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Toward a Teleology of Peace: Contesting Matthew's Violent Eschatology

St Mark's National Theological Centre, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University 15 Blackall Street, Barton, ACT, 2600, Australia, dneville{at}csu.edu.au

The reality of violence and the question of how best to respond to it are crucial dimensions of biblical interpretation. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus teaches nonviolence and conducts his mission nonviolently, yet Matthew envisages that as the returning Son of humanity he will indulge in violent retribution at the parousia. This article probes the discrepancy between Matthew's ethical portrait of Jesus as a teacher of nonretaliation and his (own) violent eschatology. Following a survey of select studies of Matthew's retributive eschatology, the moral problem of eschatological violence is considered. The article concludes with some hermeneutical reflections on potential responses to eschatological vengeance in Matthew.

Key Words: Matthew • peace • violence • eschatology • ethics • hermeneutics

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Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 30, No. 2, 131-161 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X07084773


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Neville, D. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?