Remarkable studies in the New Testament have recovered the fact that the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, was apocalyptic good news--God's redemptive action within history. Today, for more and more people, the sheer scope of an evolutionary universe renders life on Earth as utterly insignificant, religion as nothing more than superstition. And now, in the Anthropocene, we on the pale blue dot live in an apocalyptic age in which cataclysmic issue after cataclysmic issue threaten the future of the planet. The faith of the early church was in an apocalyptic cosmic Christ unleashing within history God's good news of a new creation. Set within the world as we now know it, this gives meaning to the cosmos and life wherever it is found around any star. Screened from view for over a millennium during mission to non-apocalyptic cultures, now is the time for a new paradigm for church, the ""apocalyptic church"" for an apocalyptic age to replace the denominational church. What a difference this makes to faith, worship, and the role of the church in an apocalyptic future. ""It's time Dean Drayton argues that it is time to recognize that the Christian faith must express itself through a recovery of an apocalyptic gospel. It is time to come to terms with our place in an ever-expanding universe and the threats posed by the Anthropocene. It is no longer sufficient to fall back on understandings of an Enlightenment-derived self and a denominational Christ."" --Clive Pearson, United Theological College ""Dean Drayton has written a monumental, extraordinary work. Dean is a geologist, a pastor, a theologian, a leader, a deep thinker, and a good friend. He has written a remarkable book that stands among the best of books. You will discover helpful, hopeful wisdom and insights, compassion and scholarship, common sense and new thought. The book will bless you, your friends and family, and the whole of humanity."" --Kennon L. Callahan, Theologian, Author, Pastor Dean Drayton is an adjunct research professor of the Public and Contextual Theology Research Unit (PaCT) of Charles Sturt University, Canberra. He is the author of Pilgrim in the Cosmos (1995) and Which Gospel? (2005). He was national president of the Uniting Church in Australia (2003-06). A geophysicist ordained in the ""Death of God"" era, he has been actively involved as a minister of the Uniting Church in the practice and teaching of mission and evangelism.
