How Antichrist Defeated Death: the Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church

HOW ANTICHRIST DEFEATED DEATH: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN APOCALYPTIC ESCHATOLOGY IN THE EARLY CHURCH

Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte VU University Amsterdam University of Pretoria

In many of his publications Martinus C. de Boer has argued that Paul should be understood as an apocalyptic thinker.1 Especially in his dissertation and his contribution to the Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism, de Boer has given an analysis of Paul from the perspective of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. It is in the latter that he rightly states: “Paul’s apocalyptic eschatology, like that of Revelation, is thus as much a matter of a past event (the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah) as of an event still to occur (the parousia).”2 A comparison with the Book of Revelation is important, since it brings together two authors who are both apparently rooted in Jewish apocalypticism, and sheds light on the particular interpretation of apocalyptic eschatology offered by the emerging Christ movement. Paul’s de- scription of the eschatological scenario in 1 Cor 15 belongs to the oldest stratum of Christian eschatological texts, but, as will be argued below, it was overtaken by other scenarios in the early Church. This contribution, offered to Martin de Boer as a token of friendship on the occasion of his retirement, intends to compare the messianic reign as depicted by Paul in 1 Cor 15 with that described in Rev 20:1–6, and describe the development of these two scenarios in the second and third centuries. The most important difference between the two scenarios is immediately clear: in 1 Cor 15 the focus is on the present state of Paul and the believers, whereas the seer John refers to a future event or period. This essay can be read as an attempt to further illustrate the point made by de Boer, that Paul was indeed rooted in Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, and depict the way in which Paul found his way into the eschatology of the Church fathers.

1 See e.g. de Boer, The Defeat of Death: Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 (JSNTSup 22; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1988); his inaugural address De apocalypti- cus Paulus (Amsterdam: VU Uitgeverij, 1998); “Paul and Apocalyptic Eschatology,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (ed. John J. Collins; New York: Continuum, 1998), 1:345–83; and also excursus 2 in Galatians: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 31–36. 2 De Boer, “Paul and Apocalyptic Eschatology,” 355, italics original. How Antichrist Defeated Death 239

The structure of this essay is as follows. In the first section de Boer’s analysis of apocalyptic eschatology will be summarized. In the next two sections, the scenarios depicted in 1 Cor 15 and the Book of Revelation will be looked into. And subsequently, a slant within the development of early Christian eschatology will be studied by looking at a number of key authors from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Here it will become clear that originally distinct scenarios of the final period of history gradually merged into a harmonization of texts in the period under consideration, a development in which 1 Cor 15 gave way to 2 Thess 2, and death was ultimately defeated by Antichrist.

1. Paul and Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology

Already in his dissertation, de Boer argued that there were two different “tracks” in Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. In his analysis, we have to dis- tinguish between a cosmological track and a forensic one.3 Since this is an important point that recurs in his later work, it is worth the effort to look into the distinction. In the cosmological track of apocalyptic eschatology, the world is seen as dominated by two different aeons. These aeons can best be defined as cosmic spheres, but they also coincide with “the present world” and “the world to come.” Various Jewish sources describe how the “present, evil age” has come about in the early stages of history, because of a super- human transgression. The myth of the Watchers is perhaps the clearest example of how a transgression has been committed against the divinely ordained order of creation. The state of corruption that thereby entered into the world coincides with the evil sphere of the old aeon. The ideal world, one of justice, peace, and righteousness, is already present, but as a heavenly one. Eschatological scenarios of this type depict the coming of this world, under direct rule of God himself, as e.g. the advent of the Kingdom of God. Usually, the arrival of the new aeon is described as a cosmic event. The second form of apocalyptic eschatology, according to de Boer, makes use of forensic language and imagery rather than of cosmic ideas. Here, the idea is that God has given free will to humankind and human be- ings have the opportunity either to conform to God’s wishes or to neglect them. In Jewish apocalyptic eschatology it is the Mosaic law that functions as the instrument by means of which God communicates His will to hu-

3 De Boer, Defeat, 39–91.