B. N. Fisk

Eschatology and Ethics in Paul: Two Sides of a Coin?

1. Jewish Two-Age Theology

• Isaiah 65:17-19
• 4 Ezra 7:112-115: He answered me and said, “This present world is not the end; the full glory does not abide in it. . . But the day of judgment will be the end of this age and the beginning of the immortal age to come, in which corruption has passed away, sinful indulgence has come to an end, unbelief has been cut off, and righteousness has increased and truth has appeared. (cf. 7:50)
• 4 Ezra 8:1: He answered me and said, “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of few.”
• 2 Enoch 66:6: “Walk, my children, in long-suffering, in meekness, in affliction, in distress, in faithfulness, in truth, in hope, in weakness, in derision, in assaults, in temptation, in deprivation, in nakedness, having love for one another, until you go out from this age of suffering, so that you may become inheritors of the never-ending age.” See also: 2 Baruch 15:7; 44:8-15

2. Paul’s Innovative Schema: the Overlap of the Two Ages

• The present passing of the old age characterized by sin and death
  • 1 Cor 7:31; 1 Cor 2:6
  • “This age”: Rom 12:2; 1 Cor 1:20; 2:6-8; 3:18; 2 Cor 4:4
  • “This present evil age”: Gal 1:4
    
• The present dawning of the new age characterized by grace and faith [= “already”]
  • 1 Cor 1:18; 1 Cor 10:11; 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5, 17; Col 1:13; 3:3:9-11
  • Cf. 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 3:1
    
• The future consumation of the new age [= “not yet”]
  • 1 Thess 1:9-10; 3:12-13; 4:14-17; 5:2, 23; Rom 8:16-25; Eph 1:21
    
• Paul’s eschatology strikes a precarious balance between already and not yet.

3. Paul’s Ethics: Urgency in Between Times

• Can eschatology undermine ethics?
  
• How does Paul link eschatology and ethics?
  • 1 Corinthians 7:25-35
    • 7:17, 20, 24 = maintain the status quo (cf. 7:8, 10-12)
    • 7:29 = the time is short.
    • 7:31 = this world as we know it is passing away
  • 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13; 4:13-18; 5:23-24
  • Romans 8
    
• Can we sustain Paul’s eschatologically driven ethic so many years later?
  • Can we settle in for what may still be the long haul, without losing Paul’s eschatological perspective on this age, and his urgent expectation of the Lord’s return?
  • Luke Johnson: Christians must live as people both engaged with and detached from worldly structures. They cannot flee them, but neither can they treat them as though they were permanent or ultimate. They are to live within them “as though not” (7:29-31), a difficult feat for anyone, and particularly for people attracted to simple solutions. (Writings, 280).
  • If Paul could address us today, would he shape and ground his ethic differently?
    

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