Reckoning With Apocalypse is in the tradition of all good poetry and prose. It can be read on several different levels. On a very basic level, the work is a study guide to the New Testament book of Revelation. It is a commentary that requires the concentration and time of the reader, but a very worthwhile investment it is.
From another perspective, Reckoning With Apocalypse is an evangelical invitation to church folk to return to God. Author Dale Aukerman is a modern-day John the Baptist warning us to "Watch!" for the time is certainly approaching when God will fulfill the plan of redemption.
And yet again, the book flows from Aukerman's pen as a critique of both fundamentalist and liberal theologies. The fundamentalists are confronted with the hypocrisy of speaking the God-words and yet placing their faith in the bomb or the structures of traditional power. Liberals are faulted for vainly placing hope in humanity when, in reality, God is the one who has acted in history to move the universe toward a fulfilling consummation.
I was intrigued to read the book in one additional way, though there may be others. Near the end of the book, Aukerman becomes a teacher. It is as though he were sitting down with a young person to explain through logic and faith why the flow of history only has possibility in light of God's intervention.
The text mirrors the despair of our world, but the theme of the book is hope -- hope in the One who has offered us a way out of our dilemma. This perspective on hope is essential for those living and working together for peace and justice.
"DISCIPLES DO NOT LACK access to the central wielding of power. They can have the ear of the sovereign Lord," Aukerman argues. Only in light of the inbreaking order of God's reign is contemplation of involvement for justice and peace more than foolhardy posturing.
In a chapter titled "The Politics of the Hilltop City," Aukerman takes discussion of contrary allegiance to another height. He says, "What is being described here is the hilltop city as countersign....In the politics of the hilltop city, a transformation is already under way, and the status quo is confronted by total challenge and threat of overturn. It was in this manner that Jesus on earth and the apostolic church bore witness."
As Aukerman writes of apocalypse, he outlines two basic choices facing the globe. One can place hope in the structures of political power with their dazzling display of magic and madness. But this option leads to its own judgment, as it greets its destiny in death. The other choice is to follow the Jesus of the Cross. There lies the possibility of miracle and intervention.
Only the rising of Jesus of Nazareth has more power and momentum than the sway of death that is tightening so perceptibly around our planet. God who remained graciously sovereign when the corpse of the incarnate Son was entombed would be equally omnipotent even in the aftermath of the ultimate war or other terminal madness and near the full revealing of his power. "The Lord is risen indeed!" Death's dominion is at an end. The fullness of God's Rule is breaking in. What God has begun on earth he will complete.
It is this hope that fuels the Christian church. This is a resurrection book!
As you read I urge you to jot down key ideas on separate sheets and underline and comment in your book. When you are finished reading, go back over your notes, comments, and underlines. It will be a helpful part of the process of comprehending and incorporating this book for your living.
Cliff Kindy was a truck gardener in North Manchester, Indiana when this review appeared.
Reckoning With Apocalypse: Terminal Politics and Christian Hope. By Dale Aukerman. Crossroad Publishing Co., 1993. $24.95 (cloth).
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