Apostle of the Last Days

The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul

Pauls life, letters, and theology are unified by the theme of the overlapping of two agesthis age and the age to come. With the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the age to come (i.e., kingdom of God) broke into this present age but didnt end it. Where other important doctrines such as justification by faith, reconciliation, and the cross of Christ were key players in Pauls theology, Marvin Pate compellingly demonstrates that the overarching theme driving the Pauline corpus was indeed Pauls inaugurated eschatology. In fact, Pauls apocalyptic framework was only one of a number of other rival eschatologically focused religious perspectives of the day, such as the Imperial Cult, Hellenistic/syncretistic religion, and the merkabah Judaizers. Pauls vigorous debates with the churches he served centered on the exclusivity of the gospel of Christ that he preached: the nonnegotiable apocalypse of Jesus the Messiah. Apostle of the Last Days will be welcomed in the classroom as a one-volume treatment of Pauls life and letters as well as his theology.