Redemptive Reversals and the Ironic Overturning of Human Wisdom - Paperback

by Gregory K. Beale (Author), Miles V. Van Pelt (Editor), Dane C. Ortlund (Editor)

"But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

--Matthew 19:30

The Bible is full of ironic situations in which God overturns the world's wisdom by doing the opposite of what is expected--people are punished by their own sin, the persecution of the church is the catalyst for its growth, Paul claims to have strength through weakness, and more. In this book, biblical scholar G. K. Beale explores God's pattern of divine irony in both judgment and salvation, finding its greatest expression in Jesus's triumph over death through death on a cross. Unpacking this pattern throughout redemptive history, Beale shows us how God often uses what is seemingly weak and foolish to underscore his own strength and power in the lives of his people today.

Author Biography

G. K. Beale (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the J. Gresham Machen Chair of New Testament and professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He has previously taught at Wheaton College Graduate School, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Grove City College. He has written sixteen books, over fifty essays, and dozens of book reviews.