Simon Gathercole and Second Temple Judaism
I previously mentioned my upcoming exegesis paper on Galatians, as part of my intensive course in a few weeks. Well, no sooner had I chosen Galatians 3:10-14 as my passage as a classmate informed me that those verses are the most hotly contested in the entire book. Oh well.
They seem to be crucial for the issue of how salvation by faith relates to works and the law. I found a very helpful article by Simon J. Gathercole, lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. It is called, "Torah, Life, and Salvation: Leviticus 18:5 in Early Judaism and the New Testament." (Leviticus 18:5 is explicitly used by Paul in both Gal. 3:12 and Rom. 10:5, and possibly alluded to elsewhere in the New Testament.) And that reminded me that Dr. Gathercole wrote a respected book called Where Is Boasting: Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5
Comments
We read in Luke 1: that "(5)In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (6) Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly."
I understand this to refer not to perfection, but to a basic conformity to the Law's external and internal requirements, making atonement or compensation for infractions. This is all the Law requires. The goal is not perfection but righteousness, imitation of God's holiness, and social order.
Any of Paul's adversaries who proclaimed the Law's soteriological power were well out of the Jewish mainstream. Paul was, of course, right to confront this. But let us not think that this was a common claim in the Judaism(s) of the time.
Posted by: Carl | May 28, 2007 11:24 PM
Alex,
I look forward to reading your paper. I am currently working on a paper on Romans 3:21-26 and have found Gathercole to be extremely helpful.
Carl,
In reference to the demands of the law you wrote "But let us not think that this was a common claim in the Judaism(s) of the time." Could you direct me to some of the extra-biblical literature that you are getting this from? I would love to see it.
hs
Posted by: hs | May 29, 2007 06:56 PM
You will definitely want to check out Roy Ciampa's (NT prof at GCTS, contributor to new Hafemann volume on Biblical Theology) PhD thesis on Galatians. It is outstanding.
Ciampa, Roy E. The Presence and Function of Scripture in Galatians 1 and 2. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament. 2/102. Tubingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr/Paul Siebeck, 1998.
Posted by: Jonathan Dodson | May 31, 2007 12:47 PM