Eschatology Cosmic Conflict And Suffering In 1 Peter

Part of the biblical theology of Satan and the demonic realm includes a depiction of cosmic conflict, wherein earthly events and conflicts are portrayed as a reflection of heavenly ones, and vice versa. While this portrayal has been explored from various angles, it has not been applied to an examination of the letter of 1 Peter. This dissertation argues that the depiction of cosmic conflict does inform Peter's paraenesis and depiction of suffering to a significant degree. Chapter 1 contains a survey of revelant research and presents the thesis: that the portrayal of cosmic conflict informs Peter's dipiction of suffering in that Peter pictures the current persecution of the readers as a necessary and inevitable part of the cosmic struggle against Satan and the demonic realm. Chapter 2 presents an examination of the paraenesis of 1 Peter, arguing that the letter reflects the paradigm of conflict, whereby the author seeks to subvert the perceived social values and structures. This chapter shows how cosmic conflict reflects this paradigm, as the world is depicted as an arena for opposing cosmic and human forces. Chapters 3 through 5 contain a detailed survey of biblical and Second Temple Jewish literature as it portrays the figures of Satan and the demonic realm, as well as the conflict that exists between Yahweh and the forces of darkness. These chapters also make note of the connections drawn by the biblical authors between the earthly and heavenly realms. Chapter 6 contains an examination of the suffering and persecution envisaged in 1 Peter, and argues for a portrayal of suggering that includes verbal, social, economic and legal components. This chapter also emphasizes how early Christian writers could speak of their struggles as having imperial and cosmic dimensions. Chapter 7 offers a succinct reading of 1 Peter as a whole, with particular attention to how the depiction of cosmic conflict detailed thus far influences Peter's teaching and exhortation throughout the epistle. Chapter 8 contains a conclusion of major arguments and suggests possible implications for broader study of the New Testament and application to the church at large today.

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.

In Persecution in 1 Peter, Travis B. Williams offers a comprehensive and detailed socio-historical investigation into the nature of persecution in 1 Peter, situating the epistle against the backdrop of conflict management in first-century CE Asia Minor.

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.