God's Strategy in Human History: Volume 2: Reconsidering Key Biblical Ideas

This is the long-awaited fully revised 3rd edition of God's Strategy in Human History by Roger Forster and Paul Marston - one of the most important theological books of the 20th century.

Now split into two volumes, in Volume 1: God’s Path to Victory we explore what the Bible says about how God is working in human history. We look at the conflict between good and evil and at how your personal relationship with God fits into his bigger strategy of bringing in the Kingdom.

This brings fresh meaning to questions like:
- If God is good, why do suffering and evil exist?
- Is God in control of the future?
- Do my prayers make a difference?
- Why did God choose Israel? And is Israel still chosen?
- What is God’s purpose for the Church today?
By looking at these questions in the context of God’s strategy we see how they start to make sense to our Christian lives in the 21st century.

Aside from updating the language of the text to increase readability, revisions include the incorporation of the latest comments from contemporary scholarship on some of the issues. The new edition also presented the authors with the opportunity to respond to critiques of previous editions. Thanks to the substantial overall revision, the new chapters work seamlessly into the argument, and indeed there is a sense that the authors feel that the new material is now essential to completing it.

Following its original publication, God’s Strategy became a key text in several theological seminaries, and is known to have profoundly influenced the views of such theologians as Greg Boyd, who provides a foreword for the new edition. Renowned New Testament scholar I. Howard Marshall also provides a foreword.

Aside from being a key scholarly text, it also became a valuable theological manual for many lay-readers especially in the UK and the USA. The new edition is published with the two audiences in mind. Volume 1: God’s Path to Victory comprises what was originally Part One and Two of the book, containing the substance of the main argument about how God has been working through human history, along with some of the new material, and a summary of the arguments in Volume 2. As such it is aimed at anyone wanting to get to grips with this important subject.

Volume 2: Reconsidering Key Biblical Ideas comprises most of what was Part Three and the Appendix, being aimed more at church leaders and Biblical scholars in its language and structure, going into greater depth with studies of key words and concepts.

The format means that it will work well in church study groups where each member has a copy of Volume 1 and the leader is equipped with Volume 2 if greater insight is required on some of the issues.