The Stars Will Fall from Heaven: Cosmic Catastrophe in the New Testament and Its World (Library of New Testament Studies | LNTS)
Overview
The aim of this book is to establish and explore New Testament belief in the end of the world through an investigation of texts which—on the face of it—contain ‘end of the world’ language. It engages with recent discussion on how Jewish and early Christian 'end of the world' was meant to be understood, and interacts especially with N.T. Wright’s proposals. The first part of the book is given over to background and focuses on the Old Testament, Jewish apocalyptic and related literature and Graeco-Roman sources. The latter have seldom been brought into play in previous discussion. The author shows that the Stoic material is especially relevant. The second part of the book concentrates on the New Testament evidence and explores in detail all the key texts. The pertinent texts are analyzed in terms of the kind of the ‘end of the world’ language they use—language of cosmic cessation, of catastrophe and conflagration. The main aim of the exegesis is to establish the extent to which the language is meant objectively, but there is further exploration of issues arising from the notions of the end of the world where they are deemed to be present, including whether the idea of the world's dissolution implies a rejection of the created order. The conclusion explores the implications of the theme of the end of the world for Christian theology and ethics, and discusses especially, the ramifications for environmental ethics.
Key Features
- Focuses on New Testament texts that employ language of cosmic catastophe
- Explores the possible total destruction of the created cosmos
- Examines the time frame associated with catastrophe in the New Testament
Contents
Part I: The Comparative Context
- The Old Testament
- Jewish Apocalyptic and Related Literature
- Graeco-Roman Sources
Part II:The New Testament “Cosmic Catastrophe” Texts
- “The Powers of Heaven Will be Shaken”: Mark 13.24-27
- “I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven”: Hebrews 12.25-29
- “The Elements Will Melt with Fire”: 2 Peter 3:5-13
- “Heaven Vanished Like a Scroll Rolled Up”: Revelation 6.12-27
Top Highlights
“The author does not reduce the present earth ‘to a ball of corrupted matter about to be thrown onto the corrupted waste dump of eternity’.12 His perspective is not annihilationist.” (Page 259)
“In 2 Peter and Revelation, it is clear that the new heavens and new earth are not a new creation ex nihilo, but a re-creation ex vetere. In Revelation, the new heavens and earth exhibit striking continuities, as well as discontinuities, with the present order and pattern of the world (chs 21–22). What is brought by the unmaking and remaking of the world, as John visualizes it, is a redemptive recovery and transformation of the ‘first’ creation, which both restores primordial conditions and also surpasses them. In this new creative work, God brings about what he has always intended for this creation.” (Page 256)
“I will argue that New Testament cosmic catastrophe language cannot be regarded as symbolism for socio-political change” (Page 3)
“the idea of the created world coming to an actual end was foreign to mainline Jewish thinking” (Page 10)
“The destruction of the present world is normally followed by a cosmic re-creation.206” (Page 99)
Praise for the Print Edition
This is an important book on an important—and surprisingly neglected—subject: the cosmic catastrophe language that forms part of the New Testament’s eschatology. Through a detailed and scholarly examination of the relevant texts and traditions, Jewish, Greco-Roman, and New Testament, Edward Adams argues, in critical dialogue with N.T. Wright in particular, that the New Testament writers, in varied ways, did envisage an impending destruction of the physical cosmos, followed by its re-creation. The findings and arguments of this book are significant not only for our understanding of early Christian eschatology in its historical context, but also for any attempt to use the biblical material in articulating contemporary Christian eschatology or environmental responsibility. Adams' book will be an essential point of reference for all such discussion.
—David G. Horrell, Reader in New Testament Studies, University of Exeter, UK.,
This book is much needed. Considerable confusion has been sown recently in interpretation of the New Testament by the view that the passages that appear to speak of a catastrophic end to the present world are actually about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Such a view seems attractive because it provides an easy solution to questions about the accuracy of Jesus’ and the NT writers’ predictions of the future. In this patient, lucid and thorough study Adams makes a first-rate job of clearing the confusion. Through examination of Jewish apocalyptic literature, Stoic writings and the major NT passages and in debate with N. T. Wright, its major popularizer, Adams shows convincingly why a purely socio-political interpretation of the NT’s cosmic eschatological language is implausible and why taking it to refer to a real end of the world does not have the disastrous theological implications that have been alleged. His study should be required reading for students of NT eschatology and for those who wrestle with its contemporary relevance."
—Andrew T. Lincoln, Portland Professor of New Testament, University of Gloucestershire
Product Details
- Title: The Stars Will Fall from Heaven: Cosmic Catastrophe in the New Testament and Its World
- Author: Edward Adams
- Editor: Mark Goodacre
- Series: Library of New Testament Studies (LNTS)
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Publication Date: 2007
- Pages: 320
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Biblical Studies
