Martinus C de Boer

In this ICC Martin de Boer provides an introduction and commentary on chapters 1-6 of John’s Gospel.de Boer sets out to interpret the Gospel in the historical context in which it was written and first read, and to explain it both historically and theologically. Taking his primary bearings from the seminal work of Raymond E. Brown and J. L. Martyn, de Boer applies and advances their approach through each section of his commentary, whilst also engaging with the latest scholarship, alternative viewpoints, and critiques of the Brown/Martyn approach. As such de Boer takes very seriously the view that John’s Gospel was written for a particular community, and that the composition of the text as we know it took place over an extended period of time. Examination of the historical realities of this community is a hallmark of this commentary including the notion that, as members of the community, women may have played a role in the Gospel’s composition.

Paul's letter to the Galatians begins with the proclamation of liberation from destructive powers, and ends with the confident cry, ""new creation "" Throughout the letter, Paul encourages his listeners to stand fast in the confidence that God in Christ will bring them from their beginning in the faith to their completion. His language is emotional, relational, and powerful, as he ""uses the intimate imagery of family life to draw his converts back into the thread of conversation that mediates their life together."" This study investigates the powerful effects of Paul's maternal imagery--his embodied, vulnerable, and authoritative ""mother tongue""--in catalyzing and sustaining the communal life of faith.

This collection of essays argues that Paul's articulation of Christ and his saving work makes use of the categories and perspectives of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. Such eschatology is concerned with the expectation that God will finally and irrevocably put an end to the present order of reality (""this age"") and replace it with a new, transformed order of reality (""the age to come""). In Paul's view, God has initiated this eschatological act of cosmic rectification in the person and work of Christ. The essays included, two of them previously unpublished, investigate and illuminate various aspects of Paul's christologically focused appropriation of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, particularly in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. The collection begins with the author's seminal essay on the two tracks of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology (forensic and cosmological) from 1989 and ends with an essay from 2016 containing the author's retrospective restatement and elaboration of his views.

This collection of essays argues that Paul's articulation of Christ and his saving work makes use of the categories and perspectives of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. Such eschatology is concerned with the expectation that God will finally and irrevocably put an end to the present order of reality (""this age"") and replace it with a new, transformed order of reality (""the age to come""). In Paul's view, God has initiated this eschatological act of cosmic rectification in the person and work of Christ. The essays included, two of them previously unpublished, investigate and illuminate various aspects of Paul's christologically focused appropriation of ancient Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, particularly in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. The collection begins with the author's seminal essay on the two tracks of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology (forensic and cosmological) from 1989 and ends with an essay from 2016 containing the author's retrospective restatement and elaboration of his views.

Taking the work of Ernst Käsemann and J. Christiaan Beker as a point of departure, Martinus C. de Boer argues that the meaning of 'death' in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 provides the basic clue to any proper definition of Paul's apocalyptic eschatology. At the same time, he also maintains that Paul's apocalyptic eschatology, whose point of departure is the crucified and resurrected Christ, provides the basic clue to what 'death' means in his theology. A proper definition of Paul's apocalyptic eschatology in relation to what 'death' means for the apostle can in turn help us to understand better the soteriological tension between 'already' and 'not yet' evident in his thought. Boer’s work builds on the contributions of other interpreters of Paul, most notably, Albert Schweitzer, Käsemann, J. Louis Martyn, and Beker. Rather than posit some radically new definition of Paul's apocalyptic eschatology, or attributing to him previously unperceived understandings of 'death', Boer instead explores the ways in what Paul says about 'death' serves to define his apocalyptic eschatology on the one side, and that his christologically determined apocalyptic eschatology informs his understanding of death on the other.

This new commentary in the New Testament Library series is not a systematic study of Pauline theology; rather, the aim of this study is to trace Paul's theology as it unfolds in his letter to the church at Galatia, and to attempt to illuminate, as far as possible, how the Galatians likely comprehended it, at the time they received it. The author asks readers to imagine themselves as silent witnesses to Paul's dictation of the letter and to observe, through a historical perspective, how the Galatian Christians might have understood Paul's words.