That particular type of learning technique does not particularly work for me but may appeal to others. Another drawback, at least for me, it is the repetitive use of "Hankisms," pithy cliches that Hank is well-known for repeating on his show, The Bible Answer Man. In particular, the phrase "subjective flights of fancy" was used over a dozen times in this relatively short book. In that regard, the whole book appears to me to have been rushed in the editorial process. There are formatting errors that are obvious even in a short read, and a lot of repetition that could have been edited for a much more polished work. The last potential criticism that I have is Hank's use of the phrase "Exegetical Eschatology." That can appear to be a vapid ploy to make one's opposition wrong by definition. Evangelical futurists also sincerely believe that their eschatology is exegetical, no matter how mistaken they are. Many believe it is not a forthright move on Hank's part to not openly declare his view to be what it is: preterism. After reading the book having that own impression in my own mind, I have backed away from that opinion as reading too much into a catch-phrase. Hank does in the endnotes identify himself as an orthodox preterist, and kudoes to him for shunning the "partial preterism" label in that comment.

The main strength of this book lies in the way it attempts to teach a methodology behind the interpretation and interacts with specific points made by futurists, primarily Tim LaHaye as the most popular dispensational futurist today. Hank pulls no punches in his criticisms and demonstrates that eschatology does affect life and theology. In one specific example, Hank discusses what he believes (and I agree) to be a certain sort of un-Biblical racism that undergirds dispensationalism in its elevation of being ethnically Jewish when the New Testament teaches no such thing. He continues with pointing out how foreign-policy and American attitudes towards different people groups in the middle east are greatly shaped by the predominance of dispensationalism in America. He gave information about Arab Christians that I had personally never heard before, and I know that at least within my own theological circles, which are primarily dispensational, the heart is much more with non-believing ethnic Jews rather than our own brethren of Palestinian descent. Do good to all, but especially to those who are of the household of faith.

By far, the best chapter in my opinion was the one entitled "Grammatical Principle." Hank very cleverly opens with the following quotes:

We believe "this generation" refers to those alive in 1948. (Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins)

I have not had sex with her as I defined it. (William Jefferson Clinton)

He uses those quotes and others from LaHaye and Clinton to demonstrate what he calls the grammatical "baloney detector." And he is very effective. He closes with the following statement: "To interpret Scripture Clintonian style is to turn Scripture into a wax nose capable of being twisted anyway the interpreter likes. When Jesus said "this generation," he did not mean that; when he used the pronoun you, his hearers knew precisely who he was talking about; and when he said "soon," his servants did not suppose he was referencing a time twenty-one centuries future in which two-thirds of the Jews in Palestine would perish for the sentence up there for fathers." (Page 94)

All in all an excellent introduction to preterism and a good book to recommend to your futurist friends. The extensive endnotes will prove useful for the more reader seeking to delve more into the issue.