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Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Herausgegeben von Jörg Frey Mitherausgeber / Associate Editors Friedrich Avemarie • Judith Gundry-Volf Martin Hengel • Otfried Hofius • Hans-Josef Klauck 181 Justification and Variegated Nomism Volume II The Paradoxes of Paul edited by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O'Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid Mohr Siebeck • Tübingen Baker Academic • Grand Rapids Distributors For the United States and Canada for Europe Baker Academic Mohr Siebeck P.O. Box 6287 Wilhelmstrasse 18, Postfach 2040 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287 72010 Tübingen USA Germany All other countries are served by both publishers. ISBN 3-16-148400-2 ISSN 0512-1604 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament) Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-8010-2741-1 © 2004 by Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher's written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. @ Printed in Germany on non-aging paper. ISSN 0340-9570 Preface This is the second and final volume of Justification and Variegated Nomism. The first volume, under the subtitle The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism, was published in 2001. Together the two volumes attempt a competent evaluation of the multifaceted movement now commonly known as "the new perspective on Paul." Because much of the new perspective depends to a greater or lesser extent on the reading of the literature of Second Temple Judaism ably articulated by E. P. Sanders in his 1977 book Paul and Palestinian Judaism, our first volume brought together distinguished specialists to look at that literature afresh, asking fundamental questions about the pattern of relationships between God and human beings, about righteousness, salvation, eschatology, grace and works, faith and law - indeed, about the "pattern of religion" (to use the expression Sanders prefers) found in each literary heritage. Owing to the competence of its contributors, that volume has generally been well received. A few reviewers have complained that, granted we did find, among other things, patterns of religion, in some of the literature, that could usefully be labelled "covenantal nomism," the book could have ended with a more positive evaluation of the movement. That assessment, however, ignores the sweeping nature of Sanders's claim. He argued that covenantal nomism is endemic to all the relevant literature of Second Temple Judaism, and therefore that Paul (to go no further) must be read against that background. To show that the patterns of religion in Second Temple Judaism cannot legitimately be limited to the embrace of one rubric, to show that the approach to "nomism" in early Judaism is far more variegated than Sanders allows, to discover that even covenantal nomism itself is best understood to have varying shapes, proves to be of interest not only to the specialist in Second Temple Judaism, but also to the interpreter of Paul: the latter is freed up from the restraints imposed by a too narrowly defined and controlling "background." Of course, this does not mean that the various "new perspective" readings of Paul are wrong. It merely means that, with the increased perception of the variegated approaches to nomism represented in the literature of Second Temple Judaism, the lines adopted by new perspective interpreters enjoy less presumption of being right. They still need to be evaluated, even after a less doctrinaire reconstruction of early Judaism is in place. That is why we undertook this second volume. In the light of the broader frames of reference VI Preface and the revised evaluations (e.g. word studies) unpacked in the first volume, we here try to look at the exegetical and theological arguments advanced by the new perspective in its treatment of Paul, undertaking fresh exegesis of most of the relevant texts while interacting with the dominant voices. Some of the following essays are tightly tied to essays in the first volume. For instance, Mark Seifrid's treatment of Paul's use of righteousness language against its Hellenistic background obviously follows up on his study of righteousness language in the Hebrew Scriptures and in early Judaism. Martin Hengel's essay on the stance of the apostle Paul during the veiled years between Damascus and Antioch builds, in part, on the work of Roland Deines on the Pharisees between "Judaisms" and "common Judaism." Several of the exegetical and topical essays presuppose the diversity in Second Temple Judaism underscored by the first volume, and these essays, some- times explicitly and sometimes implicitly, establish the relevant connections. Nevertheless, three of the essays in this volume expand the horizons yet further. Stephen Westerholm's opening piece masterfully surveys the diversity of contemporary scholarly positions on Paul's attitude