This collection of essays argues that Paul's articulation of Christ and his saving work makes use of the categories and perspectives of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. Such eschatology is concerned with the expectation that God will finally and irrevocably put an end to the present order of reality ("this age") and replace it with a new, transformed order of reality ("the age to come"). In Paul's view, God has initiated this eschatological act of cosmic rectification in the person and work of Christ.
The essays included, two of them previously unpublished, investigate and illuminate various aspects of Paul's christologically focused appropriation of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, particularly in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. The collection begins with the author's seminal essay on the two tracks of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology (forensic and cosmological) from 1989 and ends with an essay from 2016 containing the author's retrospective restatement and elaboration of his views.
Martinus C. de Boer held the chair of New Testament Studies at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. He also taught at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and at the University of Manchester in England. He is the author of The Defeat of Death: Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 (1988) and Galatians: A Commentary (2011).
“No contemporary scholar has contributed more to the resurgence of interest in Paul’s apocalyptic theology than Martinus de Boer. This fine collection of studies, both new and previously published, amply displays his robust engagement with both Paul and Paul’s interpreters. Must reading for students of Paul.”
—Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Baylor University
“This rich collection of de Boer’s essays on Paul is at once a delight and an education. From his early dissertation, The Defeat of Death, to his recent Galatians commentary, Martinus de Boer has advanced a provocative and compelling reading of Paul as the apostle of God’s apocalypse, for whom Christ is the very axis of the redemptive turning of the ages. Here, closely argued exegesis and programmatic argument conspire to set out the stall for the ‘apocalyptic Paul.’”
—Philip G. Ziegler, University of Aberdeen
“In these closely-reasoned and eloquent essays, Martinus de Boer describes Paul as a theologian of the apocalypse. Not an apocalypse of disaster—the disaster, for Paul, has already occurred in Christ’s death—but an apocalypse, an unveiling, of the hope that that death has unleashed into the world. In these dark times, that is a message worth hearing.”
—Joel Marcus, Duke Divinity School
“Martin de Boer has spent the better part of his career championing the ‘apocalyptic perspective’ on Paul’s gospel—a compelling brand of Pauline interpretation that was advocated fiercely in generations past, yet has only recently catapulted into the limelight thanks in no small measure to Martin’s bold scholarship. This volume, which makes available in one place Martin’s most outstanding essays, will prove to be a wellspring of theological insight that should be read carefully by all students of Paul’s letters.”
—John K. Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute
“This is a magnificent collection of essays, characterized by clarity, precision, acumen, and careful attention to the text of Paul’s letters. Here is exegesis at its best, bringing forth Paul’s vision of God’s apocalypse in all its richness, complexity, and power.”
—Susan Eastman, Duke Divinity School
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