Apocalypse as Holy War: Divine Politics and Polemics in the Letters of Paul

The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

by Emma Wasserman

Prevailing theories of apocalypticism assert that in a world that rebels against God, a cataclysmic battle between good and evil is needed to reassert God’s dominion. Emma Wasserman, a rising scholar of early Christian history, challenges this interpretation and reframes Paul’s apocalyptic texts as myths about politics in the world of divinity.

Wasserman argues that the most dominant historical-critical theories about Christian apocalypticism are ahistorical and tend to work with apologetic formulations of Christ’s victory and the uniqueness of Christianity. Assessing Paul’s claims about immanent war, divine enemies, and the transformation that will accompany Christ’s return, Wasserman sees him as envisioning a single, righteously ruled cosmic kingdom, the true nature of which will soon be revealed to all. A major scholarly contribution that ranges across Mediterranean and West Asian religious thought, this volume has broad implications for understanding Paul’s myth of heroic submission as well as his most distinctive ethical teachings.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Emma Wasserman is an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University and the author of Death of the Soul in Romans 7. She specializes in early Christian history and maintains a particular focus on the letters of Paul and on ancient ethics and cosmology.

Reviews

[Charles Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkably erudite book which looks at several themes with a wide angle lens. In the first half Wasserman asserts that despite the pictures of supernatural warfare in places like Daniel 10, neither the Hebrew bible nor other documents (like the Dead Sea Scrolls) suggest an actual cosmic struggle between good and evil. God is unquestionably in control - and the pagan gods and other supernatural beings are just bit players several levels below.

The second half of the book looks at Paul's rhetoric about supernatural powers in various letters and concludes that Paul agrees with the above. Demons and angels, powers and pincipalities - they're just bit players Paul describes in different ways to make his points. She looks at possible Platonic and Stoic echoes in Paul's letters and concludes that Paul employs them as needed his argument. In the big picture Paul sees a small elect group beset by outside forces (not unlike the Qumran community) who will one day be vindicated by God.

My only criticism would be that the author could have likely made this case in half the number of pages! Still a very well done thesis, and well foot-noted.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Wasserman’s analysis of apocalyptic in Paul is thoroughly thought-provoking and an important assessment for Pauline scholarship. While I’m less inclined toward the form of critical inquiry she employs (presuming certain hidden motivations behind Paul’s writings), her comparative study of ANE and second temple texts, along with a very wide-ranging analysis of the undisputed Pauline writings (unfortunately only the undisputed), is persuasive in its own right. Her work thus stands in stark contrast to the word study approach (however helpful it once was) of Walter Wink on power language in the NT. Her bringing the divine hierarchy, known so well in Hebrew Bible studies, into NT and Pauline studies is a huge help, even if not always effective (e.g. her interpretation of Paul’s “sufferings” in Philippians in psychological terms completely misses the role imprisonment and Paul’s mission play in the letter). This book is a must read for conversations around the “apocalyptic Paul.”