The Glory of God by Christopher W. Morgan & Robert A. Peterson & Bryan Chapell & Andreas J. Kostenberger & Stephen J. Nichols

Author:Christopher W. Morgan & Robert A. Peterson & Bryan Chapell & Andreas J. Kostenberger & Stephen J. Nichols
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Christian Theology, General
ISBN: 9781581349788
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2010-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

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The Glory of God in Paul’s Epistles

RICHARD B . GAFFIN JR .

The concept of glory—divine preeminently and human derivatively—is prominent in the letters of Paul. In fact, glory terminology provides a window on virtually the whole of his theology. Nowhere are its Old Testament roots more apparent. His gospel, as much as anything, is “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4) and as such may be viewed as the good news of forfeited human glory restored and consummated.

There are basically two ways of handling our theme in this chapter. We could work through Paul’s letters one by one, in either canonical or chronological order, surveying all the references to glory in each and then drawing some conclusions. Alternatively, we might proceed by identifying and reflecting on those aspects that are most basic and determinative in shaping his understanding of glory. These approaches are not at odds with each other; the findings of the one ought to overlap and complement those of the other. However, in this chapter, on guard to avoid missing anything significant that would be brought to light by the former approach, I will follow the latter. It is more helpful, it seems to me, to highlight and explore the controlling elements in Paul’s teaching on glory in order to provide an overall perspective on that teaching.

Our approach, in other words, will be to ask, what is the center of Paul’s teaching on glory? This is akin to a larger question: what is the center of his theology as a whole? But does Paul’s theology even have a center? Some readers will be aware that this is a question debated by New Testament scholars. In my view, without entering into that debate here and despite the reservations of some, it seems difficult to deny such a center, particularly if that notion is not maintained rigidly or too narrowly, as if there is a single key concept or “doctrine,” such as election or salvation or even God, from which everything can be shown to be deduced.

That is not the case. By the metaphor of a “center” I mean rather that in Paul’s letters an overall set of concerns is identifiable in which some matters are plainly more important for him than others. Certainly, Paul may be approached from a variety of perspectives, and there is undeniable value in doing so. At the same time, however, each of his various concerns is not equally important or controlling. This fact points to a circle of interests in which each is more or less central, with room for debate in some instances as to relative centrality.

Assuming a center to Paul’s theology in this soft sense, then, the question before us concerns the center of his teaching on glory and, in turn, how that center relates to the central concerns of his teaching as a whole. As we will see, answering the first part of this question is in large part to be answering the second.

Before addressing that question, however, it will be worth mentioning briefly another matter by way of introduction.

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