Corpus-Paul

["John Brand" <jbrand AT gvsd.mb.ca>]

From:                   "rabbisaul" <tim AT rabbisaul.com>
To:                     "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject:                Re: [Corpus-Paul] Question on 'Paul and Judaism' by 
Mark Nanos 
Date sent:              Thu, 11 Nov 2004 15:33:13 -0700

John had written:
What strikes me in particular about this explanation of Halakhah is 
the idea that it is designed to 'increase the spirituality in a 
person's life.' Halakhah is the Jewish answer to the quest for 
spirituality and a happy afterlife. I don't see Paul rejecting this 
per se.

Mark Nanos responds:
> >Paul expresses it per se! E.g., Gal 5:6 where Paul writes, "but faith
> working through love." In other words, he does not write in good
> Protestant fashion, "love working through faith." Worth thinking
> about.

Tim responds: 
> Actually, "love working through faith" would be closer to a medieval
> Roman Catholic answer.  Protestantism has historically been very
> strong on the issue of "faith working through love," although modern
> forms have often degenerated into faith that need not do anything at
> all, except believe once.

John adds:
Mark, are you not saying that Halakhah (ritual) together with Kavanah 
(intentionality) as an expression of Jewish spirituality is not 
rejected by Paul; it is, rather, affirmed by Paul in, for example, 
Galatians 5:6 'faith working through love.' The turn of phrase 'love 
working through faith' as an expression of Protestantism is that love 
is of no account on its own; it must work through faith.Or, am I 
misunderstanding what you are saying?

In Tim Gallant's essay 'Paul and Torah,' he writes:

"there can be no question of allowing Gentiles to come under Torah's 
yoke.  This would be to make them slaves in a covenant which not only 
was never intended for them, but further, would seal them into a 
covenant whose grace has been withdrawn."

(http://www.rabbisaul.com/overview.htm)

I am thinking that Tim's statement is expressive of what is 
traditionally Protestant: Torah is a covenant that has been abrogated 
so that the Jew is outside and needs to come in. This has been called 
a 'replacement theology' and appears to be what Sanders is assuming 
in his writing.

Please clarify.