Climax of the Covenant vs Apocalyptic Invasion: A Theological Analysis of a Contemporary Debate in Pauline Exegesis

Focusing on the work of N.T. Wright, J. Louis Martyn and Douglas Harink, in this article I offer a theological analysis of the debate between salvation‐historical and apocalyptic readings of Paul as a debate in Christology. I argue that in the end both these positions are christologically deficient in ironically similar ways: both positions conceive of Christ as accidental to the divine intent for creation, a notion that falls short of the robust Christology Paul adheres to. I offer an alternative that preserves both the notions of a salvific history and an apocalyptic revelation, but is also imbedded in what I call a supralapsarian Christology.