Invasion of the Dead

Brian K. Blount, Invasion of the Dead: Preaching Resurrection , (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press), 2014.

Blount - Invasion of the Dead
It is a bit of a "catchy" title, playing on the death-obsession of much of popular culture, and the book takes a bit of a popularized view of its subject matter. Still there are a few challenging ideas that should be challenging especially to some of the evangelical preachers who have received plenty of media attention. Looking closely at the Gospel of Mark and the Book of Revelation, Blount explores the deepest mystery and powerful claim of the Christian church: Death is not the end - Jesus' death is not the final word on the meaning, the power, and the depth of God's love.

Offering resurrection theology as an alternative theology to apocalypticism, Blount concludes his book with three sermons to illustrate how this might be preached in contemporary churches. These aren't sermons that would work for me or for the congregation I serve, but they are interesting nonetheless.

This isn't the ground-breaking work that its cover notes claim, nor is it a book that will invite me to read again and again, but it is a reasonable conversation starter and a volume that might offer an alternative way of thinking to those who haven't spent much time studying the apocalyptic moments in the history of Judaism and Christianity.

If you want to read it, I've got a used copy I'd be glad to share.