Publisher's Description: "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language . . ." (Revelation 7:9).

The visions in the book of Revelation give a glimpse of the people of God at the consummation of history--a multiethnic congregation gathered together in worship around God's throne. Its racial diversity is expressed in a fourfold formula that first appears in Genesis 10.

The theme of race runs throughout Scripture, constantly pointing to the global and multiethnic dimensions inherent in the overarching plan of God. In response to the neglect of this theme in much evangelical biblical scholarship, J. Daniel Hays offers a thorough exegetical study. As well as focusing on texts which have a general bearing on race, Hays demonstrates that black Africans from Cush (Ethiopia) play an important role in both Old and New Testament history.

This careful, nuanced analysis provides a clear theological foundation for life in contemporary multiracial cultures and challenges churches to pursue racial unity in Christ.

240 Pages
Published July 2003

About the Author: J. Daniel Hays (Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is chair of the department of biblical studies and theology at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He and his family have worked previously as missionaries in Ethiopia. He is also a coauthor of Grasping God's Word (Zondervan).

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About This Series: New Studies in Biblical Theology is a series of monographs that address key issues in the discipline of biblical theology. Contributions to the series focus on one or more of three areas: (1) the nature and status of biblical theology, including its relations with other disciplines (e.g. historical theology, exegesis, systematic theology, historical criticism, narrative theology); (2) the articulation and exposition of the structure of thought of a particular biblical writer or corpus; and (3) the delineation of a biblical theme across all or part of the biblical corpora.

Above all, these monographs are creative attempts to help thinking Christians understand their Bibles better. The series aims simultaneously to instruct and to edify, to interact with the current literature, and to point the way ahead. In God’s universe, mind and heart should not be divorced: in this series we will try not to separate what God has joined together. While the notes interact with the best of scholarly literature, the text is uncluttered with untransliterated Greek and Hebrew, and tries to avoid too much technical jargon. The volumes are written within the framework of confessional evangelicalism, but there is always an attempt at thoughtful engagement with the sweep of the relevant literature.