In 1968 Sam Dawson noticed in his study of Matthew 24-25 that most authors jumped around all over the place and switched back and forth between viewing the chapters as teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem and a final destruction of the planet. He realized that wasn’t consistent with the way that language was used in the Old Testament. He began to see that our generalized ignorance of the Old Testament obstructed our correct understanding of the passages.
This began a nearly 40-year focus on New Testament doctrines rooted in the Old Testament. Next came his studies on II Peter 3, Jesus’ teaching on hell, and the uniform teaching of Moses, Jesus and Paul on marriage, divorce and remarriage. Now he is studying seriously realized eschatalogy.
To aid his own study and recognize consistencies, Sam took advantage of his background of indexing technical works at Microsoft and began creating scripture and topic indexes of Don K. Preston’s six larger books on covenant eschatology:
- Then Shall the End Come (1996)
- Last Days Identified (2004)
- The Elements Shall melt with Fervent Heat: A Study of II Peter 3 (2006)
- Who Is This Babylon? (2006)
- Like Father, Like Son, On Clouds of Glory (2006)
- Seventy Weeks Are Determined…for the Resurrection (2007)
This Third Edition also contains index entries for J. Stuart Russell’s classic The Parousia, 1878, Samuel M. Frost’s Misplaced Hope, and Ed Stevens’ Expectations Demand a First Century Rapture, for a total of 2400 pp.
All these books, plus others, are available at eschatology.org.
One of the most effective means of Preston’s argumentation is his drawing the same items from parallel passages of scripture. Thus, one of the most important entries in the Topic Index is the term “parallels,” which lists most of his parallels. If you haven’t read Preston’s books, look over the scripture and topic indexes and see the vital subjects covered.
An additional practical use of the Scripture Index is to gain access to a variety of authors on a particular passage. If the reader is teaching a book of the Bible, he can also refer to the Scripture Index to see comments from various authors on verses in that book. The Topic Index is also a resource for researching the views of a variety of authors, including futurists.
Sam greatly appreciates these men’s study and work and has compiled this comprehensive index to make their work more accessible to their readers. As future volumes are published, Sam hopes to add those to these indexes. Plus, volumes from other authors on this subject may be added.
He expects to update the index about twice a year. If you would like to be notified of these updates, please e-mail Gospel Themes Press at a-samd@sbcglobal.net using cipret as the subject and we’ll put you on our notification list.
These comprehensive indexes will aid your examination of covenant eschatology.
Obtain these Comprehensive Indexes of Don’s books here