Corpus-Paul

["Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

> From: Jerry Sumney

>
> Liz wrote:
>
> You ask how one is to be righteoused without the temple.  I have tried to
> stress in other posts on this list that being righteous was not paramount,
> it is really not a Jewish issue.
>
> Jerry replies:
>
> I think you are making a good point about the temple, but how do you deal
> with all the material in the prophets about being righteous and God's
> judgment on the unrighteous if being righteous is not fairly important?

The word tsaddakah is used by the prophets 12 times.  In most of these it is
describing God.  When it is used to castigate the people Israel, the
punishment is oppression of the people Israel by foreign nations.  I'm sure
many Jews felt that they were being punished by Roman oppression for their
unrighteousness. This is voiced by Josephus himself. I have tried to say
that God punishes sinful behavior. This punishment is *part* of the
covenantal relationship. Punishment for transgression and the ever present
opportunity for atonement is the quid-pro-quo of the covenant.

The covenant is laid out very explicitly in Deut. 28-30.  The curses and the
blessings are described in gruesome detail.  If you're good, good things
happen. If you're bad, bad things happen (in spades). But atonement is
always available (Deut. 30: 1-5ff).

Liz

>
> Jerry
>
> Jerry L. Sumney
> Lexington Theological Seminary
> 631 S. Limestone
> Lexington, KY 40508
> jsumney AT lextheo.edu
> (606) 252-0361
>
>
Lisbeth S. Fried
Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies
New York University
51 Washington Sq. S.
New York, NY 10012
lqf9256 AT is3.nyu.edu
lizfried AT umich.edu