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  • From: Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Stendahl and "two-covenant" interpretations of Paul
  • Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:31:05 -0700 (PDT)



--- Terence Donaldson <terry.donaldson AT utoronto.ca>
wrote:

>While Krister Stendahl has often been linked with
>Lloyd Gaston and John
>Gager in a "two-covenant" reading of Paul, it is
>worth pointing out that
>in his recent book, "Final Account: Paul's Letter to
>the Romans",
>he distances himself from such a position, expressing
>himself in a much
>more nuanced way...

>[Stendahl] "I should have spelled out how and why I
>felt -- and now
>more clearly see -- the two covenant model to be an
>expression of `misplaced
>concreteness.' . . . My point is the mystery by which
>`the mission
>urge to convert Israel is held in check.' . . . To
>say more is to say too
>much. To say less is to miss Paul's insight" (p. x).

>[Stendahl, further] "Paul foresaw the apparition of
>supersession and contempt for the Jews,
>and he called it a mystery. When I teach this, many
>Christian theologians
>say: `You teach two ways of salvation, one for Jews
>and one for Christians.'
>But I do no such thing. I would just call this
>arrangement God's `traffic
>plan.' And Paul called it a mystery" (p. 7)."

>There can be no doubt that Stendahl's comments in
>Paul among Jews and Gentiles did much to stimulate
>two-covenant readings of Paul. But
>while such readings may seem to be the logical next
>step to his comments,
>he himself does not take this step.

Thanks Terence, for clarifying Stendahl's position,
but to me it's still unclear. Does he, or does he not,
believe that for Paul Israel's salvation is dependent
upon accepting the Christ, whether at the end of all
things (Rom. 11:25-27), or through "jealousy" of the
Gentiles during the apostolic missions (Rom.
11:17-24)? Your citations of Stendahl make plain that
he denies a "two-covenant reading", but they still
don't acknowledge any relationship between Israel and
the messiah.

Thanks,

Loren Rosson III,
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com




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