Guest Editorial: Apocalyptic Theology and Christian Ethics

One the most important developments in biblical studies over the last two decades has been the emergence of an apocalyptic reading of Paul. This development followed the ground-breaking work of the late J. Louis Martyn, especially his 1997 commentary on Galatians.1 Other prominent biblical scholars who have been influenced by Martyn, and who read Paul along broadly similar lines, include Douglas Campbell, Susan Eastman, and Beverly Gaventa.2 Martyn and these others have all paid close attention to how Paul understands divine revelation as disrupting human thinking and action, as well as to Paul’s understanding of salvation as a ‘three-agent drama’, wherein human beings stand between God’s lordship and the anti-God powers contesting that lordship (i.e., sin, death, and the devil).