Eschatology Cosmic Conflict And Suffering In 1 Peter

A fresh insight into how Zechariah, through its influence on 1 Peter, shaped the early Church's understanding of Christian discipleship.

This book explores 1 Peter against the backdrop of apocalyptic thought within early Judaism and Christianity, especially the concept of messianic woes (an expectation that a period of suffering and tribulation would preface the coming of the Messiah). It focuses upon 1 Peter's most eschatologically charged passage, 4:12-19, and argues that the messianic woes pattern shapes both this pericope as well as the book as a whole.

The second volume in Travis B. Williams' and David G. Horrell's magisterial ICC commentary on first Peter. Williams and Horrell bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological - to help the reader understand the letter. This second covers the major part of the letter, providing commentary on 2.11 to the end of the letter. The exegesis provides for each passage sections on bibliography, text-criticism, literary introduction, detailed exegesis, and overall summary. The volume concludes with a comprehensive bibliography, which covers the whole epistle.

This collection of essays examine two pressing issues in theology - . One is theodicy, that is a blief that in a just God in the face of evil and suffering in our world. The other is the issue of Eschatology, a belief in the fulfilment of Jesus'; saving mission, experienced as God's healing of humanity afflicted by suffering and evil.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

Several view of martyrdom co-existed in the early Church. The 'orthodox' position, generally accepted by scholars, was that a Christian should choose martyrdom rather than deny the Faith, but should not, on any account, court death. Although it has been recognised that some in the early Church did seek a glorified death, by giving themselves over to arrest, most scholars have dismissed such acts as differing from 'the accepted attitude to martyrdom' in the early Church. Therefore, instances of volitional, or radical martyrdom, have been largely overlooked or sidelined in scholarly investigations into the theology and origins of Christian martyrdom. Paul Middleton argues that, far from being a deviant strand of early Christianity, 'radical martyrdom' was a significant, and widely held idealised form of devotion in the late first to early third centuries. Christian martyrdom is placed within the heritage of Jewish War tradition, with each martyr making an important contribution to the cosmic conflict between Satan and God. Radical Martyrdom re-examines the presentation, theology, and origins of Christian martyrdom up to the beginning of the Decian persecutions in the light of new perspectives on the subject.

Eschatology is the study of the end of life, the end of time, and the Final Coming of Christ. In Eschatology, Christian Theology focuses primarily on the "Four Last Things" that comprise its study. They are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. In addition to these areas, Mr. Plese explores as part of the five-part series on these topics, Purgatory, the place of temporary purification after death for souls that die in the state of grace (i.e. are destined for Heaven) but are not yet perfect and able to enter Heaven.

Deliverance Now and Not Yet follows Albert Schweitzer's view of mystically dying with Christ and Merkabah mysticism at Qumran to propose that the New Testament pictures Christ's atonement with mystical implications. These pictures set up three forms of New Testament eschatology: consistent, inaugurated, and realized. With regard to the relationship of the Church and the Great Tribulation: (1) Paul and John present deliverance now (realized eschatology), and (2) the rest of the New Testament presents deliverance not yet in two categories - (2a) Mark, James, Peter, and Jude present deliverance not yet (consistent), and (2b) Matthew, Luke - Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation portray deliverance as now and not yet (inaugurated eschatology). Taken together, the Christian's experience of the Messianic woes and mystical expression of the Kingdom prompts us to long deeply for the climactic expression of the Kingdom of God.