- I come here from an attempt to use ChatGPT to answer this prompt:
- Is there a 20th or 21st century author (or more) who focus on a eschatological taxonomy (if I can call it that) of New Testament verses? [For those who are unfamiliar with the “beast”, ChatGPT can ask a plethora of questions that can make you regret having asked it for information.]
- Here is Chat’s response to my prompt:
- Yes—but it’s usually done indirectly: not as a standalone “taxonomy of verses” book, but as New Testament theology / biblical theology / Jesus-and-early-Christianity works that (a) lay out an eschatological framework (categories like kingdom “already/not yet,” resurrection/judgment, parousia, new creation, etc.) and (b) marshal texts systematically (often with Scripture indices).
Here are some of the best 20th–21st c. options, depending on what you mean by “taxonomy.”
Closest to what you’re asking for
George Eldon Ladd — The Presence of the Future (1974; revised eds.)
Classic articulation of inaugurated eschatology (“fulfillment within history” + “consummation at the end”), built by running repeatedly through the key NT eschatology texts. (Eerdmans Publishing Co)
If you want a two-tier taxonomy (“already / not yet”) that can be used to sort verses, Ladd is the standard starting point. (Eerdmans Publishing Co)
G. K. Beale — A New Testament Biblical Theology (2011)
Beale explicitly frames NT theology as facets of the inauguration of the latter-day new creation and kingdom, and he does it by tracing texts across the canon in a structured way. (Reformation Heritage Books)
This is very usable for building a verse taxonomy because the argument repeatedly groups passages under specific eschatological themes.
Benjamin L. Gladd & Matthew S. Harmon — Making All Things New: Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of the Church (2016)
A more compact, explicitly category-driven “inaugurated eschatology” treatment; designed pedagogically, so it tends to sort and illustrate themes with texts. (Biblia)
If your taxonomy is “Jesus first, then the church”
N. T. Wright — Jesus and the Victory of God (1996) (and related works)
Wright’s framework (kingdom, exile/return, judgment on Jerusalem, vindication, etc.) amounts to a large-scale eschatological classification of Jesus-tradition material, though not presented as a tidy verse-list taxonomy. (Evangelical Theological Society)
Very helpful if your “taxonomy” needs to distinguish (for example) Israel-focused imminent judgment from final resurrection/new creation themes.
If you want taxonomy within apocalyptic literature specifically
Craig R. Koester — Revelation and the End of All Things (2001; later eds.)
Not a whole-NT taxonomy, but it’s a strong model of thematic sorting of eschatological motifs (judgment, worship, evil’s defeat, new creation) while walking through Revelation’s textual units. (Amazon)
Bottom line
- If you want a workable verse-sorting scheme for a strict/broad list like you requested: start with Ladd (framework) + Beale (canon-wide text deployment), and optionally Gladd/Harmon for a cleaner instructional version. (Eerdmans Publishing Co)
- If you want a taxonomy that keeps Jesus’ eschatology and early Christian eschatology analytically distinct, add Wright. (Evangelical Theological Society)
If you tell me which taxonomy you want to use (e.g., Kingdom already/not yet; Parousia; Resurrection; Judgment; Interim state; New creation; Israel/Jerusalem crisis), I can recommend the single best author to anchor each category—and make the categories mutually exclusive enough to actually classify verses without constant overlap.
- Does anyone want to get involved, first by helping me figure out what it is that I want?
