A Tale of Three Cities: Best or Worst of Times? Antichristism, Constructive Cultural Engagement, and the Resurrection of the Cosmos

A Tale of Three Cities: Best or Worst of Times? Antichristism, Constructive Cultural Engagement, and the Resurrection of the Cosmos

A central question for Judeo-Christian faithful is “Are we living in the age of antichristism or kingdom influence?” Can we salt and light entire cities and civilizations, as Martin Luther King Jr. hoped, or with D. L. Moody should we simply save as many as we can from our rapidly sinking planet? Over the years Christians have wrestled with the question and reached different conclusions. Augustine’s and Oliver O’Donovan’s answer to the question birthed The City of God and The Desire of Nations . Miguez Bonino’s and Grace Ji-Sun Kim’s Marxist-influenced liberationist answers produced Toward a Christian Political Ethics and the post-truth Intersectional Theology. Former socialist Michael Novak’s plea was to revive The [True] Spirit of Democratic Capitalism . Jonathan Cahn and Frank Peretti, by contrast, predicted that we have entered the age of This Present Darkness amidst The Return of the Gods. Peretti’s and Cahn’s wildly popular future-visions built upon Hal Lindsey’s dated assurance and false prediction that true believers would be raptured in the last decade of The Terminal Generation —1980s! Douglas Matthews offers a new route through the maze and discerningly answers this perennial question by boldly offering a “Third City” future-vision option for effective kingdom influence amidst accelerating global antichristism. "In a timely and masterfully executed work that is both humbly honest and shockingly truthful, D. K. Matthews deftly lays out the prospects of the three cities over the course of a truly grand, even cosmic, history befitting the saints. I give this engaging and eminently readable work my highest recommendation." --Kenneth J. Collins, professor of historical theology and Wesley studies, Asbury Theological Seminary "The church has often been divided over the best way to engage the world for the kingdom. As such, the church needs wise voices to shape our future work, and our approach must be both faithful and effective. D. K. Matthews's A Tale of Three Cities is a welcome contribution to that discussion and is a must-read for anyone concerned with this kind of work." --Jamie Dew, president and professor of Christian philosophy, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary "In a culture with lots of competing voices, we are often better at identifying the problems than we are at proposing solutions and seeing God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. A Tale of Three Cities beautifully describes where we are living with a healthy dose of wisdom for how Christians can be 'salt and light' and live as ambassadors for reconciliation and redemption. This book is a gift to the church and a call for Christ followers!" --Keith Newman, president, Southern Nazarene University " A Tale of Three Cities cuts through the cacophony of voices offering the church quick fixes to today's complicated issues by masterfully addressing what it means to live in the light of the New Creation. Matthews brilliantly demonstrates that we can be people of hope and citizens of the coming age even in the midst of a painful, broken world." --Christine Johnson, assistant professor of historical theology and Wesleyan studies, Asbury Theological Seminary "D. K. Matthews' Tale of Three Cities provides profound clarity related to the role and work of the Christian in a world standing in opposition to the tenets of the gospel message. Grounded in the clear teachings of the Bible, a Christian, while faced with potential suffering, persecution, and false doctrines, should respond with humility, grace, and conviction. Imagine the body of Christ, acting like Christ in love, care, patience, endurance, suffering, and sacrifice as witness of Christ to the world. To this end, Matthews calls his readers." --Brent Ellis, president, Spring Arbor University "Occasionally, I come across a book I wish I had written. A Tale of Three Cities by Doug Matthews is just such a book. Not only does it offer a sobering critique of inadequate hermeneutics characterizing different eschatological assumptions in and outside Christendom, it also provides a Judeo-Christian, future-vision alternative that withstands current pushbacks to Christendom we find in Western culture. I endorse it wholeheartedly." --Joseph B. Onyango Okello, professor of philosophy, Asbury Theological Seminary "Between a pandemic, toxic politics, and the dizzying advance of technology, there couldn't be a more critical time to re-evaluate the focus and priorities of Christ's church in our age. D. K. Matthews' work has given an important new tool to local church leaders--whether laymen or clergy. His 'Third City' model gives us an eschatological lens for the Church's ministry that is both deeply grounded and broadly useful. It envisions a way forward that is full of biblical optimism and tactical clarity." --Geoffrey A. Fuller, professor of biology, Mount Vernon Nazarene University D. K. Matthews is an executive pastor, affiliate pro