Paul’s life, letters, and theology are unified by the theme of the
overlapping of two ages—this 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 didn’t end it. Where other important doctrines such as
justification by faith, reconciliation, and the cross of Christ were key players
in Paul’s theology, Marvin Pate compellingly demonstrates that the overarching
theme driving the Pauline corpus was indeed Paul’s inaugurated eschatology. In
fact, Paul’s 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.
Paul’s 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 Paul’s life and letters as well as his
theology.