Paul’s Apocalyptic Gospel: The Coming Triumph of God

by J. Christiaan Beker

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 1982

Overview

In this bold sequel to Paul the Apostle, celebrated New Testament scholar J. Christiaan Beker reclaimed the apocalyptic center of Paul’s proclamation for the life of the contemporary church.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“Jewish apocalyptic is a literary phenomenon that arose in Judaism in the second century b. c. The period within which Jewish apocalyptic flourished was a period of martyrdom for the Jewish people. The central question that occupies the apocalypticist is how to overcome the discrepancy between what is and what should be. Why is faithfulness to the God of the Law rewarded by persecution and suffering? Questions like this come to expression in a literature that uses a variety of literary forms: dreams, visions, surveys of world events, descriptions of coming woes and of a final redemption.” (Page 30)

“I propose that Paul’s apocalyptic not only provides the content of the gospel but also stipulates the mode of its preaching. This means that the mode of its preaching is dictated by a cruciform life in accordance with God’s redemptive act in the death and resurrection of Christ.” (Page 15)

“(2) Moreover, the death and resurrection of Christ mark the incursion of the future new age into the present old age.” (Page 40)

“These four motifs are vindication, universalism, dualism, and imminence” (Page 15)

“Paul’s interpretation of the gospel is an interpretation in the mode of hope because he believes in the God of Israel whose self-vindication and faithfulness to his promises have been inaugurated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and will shortly be fully actualized in his creation.” (Page 34)

Praise for the Print Edition

J. Christiaan Beker faces a major question: can the genuine power of Paul’s truly responsible apocalyptic be recovered in our time—so that we are actually addressed by the gospel of God’s coming cosmic triumph—without falling victim to readily available forms of sheer speculation, paranoid polarization, and romantic futurism? Beker responds to this question with uncommon honesty and insight as he shows that the passion for God’s coming triumph can serve—and in fact does serve—as the generating source of our compassion for our needy world.

—J. Louis Martyn, Edward Robinson Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary

The great Christian word hope has fallen on hard times: existential theologians have redefined it as openness to a vague future; Apocalyptic sensationalists have reduced it to a time table of escapism. In his study of Paul’s Apocalyptic Gospel, Beker has recaptured the meaning of hope. To a church fettered to her past or consumed by her present, no perspective is more helpful than Beker’s conclusion that the Gospel embraces the future and that the future’s clearest feature is the victory of God. Preaching will come to life and Bible study take on new vigor for all who walk through Paul’s letters with Beker as a guide.

—David Allan Hubbard, former president, Fuller Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Paul’s Apocalyptic Gospel: The Coming Triumph of God
• Author: J. Christiaan Beker
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 1982
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 127
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Eschatology › Biblical teaching; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Theology; Apocalyptic literature › History and criticism
• Resource ID: LLS:PLSPCLYPTCGSPLC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T05:06:55Z

About J. Christiaan Beker

J. Christiaan Beker was, for 30 years, the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary; he died in 1999. Among his books are the critically acclaimed Paul the Apostle, The Triumph of God, and The New Testament: A Thematic Introduction.