Synopses & Reviews
This study examines the changes and developments in three early Christian communities' expectations of Christ's return and the End of the World. Mark 13, Matthew 24 and 25 and Didache 16 are analyzed to find how early Christian expectations developed and how they were affected by the delay of Christ's return. The book questions the accepted models of change and offers new insights into the communities behind the Gospels of Mark and Matthew and behind the early Christian writing known as the Didache.
Table of Contents
Preface; Introduction; 1. An imminent end? Models for understanding eschatological development in the first century; 2. Matthew 25:1-13 as a window on eschatological change; 3. Mark 13: eschatological expectation and the Jewish War; 4. The Judean flight oracle (Mark 13:14) and the Pella flight tradition; 5. Matthew 24: eschatological expectation after the Jewish War; 6. Didache 16 as a development in Christian eschatology; Conclusion; Bibliography; Indices.