Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: The Mystery of Romans: the theme of- - - restoration of Israel

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "moon-ryul jung" <moon AT sogang.ac.kr>
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: The Mystery of Romans: the theme of- - - restoration of Israel
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 21:05:12 -0500


[Moon]
> > The first arguement: the redefinition of the remanant.
> >
> > P. 203, he[Boyarin] says:
> >
> > Now the crux of Paul's argument is for the continuing significance of
> > the Jewish people. If the Christian part [i.e. the remnant that
> > believes in Jesus, my comment] is holy, so is the rest [of the Jewish
> > people]. Paul, however, subtly shifts the ground upon which
> > he is standing. On the one hand, he argues that the Christian
> > Jews are merely a saving remnant, such as the one that the same
> > prophetic texts would speak of from Elijah to Jeremiah. Here, however,
> > is where the shift comes in, for the saving remant is no longer, as it
> > was in the prophets, those Jews who are FAITHFUL to the COMMANDMENTS, the
> > WORKS OF THE TORAH, but is NOW DEFINED BY GRACE ALONE [i.e. the grace
> > through
> > Jesus, my comment]
>
[NANOS]
> I do not agree with this assessment. It hangs upon the notion that Paul and
> the other Christ-believing Jews did not remain faithful to the commandments
> as essential. I argue otherwise; so I do not find his conclusion convincing.
>

Mark, I understand your point. But Boyarin seems right when he says that
the ground for being the remnant has been shifted, in spite of the fact
that Paul and the other Christ-believing Jews remain faithful to the
commandments as essential. To be remanant, they should have believed
in Jesus Christ, and being faithful to the commandments of God was not
enough.
This redefinition of the remnant was made so that both Jews and Gentiles
would
have the common ground before God, that is, faith in Christ.

But you seem to say that the ground for being the remnant was
"fulfilled" rather than shifted. Hmm, that is very interesting.
I now seem to figure out the whole story a little bit better.
Paul has been arguing as a prophet along the line of the great
prophets that Jesus Christ was fulfillment of God's promises,
and believing in him is not the shift of the ground for being
the remnant but the fulfillment of the ground. But to many Jews,
that sounded like the shift of the ground. So, it is understandable
that from the perspective of those who do not believe in Jesus
Christ like Boyarin, what Paul says amounts to the shift of the
ground. While faithfulness to the commandments of God was essential,
still faith in Christ, which was the commond ground, was critical
for being the remnant. It was the fulfillment, yes. But it was the
shifting of the ground as well, so that Gentiles may come into the
covenant with God. IF GENTILES WERE NOT REQUIRED
TO PRACTICE THE WORKS OF THE LAW, the rules of the game
have been changed to accomodate the Gentile believers.
What do you think?

Moon
Moon R. Jung
Associate Professor
Dept of Digital Media
Sogang Univ, Seoul, Korea



  • Re: The Mystery of Romans: the theme of- - - restoration of Israel, moon-ryul jung, 01/04/2002

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page