Corpus-Paul

[Robert Gundry <gundry AT westmont.edu>]

Members of the C-P List,

My article, "Grace, Works, and Staying saved in Paul," _Biblica_ 66
(1985) 1-38, has
recently come up for mention in connection with the new perspective on
Paul; and  Jeffrey
Gibson suggested that I respond.  His memory is correct that I basically
disagree with the
new perspective (though I gladly acknowledge that the new perspective
highlights the
ecclesiastical-sociological implications of Pauline soteriology) and
that my article was
written in reaction to E. P. Sanders' work.  (Jimmy Dunn's wrinkle on
that work had not
yet come to the fore.)

I feel no need to rehash my observations and arguments here.  They still
seem valid to me,
and the considerable literature published on the topic in the meantime
would require much
more than would be appropriate in the present communication.  But for
the moment I'll
simply affirm the great importance of framing the questions properly.

For a true estimate of Pauline soteriology in comparison with
soteriology in Judaism:

1)  The question isn't whether Judaism _taught_ salvation by works, but
whether Paul
_presented_ it as teaching salvation by works.  If Paul presented
Judaism as teaching
salvation by works, the debate whether Judaism teaches salvation by
grace or by works is
basically irrelevant (though in spelling out Judaistic soteriology, one
will need to take
into account Paul's presentation of it).

2)  The question isn't whether salvation by works means salvation is
earned wholly by
works as opposed to faith in God's grace, but whether salvation by works
means earning
salvation _in part_ by works, with faith in God's grace to take up the
slack in the doing
of such works.  If salvation by works means the latter, then passages in
nonchristian
Jewish literature that extol God's grace do not disprove a Pauline
presentation of Judaism
as teaching salvation by works.

3)  The question isn't whether Paul teaches the necessity of works, but
whether the
necessary works are evidential of salvation or contributory to
salvation.  If Paul teaches
works as necessary evidence of salvation but not as a necessary
contribution to it, then
his teaching on works doesn't create an inconsistency with his teaching
on justification
by faith apart from works.

4)  The question isn't whether Paul teaches "getting in" by faith and
"staying in" by
works (as in Judaism, according to Sanders, yet with the plus of
Christ's redemptive
work), but whether Paul teaches staying in by works or by faith.  If
Paul teaches staying
in by faith as well as getting in by faith, he doesn't agree with a
Judaistic soteriology
that teaches getting in by faith but staying in by works.

5)  The question isn't whether "the works of the law" refers to Jewish
identity markers,
but whether "the works of the law" is _limited_ to Jewish identity
markers.  (Here I'm
alluding to Dunn's wrinkle.)  If "the works of the law" includes more
than Jewish identity
markers, Paul's soteriology goes deeper than the sociology of relations
between Jews and
Gentiles in the church, though it certainly encompasses that sociology.

Bob Gundry

Jeffrey B. Gibson wrote:

> Michael Thompson wrote:
>
> > "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT mailhost.chi.ameritech.net> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > > R. Gundry,  "Grace, Works, and Staying Saved in Paul," Biblica 66 (1985)
> > 1-38.
> >
> > I think Gundry actually reflects the old perspective, but my memory is
> > terrible.
> >
>
> Michael,
>
> If *my* memory serves, Gundry's article is in reaction to Sanders. So while 
> it may
> reflect the "old perspective, it does so while engaging with the arguments 
> of the new.
> I included it in my list since Jonathan Ryder had asked for counterpart 
> books/articles
> on the "new perspective" as well as those which would outline what the "new
> perspective" involved.
>
> But Professor Gundry is now subscribed to C-P, so perhaps he himself would 
> like to
> speak to the issue.
>
> Yours,
>
> Jeffrey Gibson
> --
> Jeffrey B. Gibson
> 7423 N. Sheridan Road #2A
> Chicago, Illinois 60626
> e-mail jgibson000 AT ameritech.net
>
> ---
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