toward the law, reminding us that sloganeering and easy generalizations will not prevail in a discussion that has many finely-shaded positions. Moreover, since some defenders of the new perspective cast their work as a self-conscious refutation of Luther, who, it is often claimed, read his own introspective conscience (to recall the famous expression of Krister Stendahl) back into Paul and thus corrupted the next half-millennium of study of the apostle, we have included an essay by a Luther specialist who has been following the debate and who is far from convinced that Luther is now being fairly portrayed, or that Luther was, in his time, quite as mistaken as some have made him out to be. And finally, because for the editors of this volume, and doubtless for many of its readers, Scripture remains norma normans sed non norma normata, and therefore discussion of these important matters touches the confessional life of the church, we asked a distinguished systematician, Henri Blocher, to weigh in with a closing essay. Alert readers will soon discover that the contributors are not all in perfect agreement. But then again, neither are those who defend the new perspective! By and large, however, these essays articulate appreciative approval of some elements of the new perspective, while arguing that some of its central stances are not defensible, or, more moderately, that the new perspective sometimes elevates to a place of central importance themes which in Paul's Hauptbriefe are better judged to occupy, at most, the background. In that case, of course, it is the foreground that is being lost, and must be recovered. As with the first volume, the initial draft of each essay was circulated around all the contributors to this volume (and occasionally to a few others). Suggestions and criticisms were received by one of the editors and passed Preface vn back to the author. Essays were then revised (sometimes lightly, sometimes extensively), edited, and typeset at Trinity. About half the contributors (but especially the editors) offered suggestions. Markus Bockmuehl, who contributed to the first volume, kindly agreed to continue reading and frequently commenting on the essays of the second volume (as close to a work of supererogation as our theology allows). With great pleasure we record our thanks to all who have contributed to this project. First of all, we are grateful to the contributors. Their scholarship, patience in the face of our questions, suggestions, and deadlines, not to mention their goodwill and (frequently) their sense of humor has made this a far less onerous task than it otherwise would have been. One of the editors (Carson) has been extraordinarily fortunate to have two able helpers: Alan Thompson, a most competent graduate assistant, compiled the indexes with great care and attention to detail; and Charles Anderson, his administrative assistant, carefully prepared the camera-ready copy and kept control of the flow of information, revisions, corrections, and correspondence. Judging by his consistent good cheer, he either enjoyed the challenge, or most admirably hid his displeasure from his boss. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School provided the funds to support these men and to offset various other expenses. The editors are no less grateful to Prof. Martin Hengel, who first accepted these volumes for the WUNT series, and to Prof. Jorg Frey, who has continued the support. Thanks, too, to Georg Siebeck of Mohr Siebeck, and to Jim Kinney of Baker Book House, for seeing both volumes through the press. To all of them we are enormously indebted, and extend our heartfelt thanks. Soli Deo gloria. D. A. CARSON Trinity Evangelical Divinity School PETER T. O'BRIEN Moore Theological College MARK A. SEIFRID The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary May 2004 Table of Contents Preface V Contributors XI Abbreviations XIII STEPHEN WESTERHOLM 1. The "New Perspective" at Twenty-Five 1 MARK A. SEIFRID 2. Paul's Use of Righteousness Language Against Its Hellenistic Background 39 MARTIN HENGEL 3. The Stance of the Apostle Paul Toward the Law in the Unknown Years Between Damascus and Antioch 75 MARK A. SEIFRID 4. Unrighteous by Faith: Apostolic Proclamation in Romans 1:18-3:20 105 5. J. GATHERCOLE 5. Justified by Faith, Justified by his Blood: The Evidence of Romans 3:21-4:25 147 DOUGLAS J. Moo 6. Israel and the Law in Romans 5-11: Interaction with the New Perspective 185 MOISÉS SILVA 7. Faith Versus Works of Law in Galatians 217 PETER T. O'BRIEN 8. Was Paul a Covenantal Nomist? 249 X Table of Contents ROBERT YARBROUGH 9. Paul and Salvation History 297 TIMO LAATO 10. Paul's Anthropological Considerations: Two Problems 343 PETER T. O'BRIEN 11. Was Paul Converted? 361 D. A. CARSON 12. Mystery and Fulfillment: Toward a More Comprehensive Paradigm of Paul's Understanding of the Old and the New 393 TIMOTHY GEORGE 13.

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