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All good things must come to an end, or at least so they say. With the release of their fourth volume, Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley have brought their mammoth project of Reformed Systematic Theology to completion. This final installment now brings this review series to an end by considering the end of their four-volume overview of theology. Fittingly, we will look at what they have to say about the End. The final contribution in Reformed Systematic Theology addresses eschatology—the doctrine of last things.
This final section comes in two parts. In section A, Beeke and Smalley treat matters from eschatology that affect us even now. Section B then addresses topics that truly relate to the end of history and to the nature of everlasting life. I flag this structural issue because I struggled for a while to discern what categorized the chapters in each section together. Theologians will sometimes divide eschatology into general and individual categories. General eschatology is about the end of things in a universal scope. Individual eschatology then pertains to the end of life and the everlasting state for the individual. The chapters in each section did not neatly fit into these categories. After some reflection, I hope readers are helped by inference that these two sections concern, first, issues from eschatology that affect us in this age and, then, eschatological topics concerning the end of history and the everlasting state.
The great strength of Beeke and Smalley’s whole discussion of the last things is their pastoral orientation. In section A’s introduction, they outline how biblical teaching on eschatology primarily aims to give hope to God’s people. This orientation rightly becomes an anchor point for each chapter. In perhaps their finest display of practical concern, Beeke and Smalley keep even technical discussions connected to the biblical contours of using eschatology to promote hope in Christ.
Section A covers several big-ticket items. First, it addresses the nature of how already-not yet factors help us interpret Scripture. Then, it refutes the hope-crushing heresies of the prosperity gospel. Third, it works through matters of death in body and soul. Finally, Beeke and Smalley tackle the usual stars of the eschatological discussion: signs of the end, Revelation, Israel, and the millennium. In typical fashion, these treatments are all thorough, irenic, and balanced.
The one omission that I think deserved discussion in their chapters on bodily death and the soul after death is the issue of the state of Old Testament believers after they died. Reading between the lines, Beeke and Smalley entail that Old Testament believers immediately went to be with the Lord in paradise when they died. My point is not to question where they stand on the issue. Rather, they describe and respond to so many views, such as soul sleep and purgatory, this omission seems notable. The doctrine of the limbus patrum teaches that Old Testament believers did not go to heaven when they died but waited in a non-punitive area of hell until Christ died, descended into hell, and then brought their souls to heaven with him at his resurrection. This doctrine is growing in popularity in evangelical circles today. Beeke and Smalley’s thorough, biblical, and historical approach to all other topics would have doubtlessly produced a very helpful statement on this matter as well.
The chapters pertaining to the end of this age contain Beeke and Smalley’s typical irenic clarity but also develop more constructive and polemical points. The highlights in these chapters concern the nature of dispensationalism, the millennial debate, and the future of national Israel. These discussions are more thorough than usually occur in a summary systematic theology text, which is a welcome difference.
The standout aspects of these chapters include the clarity and polemics. Beeke and Smalley ask excellent questions, especially in the chapter on the millennium, to break the debates down into smaller components. They then address these smaller aspects with clarity and precision. The excursus on the historical views of the millennium was also a notable inclusion. Their refutation of dispensationalism was also tremendous. The section where they show how the dispensational view of eschatology undermines the finality of Christ’s work is—even if slightly hotter than most other discussions in these books—a tour de force in theological pushback. Reformed writers have so long coddled dispensationalism as if we are friends in the wider evangelical tent. Good for Beeke and Smalley for putting the true cards on the table that dispensationalism has problems that go all the way to the core of Christian truth.
Section B about last things focuses on aspects of the future age. Again, the emphasis on hope reverberates through these discussions, showing how Christian eschatology concerns promises that keep us moving in this age. Fittingly, this section opens with chapters on Christ’s return and the general resurrection. The content will not be surprising to orthodox Christians. Still, I have been surprised how often as a pastor I have encountered those who profess to be believers who question or deny Christ’s return and the resurrection. Beeke and Smalley’s thorough, biblical, and pastoral insights in affirming these truths are probably a bigger weapon in our theological arsenal than some may expect.
The last chapters address the final judgment and the everlasting states for the wicked and believers. Again, these discussions are thorough statements of traditional positions. The chapter refuting rejections of hell as everlasting torment will prove a valuable resource. The chapters on the final judgment seem to take a middle road and avoid many of the modern debates about the nature of the final judgment. We should be thankful for Beeke and Smalley’s clear rejection of the Roman Catholic view of works at the final judgment and their affirmation that justification by faith alone entitles believers to entry into everlasting blessing. The final chapter ties each of the major topics of systematic theology into that great theme of Christian hope.
As a few closing thoughts, I want to reflect on Beeke and Smalley’s whole series. Their massive four volumes are a tremendous achievement. It has been quite some time since we have had a full treatment of systematic theology that has covered the gamut with such breadth and scope. This project truly is a substantive contribution.
One of its best strengths is its irenic and positive explanation of the Christian faith as confessed in Reformed churches. Even at their most polemical, Beeke and Smalley remain premiere gentleman in their disagreement. They serve up hardly any heat even in their strongest claims about views with which they disagree. Reformed churches, and especially our officers, can learn greatly if we strive to emulate their approach to doctrine. We need not feel upturned nor rattled that someone does not share our theological outlook. As Beeke and Smalley have modeled, we should have confidence in God’s word and our Reformed heritage when we stand on traditional views, supported with exegesis and history, without feeling the need to attack or even be defensive.
Another great strength is the breadth of reading. Sometimes Beeke and Smalley incorporate a nearly tedious amount of quotes to demonstrate a point. The rapid-fire nature of multiple quotes just to prove the historical precedent for a specific distinction or category can seem superfluous. Admittedly, it probably reads more effectively if a reader is consulting one chapter at a time for reference than if powering straight through like must be done for a review. Still, the use of historical material could have been more evenly stronger throughout if Beeke and Smalley had reflected more at length on the historical quotes rather than just dropping them and moving along. Nonetheless, the evidence that they have amassed from every period of church history is surely impressive. Further, the instant access they provide to many of these quotes will save pastors and teachers loads of time in looking for historical support while preparing lessons and sermons. The depth to which Beeke and Smalley provide an historically informed yet up-to-date statement of theology is truly impressive.
Finally, the layout of this project makes it a must have for every pastor’s or church’s library. No systematic theology can do everything we need for every doctrine. Beeke and Smalley have done most of it for most doctrines, though. Their chapters are thorough but accessibly even in length. Each chapter also focuses on a specific aspect of doctrine, which leaves this whole set very clearly and helpfully organized. If you are looking for a resource that will help you tackle lots of theology one bit at a time or wanting something that will be almost everything you need to prepare a Sunday school lesson even at the last minute, then Beeke and Smalley’s Reformed Systematic Theology is exactly what you want to have on hand.
