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A Critical Analysis of “All Israel Will Be Saved" in Romans 11:25-32

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A Critical Analysis of “All Israel Will Be Saved A Critical Analysis of “All Israel Will be Saved" in Romans 11:25-32 in the Light of Sociological Investigation / . �P,. y-r, Jz LIU Tsui-yuk A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Religion and Theology The Chinese University of Hong Kong June 2004 The Chinese University of Hong Kong holds the copyright of this thesis. Any person(s) intending to use a part or whole of the materials in the thesis in a proposed publication must seek copyright release from the Dean of the Graduate School. A/ 统系 ^iig^A MS ji ~UNIVERSITY~7^/ SYSTEIVW Abstract of thesis entitled: A Critical Analysis of “All Israel Will be Saved” in Romans 11:25-32 in the Light of Sociological Investigation Submitted by Liu Tsui Yuk for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Religion and Theology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in June, 2004 In this research I have applied Gerd Theissen's five tasks of Kirchenpolitik for reconstructing the social setting of the Epistle of Romans and tracing how Paul's train of thought interacts with its respective social context, so that not only the meaning but also the rhetorical force of “all Israel will be saved" in Romans 11:25-32 can be displayed. In the light of Kirchenpolitik, we have demonstrated that Paul addressed to Gentile Christians and Christian Jews simultaneously with the same text but usually with different rhetorical forces. In this Epistle, Paul uses an exegetical approach (task 1: defining religion of origin) of illustrating the essence of gospel: justification by faith (task 2: building consensus) and establishing the three-level authority of lordship, apostleship and leadership (task 3: structure of authority), so as to handle the tension of Gentile Christians and Christian Jews (task 4: resolving conflicts) for the sake of challenge them involving in Gentile mission (task 5: giving direction). My study found that Rom 11:25-32 ties closely to k 13-17 and 16:25-27, which is probably the climax of the Epistle. Located in the climax, "all Israel will be saved" is Paul's confession aimed at consolidating Jewish Christians in his Roman community and at the same time challenging his readers' commitment on his ongoing Gentile mission in relation to the Jewish hardening. In Chinese idiom, one may understand Paul's rhetorical force as "one stone hits two birds." 本文應用新約學者Gerd Theissen 之『教會蜘台模型五大方針Jl (也e five tæ也 of Kirchenpolitik)於重構《羅馬書〉師士會場景，同除自湖縣羅思想蚓可與其 處境互動，從而閩釋羅 11:25-32 中『以色列全家得救』的意義及1夠制乍用。 藉著『教會正如台模型Jl我們尋悉保擺怎樣同時向夕恃隨著徒及猶太 聽信憊吉。面對雙重讀者群，經文往做軒潤的修辭作用。隨書儲里，保糊 其酪莖方法〔方針一:釐清宗紛:N~酌，既偏餾割台本質一『因(首詩義Jl (方針 二 :謝荐信仰共識 J '叉建構三層權威一『主』、『使徒」及內歸自Jl (方針三: 樹立權威依據 J ;並舒緩夕恃隍牆徒及猶太聖賢徒兩者間的張力〔方針四:處理內部 徑:突 J '且激發他們投身夕恃R人宣就露b (方針五:指導對夕得自係〕。 結果，本人發現羅 11:2日 2 之細蕃及主題均緊扣羅 1 :13-17 及 16:25-27 '搧忍倚重臘笠幻3全書信之高潮。『以色列全家得救』正正的令高潮立 置。它乃保羅的信仰宣告，備有糊納修辭作用。目的有二:一則鞏固猶太聖賢健才 保羅群體之向心力; 二則挑單路盟主讀者群對夕博巴宣教之認同感，實是一石二鳥之言。 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have helped me for this research. My most sincere thanks are due to my supervisor, Prof Dr Kun-chun Eric Wong, for his careful guidance, constructive criticism, ceaseless patience, lasting support and consistent encouragement throughout the period of research. The supervisor-student relationship is especially memorable. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor, Rev Dr Lung-kwong Lo for his fascinating lectures, constructive advises and pastoral concern. I am grateful to Dr Wing-sheung Yeung who was the first to teach me how to appreciate the Epistle of Romans. Of course I must do the greatest honor to Prof Dr Gerd Theissen. Without his insightful work Gospel Writing and Church Politics: A Socio-rhetorical Approach, this thesis would have never been born. I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the prayer support of Christian Central Church (Jordan). Special thanks are also due to Rev Dr Man-chee Kwok and Mrs Kwok, Dr Yee-cheung Wong, Brother Fook-kee Leung and Sister Pik-yee for their constant love and care. Their faithfulness to God our Lord always encourages me to fight a good fight. I must also thank my parents, brothers and sisters for their patience and love, especially throughout the past nine months when Lung-pun and I had to pursue our studies beyond the sea. Lastly, my deepest appreciation is due to my husband, Lung-pun, for his enormous support, unfailing love and constant prayer, and 1 have duly dedicated this thesis to him. CONTENTS List of Abbreviations ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 THE ISSUE OF ROM 11:25-32 1 BRIEF SURVEY ON SCHOLARLY CONCERNS 4 Theological Considerations 4 Text-Context-Semantic Considerations 7 PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY OF THE PRESENT STUDY 14 The Nature of the Epistle of Romans 15 The Role of Paul to the Community 17 The Christian Community of Rome 20 The Audience of the Epistle of Romans 24 The Thesis of the Present Study 24 2. THE SOCIAL SETTING OF ROMANS IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 25 BUILDING UP CONSENSUS 25 The Necessity of a Consensus 25 The Necessity of a Consensus for