The Writers of Wales Database

CROMPTON, ROBERT

13 Clos Alyn, Pontprennau, Cardiff, CF23 8LB
Tel: 02920540071
Email: robcrom@googlemail.com
Website: http://snigsfoot.blogspot.com

Robert was born in Lancashire and holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge, Lancaster and Durham. He has worked in the chemical and automotive industries and in local government. Since 1987 he has been a Methodist minister which brought him to South Wales – first Swansea and now Cardiff. Robert’s first book, Counting the Days to Armageddon (James Clarke & Co, 1996), is an academic study of a fringe religious movement which he followed up with various articles and lectures. More recently, however, he has been concentrating upon fiction and his debut novel, Bunderlin, was published in the autumn of 2010 by Solidus. He is now working on a second novel. Robert is a Member of The Welsh Academy

Selected Publications:
Counting the Days to Armageddon (James Clarke & Co, 1996)
Bunderlin (Solidus, 2010)

Counting the Days to Armageddon (James Clarke & Co, 1996)

Counting the Days to Armageddon is work is of vital importance for all concerned with the Jehovah's Witness movement. It provides a thorough examination of their eschatological development, treating Watch Tower theology objectively but sympathetically. Crompton also speculates about the future direction of Jehovah's Witness teaching. The book begins with a brief consideration of the biblical foundations of doctrines of the last days, particularly the books of Daniel and Revelation. There follows an outline summary of some of the main aspects of the history of this doctrine within the Protestant mainstream during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and an outline of the Adventist teaching of William Miller (1782-1849) in the U.S.A. During the time following the failure of Miller's expectations of the end of the world, his ideas were developed by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), prime mover of the Watch Tower movement.

Counting the Days to Armageddon explores the way in which Russell amended Miller's ideas, and also the distinctive way in which he handled the Dispensational categorisation of history of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) to create an extension of historicist speculation on the application of prophecy to the modern world. The response of the Watch Tower movement to the failure of Russell's expectations in 1914 is explored, and the new body of doctrine which has replaced Russell's is examined. The ways in which these doctrines have been modified in the past suggest ways in which future doctrine may develop, especially in response to the protracted delay of Armageddon. What is envisaged, in the light of the history of Watch Tower doctrine, is no dramatic collapse of the movement but rather an increasing emphasis upon other, less vulnerable areas of doctrine together with a greater turnover of membership which may, in due course, undermine the movement's stability.

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Bunderlin (Solidus, 2010)

The story of a simple man, living his life by his own rules and the havoc that he plays in the lives of other people, who cannot seem to disentangle themselves from him. Bunderlin may be a criminal, a murderer even, but Martin isn't sure, and anyway he likes the strange, big, bumbling man - way that he plays with language and his distinct preference for animals over humans. As Martin is drawn further into Bunderlin's life, he finds himself inhabiting an underworld that he had previously only read about in books, and slowly realises he may even be in personal danger. A delightful read, particularly for anyone with a love of the English language.

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