In The coming of the Son of Man, Andrew Perriman argues for a non-traditional view of New Testament eschatology, namely that it has already taken place, and attempts to show the significance of this eschatology for the emerging church. In the introduction, he highlights the importance of understanding apocalyptic language, of seeing the biblical text as narrative and story, and also of the place of believers within that narrative. A key feature of Perriman’s entire argument is found in his definition of ‘eschatology’, which he says, ‘deals essentially and quite simply with the believing community’s expectation that God will intervene decisively in the course of history to bring something to an end and start something new’ (2). What Perriman does not make entirely clear here is that he has defined ‘eschatology’ differently from the traditional understanding. He defines it as the end of ‘something’ and not the end of the world (cf. 223, 225, 237).

Throughout the rest of the book, Perriman argues that the New Testament eschatological passages do not have anything to do with the end of the world, but rather with the end of one era and the beginning of the next. He contends that the coming of the Son of Man was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and is equivalent to the suffering and vindication of the Jesus’ followers. The coming of the Son of Man was literally seen in ‘the destruction of the temple, the rejection of national Israel as God’s chosen servant, the steady expansion of the gospel into the pagan world, and the eventual collapse of Roman imperialism’ (55). For Perriman, the gathering of the elect is not a literal gathering at the Son of Man’s coming but the reversal of judgement and the establishment of the people of God (75).

With regard to Paul’s eschatology, Perriman understands it as already fulfilled. The revealing of the ‘wrath of God’ (Rom. 1:18) will end in Rome’s destruction (123). The parousia of the Lord is not a literal return but the coming of Christ into people’s lives (163). Likewise, the dead being caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:16–17) is a metaphor for the deliverance of the righteous (164–65). Similar arguments are made in relation to the eschatology of Revelation. Perriman states in his conclusion: ‘The New Testament is for the most part not interested in a final judgment in any absolute sense (237).

Considering the amount of effort Perriman spends in order to reach this conclusion that New Testament eschatology has already occurred, he gives little space to the implications of this eschatology for the emerging church (236–37), and the implications he does give are not exactly ground-breaking. He concludes that ‘the apocalyptic story of the Son of Man’ must be ‘taken into account, celebrated, retold’, ‘personal salvation’ should be understood in terms of the eschatological narrative and apart from individualism, spiritual life should be ‘earthy’ and imaginatively engage the world, believers are inheritors of Abraham’s promise, and mission is still important (236–37). These implications appear to arise less from Perriman’s exegesis and more from his method of seeing the text as narrative and believers within that narrative (cf. 13–15).

On the whole, Perriman’s view that believers now live in the ‘aftermath of the eschatological crisis’ (236) is not entirely convincing, and, considering the book’s subtitle, more space could have been given to the significance of this reading of New Testament eschatology for believers today, whether they are part of the emerging church or not.

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