Berkower, G.C.
(On Matthew 24:15 ; The Abomination of Desolation)
"What is noteworthy is that Christ does not speak about this horror as about an event in some ancient past. There is a particularly prominent actuality about what He says. A very relevant admonition is evident: 'when you see the desolating sacrilege set up... ' (Mark 13:14). Christ is not referring back to the tribulations of Israel during the time of Antioch Epiphanes, but to day and tomorrow. When the desolating sacrilege comes, Christ proclaims, 'then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.' Daniel's words are assumed into a relevant proclamation dealing with a grave crisis affecting Judaea and putting its inhabitants to flight. There is widespread uncertainty as to the precise meaning of this 'desolating sacrilege,' but this much is clear: it constitutes an admonition reinterpreting Daniel's vision. What Daniel says is applied to the imminent destruction of the temple in Jerusalem." (The Return of Christ, pp. 275-276).
(On The Non-Occurrence of Prophecy)
"Consistent Eschatology sees the expectation of the coming of the Kingdom within the first generation of believers as the heart and soul of the early church. Clearly we cannot simply ignore this view of eschatology.. we are obligated to deal with the accented nearness of the Kingdom found in the New Testament. We read there that the end of all things is at hand; that the believer is to be sane and sober (1 Pet. 4:7); that the Lord is at hand (Phil. 4:5); that the judge is standing at the door (James 5:8,9); that the time is near (Rev. 1:3). These passages have constantly presented problems for New Testament preaching. What does the New Testament mean by the last days, the last hour? What does it mean when it says that "the night is far gone, the day is at hand" (Rom. 13:12)? In what sense has the end of the ages come upon the community of believers (1 Cor. 10:11)? How are Paul's words to be explained when he says that God will soon (en tachei) crush Satan (Rom 16:20)?" (The Return of Christ p. 82)
"Concerning the gifts of the promise, the letter to the Hebrews is unmistakably clear: "For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry" (Heb. 10:37). This note of promise is the opposite of delay. But is this in fact not an affirmation of the thesis of consistent eschatology, which sees this brief time period in terms of the first generation as the central motif of the New Testament expectation?" (ibid. pp. 82, 82)
"Yet is it not reasonable to wonder whether consistent eschatology may not have had a point after all? Years, decades, and centuries have passed since the New Testament was written." (ibid, p. 94)
"So we are face-to-face with the theme of the delay of the parousia, a theme that has been the concern of many twentieth-century scholars." (p. 65)
"...the actual couse of history did not correspond to these repeated references to the nearness of the parousia." (ibid. p. 83)
(On The Millennial Reign of Christ)
"The kingdom has already come; and the believers must see, discover, and recognize that." (The Return of Christ, 87)
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