Apostle of the Last
Days: The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul by C. Marvin Pate
After surveying the various approaches to Pauline theology
in the past few centuries, professor and author C. Marvin Pate identifies
eschatology as the centerpiece of the Apostle’s thought. Elements of inaugurated, realized, and
consistent theology abound in the writings of the apostle, yet a marked
inaugurated eschatology is the focal point; by which Jesus the Messiah brought
with him the kingdom of God, the new age has dawned due to his life, death, and
resurrection, and the sacraments celebrate entrance into the kingdom (26). The real strength of Marvin’s book is the
consistency with which he presents an eschatologically driven picture of each
of Paul’s writings.
After a section on Paul as an apocalyptic seer, Marvin
systematically weaves his way through the Pauline corpus starting with
Galatians and ending with the Pastoral Epistles. Of particular value in Pate’s writings here
are his emphasis on the disconnection between Paul’s apocalyptic vision and the
Roman Imperial Cult’s view of things.
Pate writes, “The third eschatological component of the imperial cult
evidenced at Thessalonica was the identification of Augustus as the savior of
the new age. Two titles of deity for
Augustus were “Lord” (kyrios) and “Son
of god.” (87) Paul’s multiple references
in the 1 Thessalonians ‘would have been an affront to Caesar.’ (87) Peace and concord, goodwill and security were
all synonymous with the new order of things in the Roman Empire led by the
Emperor himself. Any kind of allegiance
to an authority that was supposedly anti-Roman would bring discord and disunity
among the people. Pate reminds his
readers that the letter to the Thessalonian were replete with religious
pluralism ranging from pagan worshippers to Roman allegiances. Therefore, Paul’s strong words would have
certainly been taken as a force of opposition to either Hellenistic/Imperial
ways (see chart on 92-93).
Interestingly enough, Pate hones in on the thesis statement
of the Book of Romans in 1:16-17 but takes a different and nuanced approach to
the text. He writes, “Most interpreters
of Romans look to Romans 1:16-17 as the theme of the letter. In our view, Paul is drawing therein on the
theme of the story of Israel. Simply put,
the story of Israel is the Old Testament plot of Israel’s repeated sins against
God, and his sending Israel away into exile because of that – to Assyria in 721
BC and then to Babylonia in 587 BC; but there was always the divine promise that
Israel will be restored to her land is she repents…Thus, the words “gospel,” “power,”
and “salvation” would have immediately called to mind Isaiah 40-66 and the good
news of God that he will restore Israel to her land.” (162) Pate does mention that the spiritual
conversion of sinners is in view here and not primarily a return to their
Jewish homeland, but he is right to put Paul’s letter in historical context for
the readers. Israel and the hope of God’s
promise is certainly in view in the Book of Romans, throughout the letter and
especially in chapters 9-11.
I really enjoyed this volume on Paul and hope to use it in
my writing for many years to come. That
said, there were a few problems that came up for me. One, in chapter two on Galatians Marvin
brings up the issues surrounding the New Perspective on Paul in a graph. We are given a simply definitions from
Sanders, Dunn, and Wright about the New Perspective in contrast to the
Traditional Perspective. There is simply
no engagement with these authors on how they read the Book of Galatians or
justification in any real in-depth sense.
I’m not asking for a treatise but I think it would be fair in an
academic book to engage with them based upon their own writings. Secondly, the whole concept of basing Paul’s
theological trajectory upon inaugurated eschatology leaves little room for
other concerns in his writings include such big topics as the body of Christ,
union with Christ, election, virtue/vice lists, and local church concerns. We get a bit of this through Pate’s working
through each book, but some of these major themes need to be highlighted in a
stronger fashion.
Thanks to Kregel Academic for the copy of this book in
exchange for an honest review.
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