“Blameless at His Coming”: The Discursive Construction of Eschatological Reality in 1 Thessalonians
Abstract
This essay argues that in 1 Thessalonians, Paul uses eschatological discourse—language about the end of time—in order to evoke a symbolic world-view in which his readers become God’s elect, living at the end of time and awaiting the sudden, imminent return of Christ from heaven. This self-identification explains their present misfortunes, while at the same time demanding that they fulfill the ethical and moral demands of the Christian faith. More broadly, this essay points to the role that eschatological discourse played within early Christianity in general, suggesting that it formed a central, paradigmatic drama which helped to define ontological and teleological reality for the movement’s adherents.
- Journal
- Rhetorica
- Published
- 1999-09-01
- DOI
- 10.1353/rht.1999.0001
- CompPile
- Open Access
- Closed
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