Eschatology and ethic questions in the Gospel of Matthew

How can one discern the major lines of ethical thought when they are not developed in a piece of systematic reflexion, but rather integrated into a narrative project, as is the case in the gospel of Matthew? They can only be brought out on the basis of the characters of the narrative and the position taken in the discourse of the main character who is Jesus. However these affirmations sometimes appear divergent or even contradictory. Using the Redaktionsgeschichte method, this article first of all tries to discover the Matthean understanding of eschatology. He then approaches the influence on Matthew's ethical propositions of other probable elements of the context in which he was writing. The third stage is dedicated to bringing out the key elements of these ethical propositions by seeking to determine to what degree and in what way they have been influenced by Matthew's eschatological concepts. Finally the conclusion asks some questions about the manner in which Matthean ethics were received in later Christian history and A about possible actualization in the contemporary Church and culture.