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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book on Already/Not Yet Eschatology
Review: George Eldon Ladd is considered among theologians today the second most influential theologian among evangelicals. This book, and his New Testament Theology, are why. Ladd's theology of the "Already/Not Yet" Kingdom of God has become the standard theological position today. It states that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of the prophetic stream of thought concerning Messiah--but not the consumation. it emphasizes that the Kingdom of God is primarily a rule rather than a realm, yet it does not deny that there will be a future Millenial Kingdom. It also sees as errant any direct idenitification of the Kingdom of God with the Church. Yet the Church is not a parenthesis, but was the natural part of the plan of God in extending that Kingdom to the world. In short, if you want to understand how Evangelical Theology today, and for the forseeable future, understands the Kingdom of God, you must start here.
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Summary: An Excellent View of Already/Not Yet Eschatology... but
Review: George Eldon Ladd, former Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary (now dececesed) has written the foremost work on an already/not yet eschatology. His approach has been adopted by other covenant premills like D. A. Carson and the like, and even some progressive dispensationalists like Darrell Bock and Craig Blaising. While there are some heavy hitters out there who advocate a already/not yet view, the question arises if this is the best view. Ladd, developed his view while interacting with various neo-orthodox authors of works on the Kingdom. He relied heavily on Barth, Scweitzer and others. He did differ significantly though as he did not advocate a full inaugerated eschatology like some men did. But, as some may know, based on a debate in Christianity Today, Ladd's biggest foe was Alva J. McClain. McClain was President and Professor of Systematic Theology at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, IN. He published a monumental work entitled, "The Greatness of the Kingdom." It is currently available from BMH Books. McClain advocated the "postponed" kingdom view of many traditional dispensationalists of his time. What made McClain's book different was his amazing understanding of the Kingdom in the Old Testament. His book looked at the teaching of the Kingdom of God from Genesis all the way to Revelation and showed, with little doubt, that indeed Jesus never did change His view of the Kingdom. McClain also proved that you could not read the New Testament back into the Old Testament (as Ladd did). Ladd reviewed the book and all he could muster against McClain was that he did not cite that many modern sources. Well, when that's all you got going, it's time to sit back and realize defeat. So yes, Ladd's book is quite good, and informative. But, it should never be read by itself. It should be read along with McClain's excellent work to see the other side of the Kingdom of God issue. There are many of us today that follow McClain's view. It is not dead as many already/not yet people would like you to believe. It's still alive and kicking, and the critics of it have yet to explain it away. I recommend both books (but McClain's all the more).
Rating: 
Summary: Not my type of book but raises some interesting questions.
Review: The author says that Jesus didn't clarify what he meant exactly by the 'the kingdom of God', Jesus just assumed we should know what it means. The author then gives scripture verses to explain what he, the author, 'thinks' Jesus meant. I somehow don't think the Lord would be so vague about such an important issue. Stranger still is the Lord's words in the gospels. Speaking to the Pharisees, He says "the kingdom of heaven is within you". Jesus told the Pharisees the kingdom of heaven was 'within' them. What's with that??? I believe the author also mis-read the intent of many of the scripture verses. For example, when quoting Habbakuk, "God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mt. (?), His glory covered the heavens..." This verse is referring to the return of Christ but the author says it is related to an Old Test. dispensation happening.
All in all I found this book a little hard to read. I stumbled over the big words which only distracted me and I lost the flow of what the author was trying to say. I gave the author 2 stars just for trying to explain this difficult subject.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book on Already/Not Yet Eschatology
Review: This book is a book that should be read by all who are interested in eschatology and redemptive-historical themes. Ladd does an excellent job demonstrating that God's promised Kingdom had already come in Jesus Christ. He uses ample Scripture verses and uses very scholarly secondary sources to back up his points. He interacts with many scholars who have written books and articles on this subject. His main focus is that God's kingdom has already come, yet is awaiting a future consummation. He distinguishes between apocalyptic and eschatological imagery used in the Bible. He shows the fallacies of both Covenant Theology and Classical Dispensationalism. As a Progressive Dispensationalist I do agree with a lot of things that Ladd writes about in the book, though not everything. Ladd is considered a Kingdom Theologian (no wonder Bock says that PD and Ladd's view have a lot in common). Without becoming so dogmatic in the Reformed/Covenant tradition or Classical Dispensationalism, Christians should read this book and try to understand that God's Kingdom has both a present and future aspect to it.
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