Craig point out, ethnic Israelites can be a part of the church and still be used uniquely as an ethnic group, by God, and distinguished from Christians of other ethnicities, within the body of Christ.

While there were several points that I agreed with that are brought up in the book, there several things that I didn't really like about it.

Let me go into some detail: First, one, or both of the author's take's issue with Clarence Larkin's assertion that, Christianity, overall, has failed to keep pace with heathenism, had failed to convert the world and that Larkin assumed that converting the whole world was therefore not God's purpose. The author writing that chapter seemed to think that that was absurd. But I don't see how, biblically, that is absurd, because we are told that the way to salvation is narrow, and that few find it, or follow it. And even Christ asked if He would find faith on the earth when He comes (Luke 18:8).

But here's a weird thought that just occurred to me: Maybe there will be the greatest amount of saved people, more than any previous era, DURING the Great Tribulation age. We remember that Revelation 7 talks about a multitude that no one can number, from every tribe, tongue and nation. That multitude came out of, and apparently passed through, the Great Tribulation. Sounds like a huge (and I mean, HUGE) number of Gentiles saved during the tribulation. A multitude of saved Gentiles will be on the earth during the tribulation….Which really is another point against the "There's no church mentioned during the tribulation" argument. Anyway, so perhaps, while there may not be great Evangelistic success before the tribulation…perhaps there will during it? And during the Millennium (It sounds as though whole nations come to Christ then). But I still have a problem with how one's thinking that the majority of people will not come to Christ could be thought an unbiblical idea.

Another problem I had was that one, or both of the authors, think that the seventieth week of Daniel is not future. I don't quite understand how they could think that. "The idea that a whole church age must be inserted between the 69th and 70th week of years is a perfect illustration of how the Pre-Trib reading of Scripture must be imposed on the text rather than read out from the text." Though I agree that there is no evidence of the Scripture dividing the 2nd coming of Christ into two parts (Thus making 3 comings of Christ altogether), I would argue that the passage of Daniel itself divides the 69th and 70th week, and that it doesn't take a lot of juggling to think there might be a gap in there.. The " to the end desolations (or wars?) are decreed" part sort of hints to me at an indeterminate period of time. Besides, it sounds like the same King who will end the sacrifices and offerings, "exalt himself above every other god" (the abomination - see (See Daniel 8, 11-12,), and this King, Christ (Matt 24:15-on), and His Apostle Paul (2 Thess 2), both directed us to view as a man yet to come, an abomination yet to happen. And Christ specifically referred back to the books of Daniel. I don't see why we would divide the Lawless One, the Abomination of desolation into many parts/people even thought their details seem to make them the same person/abomination. That seems mighty close to what we ex-pretribbers did when we divided the 2nd Coming of Christ even though it appeared to be the same event.

This book also expresses uncertainty as to whether the Man of Lawlessness, whom Paul speaks of in 2nd Thessalonians, is a historical figure or a future one. They lean toward him being the future Antichrist. But I don't know why they have any doubts at all. Neither Antiochus Epiphanes nor Titus (Or Vespasian, or the Romans standards..etc.) fit the description of the the Man of Lawlessness/ Abomination of Desolation. I don't remember recorded history saying that they exalted themselves ABOVE EVERY OTHER GOD, nor did they claim to be God(the God of the Old and New Testaments) Himself as the lawless one does (perhaps by declaring himself to be Jesus Christ). Perhaps they declared themselves as gods over some of the other 'gods', but, if I remember correctly, they still worshiped other gods. But, regardless of what or who they did or didn't worship, I know for certain that NONE of them were the Abomination/Man of Lawlessness because Paul tells us that that man will be killed by "breath of His (Jesus')mouth" when He comes again (2 Thes 2:8). The Lawless One has not come and gone because our Lord Jesus Christ has not yet returned to kill him, nor has He gathered us to Himself to meet Him in the air along with our resurrected bretheren (1 Thess 4). The Lawless One is not yet history, he is still yet to come.

I'm probably rambling on too much. I'll end with one last point: One of their main arguments is that tribulation is supposed to be a norm for Christian, something they ought not fear. Tribulation is something that the church is, pretty much, promised. So why would we think that "GREAT" tribulation would be something we could not face?

While I agreed with those arguments, as someone who recently came out of the pretrib rapture position myself, I didn't feel that those arguments would have moved me at all. I would have said something like, "We don't fear the great tribulation, but we do fear the wrath of God! We don't want to be on earth while it is being poured out". Now, the authors do address this later on, but most of their argument seemed to assume that Pre-trib rapture folks fear the AntiChrist (and the tribulation), which is probably why the book was given the name that it has. That premise/title would probably have made me turn away from the book because I would have thought they were missing my whole point. But, as Brown and Craig were Pretribbers themselves, they probably know other Pretribbers who are afraid of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation, and that may have been how they themselves thought.

Perhaps I would have found the book more compelling if it were more along the lines of "Not Afraid of the Wrath of God"…but that could give the wrong impression, how about, "Not Destined for Wrath: Why the Church will be on earth during the Great Tribulation". That would certainly make me look twice!

It was okay, and has several points that would probably give pretribbers pause, but not necessarily a book that I would recommend.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a free advanced review copy of this book(therefore, some of the content in the final publication may change)! My review did not have to be favorable.

Keener and Brown have done a great job of pointing out the discrepancies of the pre-tribulation (Left Behind) understanding of the end times. They engage the scriptures that are commonly used to prop up this belief and show how they are used out of context.

It is notable that both authors tell their stories of coming to Christ and being taught pre-tribulation doctrines, and then through studying the scriptures coming to accept a post-tribulation, single coming of Jesus Christ. Too often we read the works of someone who is espousing what they have always believed, not so here but you get the work of two men who have had open minds and allowed their studies to change their view-points. It also means that they can appreciate that there are other well educated people who hold differing views and while teaching against some of their beliefs, do not chide them.

There are three views that are used to explain Jesus’ Second Coming: the Pre - Trib, Mid - Trib and Post - Trib appearances of Jesus. However, the Mid - Trib view is not mentioned in this book, only the Pre and Post - Trib views are.
The authors give Biblical and historical references for why people believe that Christian believers could be raptured before or after the Tribulation. There were instances in the Old Testament where God protected those people who mourned over Israel’s sin and whom the Lord kept from the destruction that was given to those who participated in the sin. ( Ezekiel 9:4-6 )God also protected the Israelites in Goshen from the plagues that were visited on the Egyptians. The authors bring up the idea that as God had the ability to protect His people in the past, can He not protect them during the Tribulation?
The beliefs concerning a Pre - Trib rapture are mentioned, they include the verses that discuss being caught up in the twinkling of an eye and the verses that discuss two men or women working in a field and only one is taken. However they may also be interpreted to mean people will be taken up after the Tribulation when Jesus appears for a bodily transformation or for remaining during the Millennial Period.
This book will make you intelligently examine your beliefs about the Second Coming without damaging your faith - you can choose what to believe.