HIDDEN

But Now

REVEALED

A Biblical Theology of Mystery

G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd

An imprint of InterVarsity Press

Downers Grove, Illinois

InterVarsity Press

P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426

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©2014 by G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple

Images: angel: ©wynnter/iStockphoto

old paper: ©Rouzes/iStockphoto

The Last Judgment by Pieter Jansz Pourbus at Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium/©Lukas—Art in Flanders VZW/The Bridgeman Art Library

ISBN 978-0-8308-9683-7 (digital)

ISBN 978-0-8308-2718-3 (print)

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 The Use of Mystery in Daniel

2 The Use of Mystery in Early Judaism

3 The Use of Mystery in Matthew

4 The Use of Mystery in Romans

5 The Use of Mystery in 1 Corinthians

6 The Use of Mystery in Ephesians

7 The Use of Mystery in Colossians

8 The Use of Mystery in 2 Thessalonians

9 The Use of Mystery in 1 Timothy

10 The Use of Mystery in Revelation

11 Mystery Without Mystery in the New Testament

12 The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mystery Religions

13 Conclusion

Appendix: The Cognitive Peripheral Vision of Biblical Authors

Bibliography

Modern Authors Index

Scripture Index

Ancient Texts Index

Preface

This book has been a long time coming. Both of us worked on this topic, to some degree, for our doctoral work. Greg Beale partly worked on how the book of Daniel’s conception of “mystery” connects to areas of Judaism and the book of Revelation. His dissertation was published as The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in the Revelation of St. John (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), and he then further explicated his view of mystery in the New Testament in a later book, John’s Use of the Old Testament in Revelation, JSNTSup 166 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998). Ben Gladd, as a doctoral student of Greg Beale at Wheaton College, wrote a dissertation on how mystery in the book of Daniel influences early Judaism and 1 Corinthians, which was later published as Revealing the Mysterion: The Use of Mystery ...