Paul And The Apocalyptic Imagination

Since the mid-twentieth century, apocalyptic thought has been championed as a central category for understanding the New Testament writings and the letters of Paul above all. But “apocalyptic” has meant different things to different scholars. Even the assertion of an “apocalyptic Paul” has been contested: does it mean the invasive power of God that breaks with the present age (Ernst Käsemann), or the broader scope of revealed heavenly mysteries, including the working out of a “many-staged plan of salvation” (N. T. Wright), or something else altogether? Paul and the Apocalyptic Imagination brings together eminent Pauline scholars from diverse perspectives, along with experts of Second Temple Judaism, Hellenistic philosophy, patristics, and modern theology, to explore the contours of the current debate. Contributors discuss the history of what apocalypticism, and an “apocalyptic Paul,” have meant at different times and for different interpreters; examine different aspects of Paul’s thought and practice to test the usefulness of the category; and show how different implicit understandings of apocalypticism shape different contemporary presentations of Paul’s significance.

In Apocalyptic Thinking leading experts critically engage with John Collins’ seminal study The Apocalyptic Imagination and advance the debate on ancient Jewish apocalyptic with articles on current topics with a special focus on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Apocalyptic Imagination by John Collins is one of the most widely praised studies of Jewish apocalyptic literature ever written. This second edition represents a complete rewriting and a new chapter on the Dead Sea Scrolls.h

Nature plays an important and often neglected role in Jewish apocalypses. Most Second Temple Jewish apocalypses (ca. 200 BC - AD 100) do not oppose the material world, but view nature as damaged by human and angelic sin. Rather than expecting God to destroy the world, many look forward to God's dramatic eschatological deliverance of nature from corruption. Although Romans 8:19-22 was not written in the genre of an apocalypse, it shares the basic apocalyptic world view. The Apostle Paul follows that stream of apocalyptic thought that looks forward to the transformation of creation by an eschatological divine act, the reversal of the damage caused by sin, and the perfection of nature to share glory with redeemed humanity. A comparison of nature in Jewish apocalypses and Romans 8:19-22 reveals important insights into the theology of early Judaism and its influence on early Christian thought.

A vibrant and growing field of discussion in contemporary New Testament studies is the question of 'apocalyptic' thought in Paul. What is often lacking in this discussion, however, is a close comparison of Paul's would-be apocalyptic theology with the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature of his time, and the worldview that literature expresses. This book addresses that challenge. Covering four key theological themes (epistemology, eschatology, cosmology and soteriology), J. P. Davies places Paul 'among the apocalypses' in order to evaluate recent attempts at outlining an 'apocalyptic' approach to his letters. While affirming much of what those approaches have argued, and agreeing that 'apocalyptic' is a crucial category for an understanding of the apostle, Davies also raises some important questions about the dichotomies which lie at the heart of the 'apocalyptic Paul' movement.

What did the ancient Jewish and Christian seers imagine when they considered the end of the world? What do ancient apocalyptic texts really tell us about the nature of good and evil? The End of the World examines the social, historical, and theological nature of ancient apocalypses'such as 1 Enoch, the Apocalypse of John, and Daniel'and compares their vision of the apocalyptic end to that found in modern film and television. How does the cinema imagine the end? What do these films tell us about our view of the end of the world and the nature of good and evil? By examining films ranging from The Exorcist to Mad Max, from Bladerunner to End of Days, this book proposes that while apocalyptic films rely on these ancient apocalyptic texts, they alter them to give us a sense of our own fears and anxieties at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

The Apocalyptic Paul is rapidly becoming one of the most influential contemporary approaches to the apostle's letters, and one which has generated its share of controversy. Critiques of the movement have come from all sides: Pauline specialists, scholars of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, and systematic theologians have all raised critical questions. Meanwhile, many have found it a hard conversation to enter, not least because of the contested nature of its key terms and convictions. Non-specialists can find it difficult to sift through these arguments and to become familiar with the history of this movement, its most important contemporary voices, and its key claims. In the first part of this book, New Testament scholar Jamie Davies offers a retrospective introduction to the conversation, charting its development from the turn of the twentieth century to the present, surveying the contemporary situation. In the second part, Davies explores a more prospective account of the challenges and questions that are likely to energize discussion in the future, before offering some contributions to the apocalyptic reading of Paul through an interdisciplinary conversation between the fields of New Testament scholarship, Second Temple Jewish apocalypticism, and Christian systematic theology.

One of the most widely praised studies of Jewish apocalyptic literature ever written, The Apocalyptic Imagination by John J. Collins has served for over thirty years as a helpful, relevant, comprehensive survey of the apocalyptic literary genre. After an initial overview of things apocalyptic, Collins proceeds to deal with individual apocalyptic texts — the early Enoch literature, the book of Daniel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and others — concluding with an examination of apocalypticism in early Christianity. Collins has updated this third edition throughout to account for the recent profusion of studies germane to ancient Jewish apocalypticism, and he has also substantially revised and updated the bibliography.