Author and encyclopedist Calaway has assembled a vast array of knowledge regarding Christian teaching in general and, in special focus, the Holy Bible. The result is an impressive combination of essays, terminologies, names, places, and remarkable references.

From the outset, it is clear that Calaway has made a diligent, seemingly word-by-word study of holy scripture, indicating his wish to understand it as thoroughly as possible and then to pass his findings along to others. In the initial chapters, he presents copious lists of such subject matter as “The Apocalyptic Symbolism of Numbers, Gems, Shapes and Dimensions, and Colors,” along with appropriately listed biblical lengths, weights, measures both dry and liquid, money, times of day, holidays and much more. Dates throughout the year of feast and communion days associated with saints provide yet more data. “Civic Holidays and Observances in the USA” are also included. An alphabetical listing of “False Sectarian Leaders and Activists” such as Elijah Mohammed and Jerry Falwell is given.

An intensive study of the prophecies of notables such as Daniel and a lengthy exploration of the Book of Revelation comprise the greater part of the essay and historical material, as Calaway delves into the finer points regarding the work’s major themes: prophecy about the end times and what the apocalypse will be like, based on the biblical record. The author’s theses, often radical but well considered, include the idea of multiple resurrections, including that of the saints that took place at the moment of Jesus’ death and are described in the book of Matthew, the resurrection of Jesus himself, and the rapture, or raising of all believers, in a time to come.

Based on his extensive reading of both the Holy Bible and hundreds of scholarly and popular theories and discourses, Calaway carefully sets forth for his readers the possibility of paradox and resulting confusion in the examination of eschatology (the theology of the end times), which his writing intends to clarify. He scrupulously parses all the terms presented since there is, he acknowledges, contradictory information from various biblical and related sources. He clarifies that examining it from a rational but always religious perspective is important.

Calaway has an educational and professional background in religious studies and counseling. In the United States Navy, he served as a chaplain for twenty-eight years until his retirement in 1995. Since then, he has continued preaching and teaching Sunday school. He has taken advantage of this time to create this and other concentrated collections treating similar subject matter.

The author's sense of humor mildly accompanies much of his prose, as when he opines to readers in his foreword that “the encyclopedia you plunked down good money for is unique.” Even as he sets forth such obscure concepts as “dispensational and premillennial theology” or “the seventy-weeks vision” of the prophet Daniel, he does so in a style that is both erudite and conversational, challenging other scholars while inviting in new readers less acquainted, perhaps, with the terms and theories embedded in his text. Calaway’s vast accumulation of facts, figures, and fine points regarding Christian theology is given to help others, providing the possibility of lively group discussion and private, sincere searches for wider understanding.

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