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After the new perspective : works, justification and boasting in early Judaism and Romans 1-5
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Gathercole, Simon James |
| Copyright Year | 2001 |
| Abstract | Whatever justification could there be for another thesis on Paul’s relationship to Judaism? One aspect of this relationship which has slipped through the net and failed to receive adequate treatment in recent scholarship is that of ‘boasting’. Apart from a handful of short articles (e.g. by C.H. Dodd 1933, R. Bultmann 1965, and C.K. Barrett 1986) there has been no full-scale treatment of this theme in Romans, despite commentators’ frequent acknowledgement of its importance. The only major discussion, J.S. Bosch’s Gloriarse según san Pablo, was written in 1970, and so takes no account of the recent paradigm shift in Pauline studies. Its second disadvantage is being written in Spanish, and so not having found a wide readership. There is, however, a problem surrounding what is perhaps at first sight a moderately unproblematic concept. Probing beneath the surface of Romans 1–5, as well as the commentaries and other secondary literature, it becomes apparent that the discussion of ‘boasting’ cuts right to the heart of the debate between traditional and ‘New Perspective’ interpretations of Paul’s relationship to his Jewish contemporaries. Is boasting, as in the traditional position, ‘the human tendency to rely on one’s own powers and to think that thereby one can achieve salvation or justification in the sight of God’ (J.A. Fitzmyer)? Or is it rather that ‘the boast of the Jew is directed not to their own fulfilment of the Law, but to the possession of the Torah as the revelation of God’ (U. Wilckens), and thus that election alone is determinative for salvation, in the Jewish mindset? The former was emphasised in particular by the Reformers, and has also been argued by such towering figures as R. Bultmann, E. Käsemann, and C.E.B. Cranfield; the latter is advanced equally forcefully by E.P. Sanders, J.D.G. Dunn, R.B. Hays, and N.T. Wright. |
| Starting Page | 303 |
| Ending Page | 306 |
| Page Count | 4 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 52 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://legacy.tyndalehouse.com/tynbul/Library/TynBull_2001_52_2_10_Gathercole_Diss_JustificationRom1-5.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