the Roman Christian Community 25 The Necessity of a Consensus for Paul 27 The Content of the Consensus 29 DEFINING SELF-IDENTITY REGARDING THE RELIGION OF ORIGIN 30 The Necessity of Defining Self-Identity Regarding the Religion of Origin 31 V Defining Self-Identity 32 Freeing from Jewish Identity Markers 33 Setting up New Boundary 33 RESOLVING CONFLICTS 35 Conflicts between the "Strong" and "Weak" 35 Boasting of the Jewish Christians over the Gentile Christians 36 Boasting of the Gentile Christians over the Jewish Christians 36 Paul 's Way to Resolve the Conflicts 37 GIVING DIRECTION REGARDING THE SURROUNDING WORLD 38 The “Chrestus” Expulsion 38 The Content of the Instruction Regarding the Surrounding World 41 Creating an Image of World 41 Offering Orientations 43 ESTABLISHING A STRUCTURE OF AUTHORITY 44 Independence of the Influence of External Authority 45 Establishing Internal Authority 46 The Lordship of Jesus Christ 47 The Leadership of Paul 48 The Structure of Authority 48 3. THE CONTEXT OF ROMANS IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 51 ROM 1:1-17 INTRODUCRTION IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 52 ROM 1:18-5:21 THE CORE VALUES OF THE GOSPEL： vi RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD--TO MAN'S FAITH IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 60 ROM 6： 1 -8:39 THE OUTWORKING OF THE GOSPEL： IN RELATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 66 ROM 9:1-11:36 THE OUTWORKING OF THE GOSPEL： IN RELATION TO ISRAEL AND GENTILES IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 68 ROM 12:1-15:13 THE OUTWORKING OF THE GOSPEL： FOR THE REDEFINED PEOPLE OF GOD IN EVERYDAY TERMS IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 68 ROM 15:14-16:27 CONCLUSION IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 70 4. THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT OF ROMANS IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 72 PAUL'S CONCERN FOR HIS KINSPEOPLE (ROM 9:1-5) 72 THE ELECTION AND MERCY OF GOD (ROM 9:6-29) 74 God's Election (Rom 9:6-13) 74 God's Mercy (Rom 9:14-29) 75 THE WORD OF FAITH (ROM 9:30-10:21) 77 THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS (ROM 11:1 -24) 80 A CONCLUDING HYMN OF ADORATION (ROM 1 1:33-36) 82 5. PAUL'S MEANING AND RHETORICAL FORCE OF "ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED" (ROM 11:25-32) IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 83 PAUL'S INTENDED AUDIENCE 84 The Inaccurate Assumption: Gentile Christian Audience 84 True Audience: Gentile and Jewish Christians 84 ROM 11:25-32 IN THE LIGHT OF KIRCHENPOLITIK 87 vii The Confession(Rom 11:25-27) 87 Prelude (Rom 11:25a� 88 Mystery： Hardening of Israel and Fullness of Gentiles (Rom 11:25b) 92 Mystery: All Israel will be saved (Rom 11:26a) 97 The Biblical Basis (Rom ll:26b-27^ 102 Concluding Remark (Rom 11:28-32) 104 Irrevocable Divine Gifts and Call (Rom 11:28-29� 105 Divine Disobedience and Mercy (Rom 11:30-32� 108 SUMMARY： THE RHETORICAL FORCE OF ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED 109 6. CONCLUSIONS 115 Bibliography 119 viii ABBREVIATIONS AB The Anchor Bible AJT Asia Journal of Theology AusBR Australian Biblical Review ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture BDF F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament (University of Chicago/ University of Cambridge, 1967) BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament BIS Biblical Interpretation Series BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester BL Bible and Literature BNTC Black's New Testament Commentaries BibSac Bibliotheca Sacra BS The Biblical Seminar BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CKLS Chuen King Lecture Series ConC Concordia Commentary ConJ Concordia Journal CT Christianity Today EA Ex Auditu GJ Grace Journal GTJ Grace Theological Journal GNS Good News Studies viii HTR Harvard Theological Review ICC The International Critical Commentary Int Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JDDS Jian Dao Dissertation Series JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSS Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series JTS Journal of Theological Studies LCC The Library of Christian Classics NAC The New American Commentary NICNT The New International Commentary on the New Testament NTS New Testament Studies OBS Oxford Bible Series PBTM Paternoster Biblical and Theological Monographs PRS Perspectives in Religious Studies SacPag Sacra Pagina Series SBLDS SBL Dissertation Series SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series USQR Union Seminary Quarterly Review WBC Word Biblical Commentary ZSNT Zacchaeus Studies: New Testament X CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION THE ISSUE OF ROM 11:25-32 V.25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, lest you might be wise in yourselves: that hardness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, V.26 and so all Israel will be saved ( KOCI OUIWG TTCCC; 'LOPARIX OW0TIOETAL；, as it has been written: Out ofZion the one who delivers will come; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; V.27 and this (is) the covenant from me to them (or my covenant with them) when I take away their sins.
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