Paradise Restored: A Biblical Theology of Dominion

Main points are:

- The Bible Interprets Itself. To understand a scripture, you must look to other similar scriptures.

- The New Testament was written to an audience intimately familiar with the Old Testament. Revelations in particular refers to numerous passages in the Old Testament.

- Reading the New Testament with the corresponding Old Testament passages clearly shows that:

-- Christ reigns in Heaven now!

-- Christ's Kingdom was initiated on earth at His first advent.

-- The Great Tribulation occured in the first century and culminated with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. Other tribulations will occur later, but not to the same degree.

-- Christ's Kingdom will progress through history (with ups and downs, but definite progression nonetheless). Christ's church will be victorious in history!

-- Christ will finalize His kingdom at his second advent when He resurrects believers to eternal life and unbelievers to eternal damnation.


Common Sense 101   August 28, 2001
Gary C. Cox (Henderson, Nevada United States)
36 out of 38 found this review helpful

This book is a must read for anyone genuinely interested in Eschatology and Biblical Prophecy. David Chilton does something that Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey and all the other popular christian teachers fail to do. He applies the first basic rule of Biblical interpretation to the book of Revelation and other "End Times" prophecies. That first rule is to discover what the text meant to the people it was originally written to. The poetic imagery of The Song of Songs makes no sense to 20th Century Americans, but it make perfect sense to the members of the ancient culture the book was written for. The failure to apply this first rule to the Revelation and other prophecies has resulted in massive misinterpretations of these texts. Chilton takes the reader step by step through the process of discovering exactly what the Apostle John was saying to the first century Church. David Chilton called himself a "Christian Reconstructionist", but the truth is he was just discovering what the Church has always believed since its conception. The doctrine of Dispensationalism is less than 200 years old, yet many christians don't know this. (I was one of them a few years ago!) By starting each chapter with a quote from one of the early bishops of the Church, Chilton shows us that the Church held a different view of the "End Times" and "Rapture" than is preached by numerous dispensationalists. His approach and evidence is almost impossible to reproach since his primary proof text is the Bible itself. If you ever wanted to know what the Early Church Fathers and the Church through out the centuries really believed about the "End Times", the book of Revelation and Eschatology; then you need to read this book.


A bright future   January 4, 2002
Tom (Oswego, IL USA)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

Are we going to take seriously the promises made in Scripture? Chilton does just that as he systematically and Biblically explains why paradise has been restored. If we really read our Bibles and really believe them, it's hard to understand how we can come to any other conclusion except that Christ came to pay for sin AND to bring in the kingdom.

Although Chilton was a reconstructionist, one need not subscribe to this theory to enjoy and find much fruit in this book. In fact, the book speaks very little of reconstructionism specifically. As doom-sayers continue to make claims about the end of the world being right around the corner, Chilton's defense of a bright future for the church is something we really need.


Probably the most exciting non-fiction you'll ever read   July 26, 2004
Nicholas Stehle (Little Rock, AR)
21 out of 25 found this review helpful

In Paradise Restored, author David Chilton examines the modern defeatist theology held by many evangelicals and gives us an alternative: a bright future filled with Christ-serving nations and, most importantly, a victory for Christ through the spreading of his gospel.

Chilton first examines the imagery present in Genesis and elsewhere in the Bible, especially that having to do with the Garden of Eden and the restoration to Eden through Christ in the great gift of salvation, and demonstration of God's mercy, for individuals, and for the world.

Although premillennialism was not invented until 1827, it had nonetheless taken a strong hold on Protestant Churches everywhere, especially in America. Though it has no scriptural basis and was considered to be a theology of quacks until the last hundred years or so, it became the rule, rather than the exception, during the 1970s. Then again, a lot of things happened in the 1970s! :)

Chilton does a wonderful job refuting all of this, and uses the best source of all: the Bible, to prove his case. He shows us the hope that is found for the church through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Read this book. Twice. Then, share it with your family. They'll love it too.


A book that all Christians should read   December 29, 1998
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

This is perhaps one of the greatest books ever written on the book of Revelations, this book will change your view of the Bible forever.