Voices and Views on Paul: Exploring Scholarly Trends by Ben Witherington III & Jason A. Myers

Author:Ben Witherington III & Jason A. Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Paul;Paul quest;quest for Paul;How to read Paul;Pauline literature;Pauline scholarship;Pauline interpreters;N.T. Wright;John Barclay;Apocalyptic Paul;New Perspective on Paul;E.P. Sanders;James D. G. Dunn;Paul and Empire;Krister Stendahl;new testament studies;Pauline theology;Pauline studies
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2020-05-29T13:41:35+00:00

Paul’s principal treatment of the law in his letters was formulated in dialogue and dispute not with non-Christian Jews, but with fellow Jewish Christians. . . . Protests against Paul’s gospel in reference to the law arose because so many of Paul’s fellow Jewish believers felt their own identity as children of Abraham and their heritage as the people of Israel to be under question or even threat from the success of Paul’s mission.41

The primary issue of Paul’s continuity and discontinuity with his heritage emerges from both trends of twentieth-century scholarship on Paul. Scholars range on a spectrum concerning the degree of continuity versus discontinuity. However, the precise arguments about justification take on different nuances when placed within the two trends of readings of Paul. One particular element that stands out with the second trend takes us all the way back to the beginning of the new perspective. If Paul is not engaged in a debate with or against first century Judaism but in an in-house argument with Jewish-Christian missionaries, then, in the words of Dunn, “the doctrine of justification by faith was formulated within and as a result of the early mission to Gentiles. It was a polemical doctrine, hammered out in the face of Jewish Christian objections to that mission as law-free and not requiring circumcision.”42 We might recall from our initial chapter that this was one of the primary points of Krister Stendahl, who proved quite prescient about future Pauline discussions. The debate over Paul’s understanding of justification enters us into one of the most vigorous and contentious debates within Pauline studies.

Dunn begins his own analysis of justification with a survey of the key issues and aspects: the righteousness of God, the works of the law, and the pistis Christou debate. Regarding the righteousness of God, Dunn stresses its Hebraic character and emphasizes the relational aspect and the obligation laid on each individual. God’s righteousness is understood as his faithfulness to uphold his obligations to humanity, his covenants. Indeed, Dunn sees the faithfulness/righteousness of God as one of the principal concerns of Paul in Romans. Paul’s doctrine of justification is rooted in this Old Testament theme, including the initial grace in God’s calling his people Israel, and thus justification was not a reaction against his heritage but an affirmation of its fundamental principle.43

Concerning the issue of “the faith/faithfulness of Christ,” Dunn offers his own stimulating contribution.44 He begins by noting that the phrase by itself, pistis Christou, is grammatically indeterminate. It is context that must decide the meaning of each instance. Before moving on to contextual issues, Dunn notes that one would expect a definite article if it were to be understood as the subjective, as “the faith of Christ.” Interestingly, we never find the phrase with the article, which is a strong point in Dunn’s argument. By way of summary, Dunn takes all the Galatian references of pistis Christou as objective, as “faith in Christ.” As he moves to Romans, he notes that the occurrence in

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