While we don't have time for every pet theory of every obscure group, we do want to look at some of the major opinions on some of the key issues of the last days. Here's a quick overview of where we're headed in our journey:

Part 1 is "What's the Difference?" The goal will be to form a clear idea of some of the major theories about the Second Coming and to see what they're based on. Included in this section will be a briefing on key terms helpful to our journey, a chapter on how the premillennialists envision the end time, and also a look at what the amillennialists and postmillennialists think will happen.

I should point out that when I quote a premillennialist, he or she is not necessarily speaking for all premillennialists. Nor is each nonmillenarian speaking for all amillennialists or postmillennialists. But often they are.

As we progress to Part 2, we enter what I call "The Heart of the Controversy." On the subject of the end times, Charles Ryrie points out, "the disagreement is in the interpretation of prophecy." That is absolutely correct, and it's helpful to back up and examine the underlying assumptions.

Then we head to Part 3, "Is the Great Tribulation a Past or Future Event?" The primary goal will be to look at what Jesus said on the subject. Then we'll explore two key questions in depth: Is the great tribulation a past event? That may sound like heresy to modern ears, but some leading theologians through the ages would basically answer that question yes. Then we'll look at the counterpoint: Is the great tribulation a future event?

We'll move on from there to Part 4, a section I call "Issue by Issue." Here, we'll go through some of the controversial subjects surrounding the end times chapter by chapter, such as the Rapture, the Antichrist, the Millennium, the role of Israel in the last days, and Daniel's Seventieth Week.

Finally, we'll progress to Part 5, which is a look at "Practical Applications." With the differing views on Christ's coming, is there some common ground? Then we'll look at ways in which prophets of the Apocalypse have blown it in the past, predicting Christ's sure return by XYZ date even though He told us nobody knows the day or the hour (I even read one such prophet who essentially said--with a straight face: Christ didn't tell us the day or the hour, but that doesn't mean we can't know the year, the month, or the week! Finally we'll consider Ezekiel's question that Francis Schaeffer popularized: How should we then live?