Saved Through Fire: The Fiery Ordeal in New Testament Eschatology

An unusually polyvalent symbol fire assumes numerous functions in the Bible. It is a defining feature of theophanies it serves as an instrument of judgment and in some instances it cleanses and purifies. Examining a complex of traditions ranging from John the Baptist to Jesus of Nazareth and from the Pauline to the Petrine Epistles Daniel Frayer-Griggs identifies a recurring motif in the New Testament arguing that these disparate traditions which appear in both very early and very late New Testament texts testify to a shared belief that everyone--both the righteous and the wicked--would be subjected to eschatological judgment by fire and that the righteous would experience this judgment as a fiery ordeal through which they would be tested and in some cases ultimately purified. This is a careful informative and convincing investigation of an important but neglected topic. Frayer-Griggss work offers a distinctive approach to the eschatologies of John the Baptist the historical Jesus and Paul. --Dale C. Allison Jr. Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Princeton Theological Seminary In this readable and incisive study of the fiery ordeal in the Old Testament Jewish apocalyptic literature and the New Testament Daniel Frayer-Griggs persuasively argues that fire is associated by both Jews and Christians not only with the destruction of the wicked but also with the testing and purification of the righteous. Alongside the bold attempt to unravel long-standing interpretive cruxes (especially in the sayings of Jesus) this book lays the exegetical foundation for a coherent biblical theology of judgment. --J. Richard Middleton Author Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis Northeastern Seminary Roberts Wesleyan College Daniel Frayer-Griggs (PhD Durham University) is an Adjunct Instructor of Theology at Carlow University and Duquesne University. His publications have appeared in HTR JBL JSHJ and NTS.